Niall McDowell – It Was An Honour To Be Nominated EP Launch.

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+ Guest George Houston. Doors 8pm. Tickets £6. 

Join Niall McDowell as they launch their new EP of beautifully twisted alt-country songs of love and loss – ‘It Was An Honour To Be Nominated’.

The sophomore EP follows their recently released single ‘Brokeback’, with production by Ryan McGroarty (Start Together Studios) and Chris Ryan. Contrasting with their debut lo-fi EP ‘Valentine’ in 2019, ‘It Was An Honour…’ is the first release for McDowell with full band recordings.

“I have been working on these songs over the course of the past two years, and I’m very proud to finally have a small body of work that exemplifies my ever-changing style as an artist. I started to release music just before the pandemic, and since then I’ve felt very disconnected from any kind of scene as a queer songwriter, and the creation of this project has been incredibly validating in moving closer to finding community, to understanding more about the craft of songwriting and coming to terms with my own feelings surrounding grief and loss. There’s a mesh of narratives within these five songs, written as I grappled with situations in real time, and in the end I believe it came together as a time-capsule more than anything, of a chapter that I am relieved to be over with but grateful to have experienced.” —Niall McDowell

‘It Was An Honour To Be Nominated’ balances the maximal and minimal leanings of McDowell’s songwriting; the spacey, sombre fingerpicking folk of ‘Brokeback’; the full-blown country and western in ‘Tennessee’; the 90s dream-pop in ‘Down To You; the 60s crooning within ‘Personal Hell’. All of this culminates in the title track, that stands as a fierce, earnest mission statement, as McDowell chants to whoever will listen that they just don’t get it yet.

‘It Was An Honour To Be Nominated’ is out now.

George Houston

Donegal singer songwriter George Houston started his music career in September 2020 with his
debut single Boo Fucking Hoo which since its release has funded and pushed him to release his
debut album Cold Toast. The 13 track album swings through genres like synth pop, folk, Country, vintage pop and reggae. It’s been played on radio and playlists nationwide and has gained a strong following for the artist with over 38k streams on Spotify after its release in June. Cold Toast was set as Ocean FMs Album of the week and played across Ireland on stations like Dublin digital radio, Dundalk FM, Highland radio, Drive 105, Radio Nova and Shannon Side FM to name a few.