New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Belfast singer-songwriter Gareth Dunlop today releases "My Kind of Paradise", the final single from his upcoming album Animal out this Friday, April 22. Premiered on Hollywood Life, Gareth wrote the track while homesick, when he was working in L.A. As many plans have changed these past few years, Gareth explains the video (directed by Jamie Neish): "My original idea was to shoot the video on the North Coast of Ireland using lots of clever props my wife made. All hell broke loose - wind and rain, cars got stuck in the sand, props got soaked and ruined, signs blew away...So we shot a one-take with a fake beach scene built around me."
Gareth Dunlop recorded Animal in his own Sycamore Studios just prior to lockdown, where he also produced new records by friends and fellow Northern Irish musicians Foy Vance (Ed Sheeran's Gingerbread Man Records) and Lee Rogers. All three artists will soon be on tour together this spring, with Dunlop on additional duty as a member of Vance's live band (tickets here). He's previously toured with Van Morrison, Jeff Beck,
Snow Patrol & Stereophonics. Animal was mixed by Gareth's frequent collaborator Alastair McMillan, who had also recorded Dunlop's first studio sessions at Dublin's esteemed Windmill Lane and has engineered for U2, The
Rolling Stones and Van Morrison. It will be released on Zenith Cafe, a label based in Northern Ireland that is dedicated to promoting artists from the region.
Tipped as "one to watch" by BBC, Dunlop has released a handful of EPs and one album that have been musically eclectic yet have all showcased his highly soulful voice, with several of his songs going on to be used in the hit TV series Nashville, other shows (Lucifer, This Is U, Bones, Suits), movies (The Best Of Me, Safe Haven) and commercials (Disney, Subaru). He also has songwriting credits for recordings by a diverse range of stars that include T.I.,
Tim McGraw &
Faith Hill and John Oates, who called him "the real deal."
Inspired by icons such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan,
Jimi Hendrix and Tom Waits, plus a soupçon of Pink Floyd, Dunlop picked up a guitar aged 14 and soon began performing covers and original songs in live venues around Northern Ireland, RoI and the rest of the UK. In 2011, he won a Young Songwriter of the Year award in Belfast, which earned him an invite to perform in Nashville at the Bluebird Cafe, where he was signed to a publishing deal with Moraine
Music after his first performance there. This started his career as a songwriter, leading to touring the US and beyond.
US TOUR DATES WITH FOY VANCE
May 6 @ Levon Helm Studios - Woodstock, NY
May 7 @ Levon Helm Studios - Woodstock, NY
May 8 @ Theatre of Living Arts - Philadelphia, PA
May 10 @ Birchmere - Alexandria, VA
May 11 @ Webster Hall - New York, NY
May 13 @ Royale - Boston, MA
May 14 @ Center for the Arts - Homer, NY
May 17 @ Memorial Hall - Cincinnati, OH
May 18 @
James K. Polk Theater, Tennessee Performing Arts Center - Nashville, TN
May 20 @ The Cedar Cultural Center - Minneapolis, MN
May 21 @ Athenaeum Theatre - Chicago, IL
May 26 @ Neptune Theatre - Seattle, WA
May 27 @
Aladdin Theater - Portland, OR
May 31 @ Regent Theater - Los Angeles, CA
