Makings are quickly making a name for themselves in the Northwest of Ireland due to their annual St. Stephen’s Day event in The Balor Arts Centre, Ballybofey, Donegal, which has sold out the past two years running.

They are now making their presence known on the east coast after they closed out the Saturday night of Whelans ‘Ones To Watch 2019’ in the main venue with a blistering forty-minute set that crossed the T’s, dotted the I’s, filled the floor from start to finish and left everyone in attendance wanting more.

They return to the legendary venue on Sat 16th February upon the release their latest EP, and will embark on a short tour of Germany on 21st February, taking in Berlin, Kiel and Hamburg on their merry way.

Tickets for the EP launch are €10 and can be purchased from Whelan’s main website or www.makingsmusic.com

A glance at her worldwide touring schedule in 2019 shows little sign that Lucy Dacus is slowing down, and in fact, she will release a series of songs titled 2019 to celebrate. Recorded in here-and-there studio spurts over the last two years, 2019 will be released later this year as a physical EP, and will be made up of originals and cover songs tied to specific holidays, each of which will be released around their respective date: Valentine’s Day, Taurus season and US Mother’s Day, American Independence Day, Springsteen’s Birthday, Halloween, Christmas, and New Year’s.

In honour of Valentine’s Day, Dacus has released a cover of Edith Piaf’s ‘La Vie En Rose’ sung in both French and English. Dacus’ clear vocals and faint vibrato float over the chiming piano, a starry-eyed, upbeat take on the classic tune, and a hint at her pop-star potential.  “From the first time I heard it, I thought ‘La Vie En Rose’ was a perfect song. Hearing it, I knew that, one day, I would fall in love,” says Dacus, adding “I want someone to listen to this while running at top speed to the doorstep of the person they adore, ready to profess their deep, undying love. (PS, there’s a longer story about singing this song as a duet with my middle school janitor, but it is not concise).”

Dacus uses her gift as a songwriter to help understand and cope with the world around her, including making sense of national holidays, often more geared towards social media boasts and manufactured consumerism than authentic celebration.  “What is going on,” she asks herself on these days, retreating from the heightened expectations of holidays to figure out what to make of them and to find her own meaning.  “I've collected some songs from trying to answer that question,” she says, and “this series seems like the right place to put them next to each other.  These songs are self-contained, not indicative of a new direction, just a willingness to do something different and sometimes even out of character.”

Tour Dates:

5/31 - Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Festival

1/6 - Hilvarenbeek, NL - Best Kept Secret Festival

8/6 - Porto, PT - NOS Primavera Sound

29/6 – 6/7 - Roskilde, DE - Roskilde Festival