In 2017, I wrote a post titled 'Russell Crowe And Alan Doyle Help Out A Fan' published on 14 June, 2017 about Russell Crowe and Alan Doyle inspiring a young fan and musician Meg Doherty by providing constructive feedback on her music and even purchasing albums and songs.
Recently Meg produced a new song 'Ana' and shared the recording via YouTube and Russell Crowe's official Twitter account. Again Russell Crowe provided positive feedback and encouragement and led the charge to purchased the song. This gesture is a totally awesome thing to do. And what a great Christmas present for any young creative person. Alan Doyle also provided constructive feedback and shared the YouTube music video via his official Twitter account.
I have circulated a copy of Meg's song 'Ana' on my Google + page for those fans interest. The song is totally awesome.
Recently Meg did an interview titled 'Blog Interview : Meg Doherty' by for an online site called 'Platinummind.net' published on 14 December, 2018. I was interested in her comments about how Alan Doyle had influenced her as a songwriter. I have copied some of her comments here.
The article has been edited for copyright reasons. I have enclosed a link here http://platinummind.net/index.php/2018/12/14/blog-interview-meg-doherty/ No copyright infringement intended.
"...Tell us about “Ana”.
Yes! So ‘Ana’ is the new single from my upcoming album which is due out early next year. It’s the first song I wrote for the album and I knew it was a single from the start. It was one of those songs which wrote itself, I didn’t have to think too much about the music and the narrative is based on true experiences. The album is a break up album (a well-used concept, I know) and this song is about the feeling of not wanting to let go of a relationship even though you know it’s toxic. Ana is actually a dear friend, featured on the album artwork. Isn’t she beautiful?! Haha, she’s very wise, which you can hear about in verse one.
What is your writing process?
I get asked this a lot and it’s not something you think about as you’re songwriting but I’ve finally figured what I actually do! I tend to write lyrics down whenever I feel inspired, be it on the street, in work or in the bath. I keep various random lyrics on my phone and in notebooks; when I actually sit down to write I tend to start with a musical idea and then go back to my lyric list and see if any fit in with the chords. It usually works out nicely!
Who have been your biggest influences for writing?
There are so many! Alan Doyle (Great Big Sea) has been a huge influence for years. He has a great Celtic rock sound in his songs and these radiate so much energy on stage; that’s inspired me to write songs with a similar feel that people would enjoy singing and clapping along to during gigs. Kate Bush is also a huge influence- the songwriting queen. Her lyrics are so emotive and she writes such unusual narratives which you don’t tend to hear much of in the charts or on the radio these days. I try to paint a picture in listeners’ minds with metaphors in lyrics the way Kate does, rather than use blunt, predictable language.
Another huge influence, particularly for songs in my upcoming album, has been LP. If you’ve not heard of her, I definitely recommend getting your ears around her songs. Her trademark whistle inspired me to include some of my own whistling in my songs! I listened to her album ‘Lost On You’ a lot when writing for my new album. The mood of her song ‘Other People’ was a great inspiration for lyrics throughout the writing process...."
Recently Meg did an interview titled 'Blog Interview : Meg Doherty' by for an online site called 'Platinummind.net' published on 14 December, 2018. I was interested in her comments about how Alan Doyle had influenced her as a songwriter. I have copied some of her comments here.
The article has been edited for copyright reasons. I have enclosed a link here http://platinummind.net/index.php/2018/12/14/blog-interview-meg-doherty/ No copyright infringement intended.
"...Tell us about “Ana”.
Yes! So ‘Ana’ is the new single from my upcoming album which is due out early next year. It’s the first song I wrote for the album and I knew it was a single from the start. It was one of those songs which wrote itself, I didn’t have to think too much about the music and the narrative is based on true experiences. The album is a break up album (a well-used concept, I know) and this song is about the feeling of not wanting to let go of a relationship even though you know it’s toxic. Ana is actually a dear friend, featured on the album artwork. Isn’t she beautiful?! Haha, she’s very wise, which you can hear about in verse one.
What is your writing process?
I get asked this a lot and it’s not something you think about as you’re songwriting but I’ve finally figured what I actually do! I tend to write lyrics down whenever I feel inspired, be it on the street, in work or in the bath. I keep various random lyrics on my phone and in notebooks; when I actually sit down to write I tend to start with a musical idea and then go back to my lyric list and see if any fit in with the chords. It usually works out nicely!
Who have been your biggest influences for writing?
There are so many! Alan Doyle (Great Big Sea) has been a huge influence for years. He has a great Celtic rock sound in his songs and these radiate so much energy on stage; that’s inspired me to write songs with a similar feel that people would enjoy singing and clapping along to during gigs. Kate Bush is also a huge influence- the songwriting queen. Her lyrics are so emotive and she writes such unusual narratives which you don’t tend to hear much of in the charts or on the radio these days. I try to paint a picture in listeners’ minds with metaphors in lyrics the way Kate does, rather than use blunt, predictable language.
Another huge influence, particularly for songs in my upcoming album, has been LP. If you’ve not heard of her, I definitely recommend getting your ears around her songs. Her trademark whistle inspired me to include some of my own whistling in my songs! I listened to her album ‘Lost On You’ a lot when writing for my new album. The mood of her song ‘Other People’ was a great inspiration for lyrics throughout the writing process...."
