Hailing from Strabane in County Tyrone, Lauren Bird is is an artist steadily making a name for herself within the Irish singer-songwriter scene. In May 2014 Bird – or McGeogh to the family postman – uploaded her self-titled debut EP onto Bandcamp, and within two days it had hit the number one spot on the site’s acoustic chart.
Bird’s affiliation with the world of music began after she took up the viola aged 7, and from there she gravitated toward the guitar, piano, drums, bass and finally the ukulele. It’s the latter instrument that is the main focus of her musical affection these days, and one that sits rather aptly alongside her short, sharp and rather personal songs.
Last year she won Chordblossom’s Kickstarter competition, with a prize that not only included the chance to shoot her first music video, for her ‘Goodbye, Good Luck’ single, but there was also a slot on the bill for the Stendhal Music Festival with her name on it. Prior to performing her self-penned tunes in public, Bird would instead play covers at open mic nights, however following a gentle push in the right direction from her music teacher, she began to sing her autobiographical songs about love (‘Tonight’), moving on (‘Goodbye, Good Luck’) and anxiety (‘Ode To Anxiety’), to increasinglhy appreciative audiences.
With a very bright few months ahead, here’s hoping that Bird will continue to blend her inner thoughts with the pop driven sensibilities that have helped her thus far. Conor Callanan
