Laura McCarthy's debut album, 'A Landing Place '- an exploration of landscape, farming and country life - will be launched at Creedon's Hotel, Inchigeelagh, Co. Cork, on October 17. 

The folk singer-songwriter grew up on a dairy farm and studied ecology and organic horticulture. She has a passion for sustainable living and the environment that inspires her music.

Laura also comes from a musical family.

She told Agriland: "My sister, Elaine, is featured on the album playing cello while our maternal grandfather, Dan Horgan, was a well known songwriter in Crinaloo, Millstreet."

Laura lives on the family farm near Macroom, Co. Cork, producing organic vegetables for local markets.

In 2016, she released 'Gan Ainm', an EP of six original songs, recorded with Karen O'Doherty, a member of Mick Flannery's band, receiving airplay on Raidió na Gaeltachta as well as local radio stations.

The following year, Laura won first prize in the Cork Folk Festival Noel Brazil songwriting competition with 'Cronin's Plough', inspired by Jim Cronin, an organic farmer who works his fields with horses in Co. Clare.

'Cronin's Plough' attracted the attention of RTE Radio 1's Ruth Smith, presenter of 'Simply Folk', who played the song on air and included a link to it on the RTÉ website, describing Laura as one of "the new generation of Irish folk talent".

In May 2020, Laura received the Arts Council Covid-19 Crisis Response Award to create a 17-minute music film titled 'Music of the Land' featuring her original folk songs, drawing on the local landscape and soundscape of rural west Cork.

Laura is also co-host of the Inchigeelagh Folk Club at Creedon's Hotel, Co. Cork, where she also organises local songwriter nights.

'A Landing Place' opens with a rousing rock anthem, 'Poisons for Sale', asking hard questions about our attitudes to dangerous substances.

This is followed by 'The Rutted Earth', where a host of fairies watch "the rock-breakers eat the hill".

Historic context is never far away, with numerous tales of country life, like the musical setting of an Edward Walsh poem from the 19th century, 'O'Donovan's Daughter.'

Laura also produced the accompanying video, exploring the ecology of a folk song and the Araglin river valley where the song is set.

'The Story of a Rich Man and his Orchard' was adapted from the Dúchas schools' collection and features Pat Kelleher on his long-neck banjo.

'In the Shadow of the Glen' is the retelling of a play by JM Synge, while 'Dark Moon Hollow' is a lively up-tempo country song that would not be out of place in Appalachia.

'Lovely Flowed the Lee' celebrates Cork's best known river, pondering if a solution will ever be found to the situation that wild salmon have not used the river since it was dammed in the 1950s.

The album also features a poem by Laura's sister, Bernadette McCarthy. 'Shinrin-yoku' is a celebration of woodlands in the Japanese style, played on piano by Jake Kalilec.

'The Curlew Calls' is a song on solo guitar featuring the lonesome curlew call, once heard all across Irish farmland.

The album also encompasses a personal journey through the emotional rupture of seeing her family's herd of cows sold, with a musical medley including a traditional arrangement of 'Kitty goes a-milking'.

Three years in the making, the album is an evocative tapestry of musical styles from its punk rock opening through lush string waltzes to old-time country, banjo picking, and melodic piano, all adorned by Laura's haunting singing.

Alongside Laura's guitar, violins, mandolin and string bass, 'A Landing Place' features some of Cork's most talented musicians, including Pat Kelleher, Martin Leahy, Jake Kalilec, Elaine Urquhart, Brian Casey, and Leo Mullane.  

Advance booking for the launch is recommended. On the night, a band comprising Karen O'Doherty (violin); Orlaith Ní Challanáin (cello), and Tom Jordan (clarinet) will join Laura for a selection of songs from the album. Attendees will receive a complimentary CD.