RoisinO1Having seen her career go from strength to strength since the release of her debut album ’The Secret Life of Blue’ last October, Róisín O has achieved a lot in the last twelve months. Now she finds herself just back from a tour of the US; it’s an incredible achievement so early on in the young Dubliner’s career and yet she shows no sign of taking a break anytime soon, with a German tour alongside Ryan Sheridan planned for later this year.

However the success isn’t lost on the modest musician who is well aware of her overwhelming achievements with no element of her career being taken for granted. Understandably she admits that her recent U.S tour was her personal highlight of the past twelve months, describing the experience as a dream come true;  “…the whole thing seems so surreal to me. It’s something I’ve always dreamed of, touring across America, but I never thought I’d get to do it so early in my career. It was an unbelievable experience.”

Thanks to the success of her album Róisín seems to be one step closer to finally overcoming the media’s determination to always compare her with her well-known family, particularly mother Mary Black and brother Danny O’Reilly of the Coronas. From the onset Róisín has voiced her discontent with always being linked with her family members, but now that her music is being picked up on its own merit it seems she is one step closer to getting recognition for her own abilities as a musician. This was particularly important to her because she has always felt that “...every artist wants to be recognised for their work. As an artist who often gets judged before people have even heard me, I think, in a way, it’s even more important for me.”

Earlier this year Róisin appeared on ‘Glaoch the President’sCall’, where she performed How Long. This no doubt allowed her to reach an audience previously unaware of her powerful vocals and charm. Although a highly formal and public affair Róisín seems to have cherished every moment of the experience. “It was brilliant! Being chosen to perform alongside such amazing musicians was a huge honour for me. It was so lovely performing for the President and his wife, they really made me feel welcome.” From a glance it might seem that her success has come with great ease but it hasn’t all been plain sailing for the musician – along with the pressure of being who she is, she’s also had to work hard musically.

One of the realities of being an up and coming musician is the lack of resources at your disposal and Róisín was faced with reality when her tour of the US could only be made viable if she went it alone. This exposed a problem; Róisín wasn’t a strong guitarist. As a result, the amateur guitarist was forced to spend countless months in her room with her guitar prior to hitting America. It seems though that this was all part of Róisín’s development into a self-believing musician and she describes the whole experience as “nerve racking, but the response I got from the American audiences gave me so much confidence. It felt so great being able to back myself and not depend on other people, it was an invaluable experience for me.”

Yet, it’s not just Róisin that has developed as a musician; her band has changed over the short period of time as well.  Now only playing with one of the original band-members who contributed to ‘Secret Life of Blue’, Róisín acknowledges the original line-up’s influence of the sound created, but she also welcomes a shift in performers, claiming that working with different musicians “…really gets the creative juices flowing! I love playing with other musicians. I think having musicians around you trust and respect can only add to the creative process. Most of the songs on the album were written with myself, Alan Tully, Brian Murphy and Ruth O’Mahony Brady, three great musicians who were in the band at the time and played on the album too. Their input really influenced the sound of the album as a whole. Though I’m still playing with Ruth the rest of the line-up has changed a bit. I’ve really enjoyed getting to meet and play with new musicians over the last year.”

As a female musician she seems to have a lot to offer her fans and her growing ability as a musician is bound to see their numbers flourish. Róisín returns to Dublin next month to perform in Whelan’s. Although it means flying back especially from her German tour with Ryan Sheridan the musician is excited to be returning to her home crowd. It not only promises to be a great gig but she has promised to give us a listen of the new material she has been working on!