New Documentary on Ireland’s Homegrown Music Scene

Hermitage Green, Orla Gartland, and Conor Donovan of Dublin’s Ruby Sessions are among those featured in a new short documentary on the state of the Irish music industry. “HomeGrown: Ireland’s Music Scene” is directed by Cathal Flaherty and produced by Ciarán O’Brien, and was nominated for the ‘Best Factual’ award at this year’s Limerick Film Festival.

Clocking in at 12 minutes, ‘HomeGrown’ features figures from all corners of the scene discussing, among other things, the difficulties that go with building a fan base here, the dearth of radio play given to native artists, and the differences between our own scene and those further afield. Donovan, Gartland, and Rick O’Shea of RTÉ’s 2fm offer their opinions on what has changed in recent years, and what has remained much the same.

Meanwhile, live footage of Niall Thomas, Hermitage Green and Join Me In The Pines provides the excellent soundtrack.

Short, to the point, and lovely to look at, this is a documentary that should appeal to anyone interested in where Irish music is, and where it is going.