Craic On

There seems to be a huge amount of songwriting talent amongst the teenage girls of the area. Some of it has been nurtured first by Paddy McLaughlin in primary school and then in Moville Community College, the pantomime and the Up Scene.

One of the best young talents in the area is 19-year-old Laura Bonner from Greencastle. She took Moville by storm by winning a talent contest in Rawdons and getting a regular slot there. We put a few questions to her.

How did you get into music?

Said Laura “I always had a love of music but I only got into it properly in transition year because I never did music in school before then. I really enjoyed it so I started to teach myself guitar. I then began to do little gigs with a music organisation for young people called the Up Scene in 2010. This helped me build up a little confidence in my performance.

So how did you get into songwriting?

Said Laura “It was only in 2012 that I started to write my own songs. I really enjoy doing it and hope that in some way people can relate to my songs the same way I can relate to other artists songs. I feel songs are the best way of expressing how you feel in the way some conversations can’t”.

So what have the highlights of your musical career been so far?

She told us “The highlights so far have been playing at the Clipper Festival in Derry and in Greencastle and the X Factor competition in Rawdons last summer as that’s where I got recognized properly as a performer in Moville.

Do you get any gigs?

Said Laura “Now I play regularly in Rawdons which is pretty cool. I also have been playing a lot in Derry recently along with another great performer Susie-Blue.

Why did you enter the Songwriter Competition?

I’m really looking forward to playing in front of Tony Bramwell as I absolutely love the Beatles and to have the opportunity to play for someone who was associated with them is quite cool.

What are your plans for the future?

My plans for the future however surreal or ambitious is to hopefully play my songs to hundreds of people at festivals like Glasgowberry and Oxegen. But for now I’m trying to get myself and my songs recognized and build up my fan base”.

Well, there you have it. She’s already done pretty well in her young career in music but she has high ambitions for the future. As she is a Beatles fan perhaps I should share with her Tony Bramwell’s favourite Beatles song so that she can play it as one of her covers for him when he comes over for the Grand Finals weekend.

Laura will be playing at the Castle Inn tonight in the Moville & Greencastle Academy Songwriter Contest Heat 2 at 10pm.

You can hear the songs she is going to perform here – Loaded Gun
and
Liquid Confidence