Lou finds fresh inspiration from folklore

SIXMILEBRIDGE singer-songwriter, Lou McMahon continues to find inspiration in folklore with the release of her remixed and remastered single ‘Pockets of Change’, produced by Terry Woods of The Pogues.

The track, which had its first Irish air play on The Blue of the Night with Bernard Clarke on Lyric FM last week, tells the story of a girl who loses the will to live, until she is saved by love. It was originally written and recorded in 2008 for the EP Delicate Dancer, and is a follow up to ‘Wide Eyed Lady’, a single which was also remixed and re-released last November. The gothic-themed video for that track clocked up more than 40,000 views on social media platforms and achieved both airplay across Ireland, the UK, Slovakia and Italy.

Lou is also fresh from guesting with an international collective of 56 musicians calling themselves The PoguestrA.

Using remote technology to record together over the course of the 2020 lockdowns, The PoguestrA covered eight Pogues tracks. For Christmas, Lou guested on ‘Fairytale of New York’, alongside The Include choir from Surrey, English singer Jon Boden, and Dutch accordionist, Tren van Enckevort.

Through the years, the much-loved artist has performed as a support act to many influential Irish artists including Mundy, Mary Coughlan, Freddie White and Jack L. During lockdown, she has also been involved in a number of high-profile remote collaborations with international musicians.

Lou is also a freelance cultural journalist contributing to Culture File on RTÉ’s Lyric FM. She is also presenter of ‘The Cool of the Evening’ on Limerick City Community Radio. Her thirst for travelling the globe led to Lou working as a featured soloist musician with Princess Cruises. A trip to Alaska was the subject of the documentary A River, which gives a personal account of Lou’s daily life as a singer-songwriter.

She has performed in Canada, Australia, Europe and America. Signed to ARC Music for synchronisation publishing, Lou’s songs have received airplay from national and international radio shows. ‘A River’ featured on The Apprentice TV3 and ‘Wide Eyed Lady’ on The Ultimate Guide to Irish Folk compilation album.