BUSHMILLS IRISH WHISKEY® SETS UP LEGACY FUND FOR EMERGING ARTISTS, CURATED BY THIRD BAR’S GARY LIGHTBODY AND DAVY MATCHETT
David C Clements and VerseChorusVerse announced as first recipients of £20,000 fund created by Bushmills Irish Whiskey and Snow Patrol frontman’s artist development business, Third Bar
Bushmills Village: June 2013: Bushmills Irish Whiskey and artist development company Third Bar – made up of Snow Patrol lead singer, Gary Lightbody and Davy Matchett – today announced that they have joined forces to create and curate the Bushmills Live Legacy Fund.
Bushmills Live, the handcrafted whiskey and music festival, is a platform for established and emerging indie talent. This year the festival organisers wanted to take their commitment to supporting up-and-coming talent one step further and set up this Fund of £10,000. Recognising the significance this held for Northern Irish talent, Third Bar’s directors Gary and Davy pledged to curate and match this fund, creating a trust of £20,000 in total. They have selected two exciting emerging Northern Irish artists as recipients: David C Clements and VerseChorusVerse.
David C. Clements, 27, performed at Bushmills Live 2012, and since then has shared a stage with Ed Sheeran and co-written songs with Gary Lightbody. VerseChorusVerse, aka Tony Wright, 32, founder of ‘And So I Watch You From Afar’, has recently finished recording his highly anticipated debut album with fellow Bushmills Live performer and Ivor Novello winner*, Iain Archer, which is due for release later this year.
The team at Third Bar will be working with both to offer advice and guidance on the right places to invest their Fund**. Additionally, Bushmills will be lending a performance platform to the two artists at this year’s Bushmills Live. Both artists will be taking to the stage on 20th June alongside headliners Of Monsters and Men, Jake Bugg, Sons and Lovers, Willy Mason, Bear’s Den, Iain Archer and Foy Vance.
Gary Lightbody’s passion for the Northern Irish music scene saw him donate Snow Patrol’s fee for headlining Bushmills Live last year to the Oh Yeah Centre, Belfast. This donation led to the creation of Bush Gardens – Belfast’s largest rooftop performance space.
He commented: “It’s no secret that I am a passionate supporter of the Northern Irish music scene. Davy and I have been friends since school and we set up Third Bar together to help advise up-and-coming artists in the music industry which is why I think it is brilliant that the Bushmills brand is prepared to get involved at this grass roots level and put their money where their mouth is.”
He added: “I am a big fan of both David and VerseChorusVerse, having watched them both live – they have incredible stage presence and fantastic material, they just need a platform to make it big.”
Bushmills Master Distiller, Colum Egan, commented: “Bushmills Live provides us with a great music platform for established and emerging indie artists. Last year it was where Gary Lightbody watched David C Clements perform and where the idea for the Bushmills Live Legacy Fund was born. We decided that we wanted to provide further support to emerging artists, beyond lending them a stage at the festival. I’m really excited about seeing the recipients of the Fund perform among the casks and pot stills at the Old Bushmills Distillery in June and then following their progress on their path to global stardom.”
NOTES
Twitter: @BushmillsGlobal
Hashtag: #BushmillsLive
*Jake Bugg and Iain Archer received a nomination for this year’s Ivor Novello Awards for ‘best song musically and lyrically’ for ‘Two Fingers,’ a song they co-wrote.
**VerseChorusVerse is accessing the fund to assist paying for studio time, production and mixing costs relating to the recording of his debut album, due for release this year. David C Clements will be using the fund to assist the recording of his own debut solo album, due for release next year.
Tickets to Bushmills Live are no longer available – tickets were not available for sale but were won via a competition on Facebook. To find out more, visit facebook.com/bushmills1608.
BUSHMILLS LIVE LEGACY FUND ARTIST INFORMATION
About David C Clements:
David C Clements has been playing music throughout the UK and Europe more than a decade. Although his current guise has only been implemented from the beginning of last year, he previously fronted up Belfast act, Six Star Hotel. With a series of European tours, and a few critically acclaimed albums, he knew it was time for a change. He first dabbled in producing records for local acts, such as the Lowly Knights and Napoleon, but we all knew he would not stay off the road for long.
David C Clements, as a musical project, was born on 1st January 2012. Throughout the opening few months of 2012 David has released three two track EPs online, this has caused quite a stir throughout the industry, gaining him viral support from Two Door Cinema Club, a live session on BBC Radio One, a show at Union Chapel London, a Channel 4 advert and a plethora of local radio support.
“David has the voice of a melancholy angel. He has a rare ear for melody and lyrics that hit right at the heart of the human condition.” – Paul McClean, BBC Radio Ulster.
Website: http://davidcclements.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavidCClementsmusic
Twitter: @DavidCClements
ABOUT VERSECHORUSVERSE
VerseChorusVerse is the musical alias of Tony Wright, the founding member, and composer of some of the most popular songs for And So I Watch You From Afar.
When he left the band in late 2011, he darted quickly in the opposite direction, keen not to repeat himself stylistically. Since then he has been racking up the miles playing across the UK, Ireland and Spain along with artist approved supports of Daniel Johnston, William Elliot Whitmore, Michael Kiwanuka, Jonah Matranga and James Yorkston.
He recently finished recording his highly anticipated debut album with Iain Archer (Jake Bugg, Ben Francis Leftwich – an Ivor Novello winner), and is due to release it this year with PledgeMusic as he seeks to fund the accompanying campaign for the album.
Website: http://versechorusverse.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/versechorusverseVCV
Twitter: @Toeknee_Wright
BUSHMILLS LIVE VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjyzNFGuRmo
To launch the festival, Bushmills commissioned some good friends who are artisans to make a 3D art installation that depicts the Bushmills Live poster using materials inspired by the handcrafted whiskey and music at the heart of the festival. The master craftsmen who cemented their friendship when creating the stage set for a hugely popular American television epic that was filmed in Belfast – used 254 casks, 250 bottle tops, 30 bottles of whiskey, five metres of AMP wiring and four guitars to handcraft the 10ft by 16ft installation artwork.
ABOUT BUSHMILLS IRISH WHISKEY
With a heritage rooted in authenticity and quality, Bushmills Irish Whiskey is produced, aged and bottled at Ireland’s oldest working distillery in the village of Bushmills in County Antrim on the far north coast of Ireland. The Old Bushmills Distillery uses 100% malt barley to make triple distilled malt whiskey, which is what creates the rich, mellow and distinct flavour that is the house style. The Bushmills portfolio includes: Bushmills Irish Whiskey; Black Bush, Bushmills 10 Year Old Single Malt, Bushmills 16 Year Old Single Malt, Bushmills 21 Year Old Single Malt, Bushmills 1608 and now Bushmills Irish Honey.
ABOUT DIAGEO
Diageo is the world’s leading premium drinks business with an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, beer and wine categories. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, JεB, Buchanan’s, Windsor and Bushmills whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Jose Cuervo, Tanqueray and Guinness.
Diageo is a global company, with its products sold in more than 180 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE). For more information about Diageo, its people, brands, and performance, visit www.diageo.com. For Diageo’s global resource that promotes responsible drinking through the sharing of best practice tools, information and initiatives, visit www.DRINKiQ.com.
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