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By Kelly Dunn
Luân Parle has taken Ireland by storm. She's been voted recently as; Best Irish Pop Act and The People's Choice awards. Luan (Pronounced: Lou-Awn) has taken time today to talk with me about her new found success and her songwriting. Luan is definately the cream of the songwriting crop. Listening to her CD reminds us how deep her talent truly is. This young songwriter will be around for many years to come. Luan has displayed her talents in both acoustic and live band settings. Her new CD has arrived and she's ready to conquer the world one show at a time!
Kelly Dunn: I listened to your list your new CD and it's great!
Luân Parle : Thanks Kelly, I love MySpace - it's great, I check it every day. I try to answer as many people as I can but its one of the fastest growing thing in Ireland so it's nearly a fulltime job at this stage!
Kelly Dunn: So you are getting alot of airplay?
Luân Parle : That's why I spend alot of time on there to build up my profile. On Myspace I am nearing 100,000 plays and my song “Failed Romances” was the 10th most played song on Irish Radio stations in 2006.
Kelly Dunn: Tell me about your new CD!
Luân Parle : Its called “Free” and it's available via some links on MySpace although it was only released in Ireland in late 2007. You can also read some of the reviews on myspace. We are currently on tour here in Ireland with the album and opened for INXS recently (amazing!) We will also be opening for Nancy Griffith on her Irish Tour in July. I grew up listening to Nancy Griffth; she's a legend. It's an honour to be on the same stage with her. Then the Midlands Festival at the end of that month.
Kelly Dunn: Where do you get your song inspiration?
Luân Parle : I keep a notebook by my side. I get up in the middle of the night after having mad dreams. So I pick up on the girl conversations, and the world around me.
Kelly Dunn: So what's it like living in Ireland?
Luân Parle : I love Ireland. It's a great country. I was born and raised here. I spend time in in California and that was great. I spent time in LA and San Fransico and I saw Prince at in New York and that was great. Ireland has gorgeous beaches. But the sun is hasn't been out for a long time!
Kelly Dunn: Oh no, I believe we have all of your sun!
Luân Parle : (Laughter) That's too funny! I love to get outside and play and write music outside but right now it's not happening!
Kelly Dunn: What are you drinking at the moment?
Luân Parle :I'm having some tea!
Kelly Dunn: Is it ice tea?
Luân Parle : (Laughter) That's funny. We don't drink ice tea over here. It's always hot tea. I found it strange when I went to the states that folks drank ice tea. It's kinda odd to me!
Kelly Dunn: What's one of your favorite songs that you've written on this CD?
Luân Parle : That's a hard one, I love them all because they are my babies. "A Song For You" is about an uncle of mine, he had a brain hemmorage and he went into a comma. So I'd go to the hospital and just tell him about my travels and what I was doing. Another song is, "Looking Throught The Backdoor". It was rare to have a window in the studio and I was constantly looking through this one, small window. What was facing me was a door. All of us in the studio began looking at the door out the window. We began thinking about melodies and things..so my mind started racing, like it usually does, and I came up with this stroy about a guy cheating on his girl, and the girl is peeping through the door. She actually catches him cheating, so in reality he thinks he's getting away with something but really she's looking through the door catching him.
Kelly Dunn: It's great to have such a great imagination!
Luân Parle : I love it! Another song of my favorites is, "Ghost". That song is on MySpace. I released it in Ireland about four years ago. So when I started out creating this new CD I wanted to bring this song back with just vocal and piano. It's one of the my favorite songs to sing.
Kelly Dunn: How did you begin songwriting?
Luân Parle : I wrote my first song at eleven years old. I was always singing since I was a baby. My dad was a songwriter and he got me to write down everything that came to my mind. I was on the "Late, Late Show" with Conan O'Brian for a Chritmas show. I sang one of the first songs that I wrote, "I Look Up To The Sky". I learned to play guitar at seven years old. The reason I learned the guitar song was the song competitions in my town. One day my friend, who played the guitar in our duo, was sick. From that point on I decided to go ahead and lean the guitar so I didn't have to rely on anyone else again, and, here I am today...(Laughter)
Kelly Dunn: Tell us about these awads that you've won..
Luân Parle : Yes! It was completely unexpected! I was in the three category, Best Irish Female, Best Irish Pop Act and The People's Choice awards. To win that night was amazing!
Kelly Dunn: How are the winner's selected?
Luân Parle :It's a public vote, we have a phone network called, "Meteor" and you could vote by phone or online. It's open to the Irish public. So that meant a lot to me because it was based on the results of the public voting.
Kelly Dunn: And the other award?
Luân Parle : The other award is called, "The Big Buzz Awards". Again, this is a public vote that takes place up in Northern Ireland in the city of Belfast. It was more unexpected! (Laughter) I was up against Snow Patrol and Duke Special, Duke won that o, But I won the Best Stylish Award!
Kelly Dunn: What were wearing?
Luân Parle : It's a real formal affair so I couldn't wear jeans, so I was wearing black trousers, with a white blouse with a gold necklace with pearls in the string.
Kelly Dunn: What guitars that own...
Luân Parle : I just bought a Martin! It's my baby! I saved so long to buy the Martin. I had a Yamaha that I played for five years. The first guitar that I owned was called, "Jay Walkers'.
Kelly Dunn: Jay Walker, Is this a brand name in Ireland?
Luân Parle : I have never heard or seen that brand name guitar again! I wonder if they still make them, I don't know. I got the guitar from an Irish backpacker who died while hiking in Australia. Somehow the guitar ended back with my my dad. It's a smaller body style. I wrote my first song on this guy. I beleive the guy that died still has his spirit in that guitar. I believe in those things. Going back to the Martin's, the salesman from the store brought to me three guitars so I could try them out. The ended up buying the first guitar that I picked up! I loved it! I usually like the smaller body styled guitars. I played the other two but I ended up with the mid-sized guitar. I'm not very tall so it's funny that I ended up with the mid-sized Martin.
Kelly Dunn: What's a regular day in the life of Luan?
Luân Parle : Between promoting the tour, and being on the road, I'm busy writing material for the next album. I've gotten a lot of inspiration while being on the road.
Kelly Dunn: How would you describe your music?
Luân Parle : It's a cross between Country-Rock-Folk-Blues. It's kinda tough, the live show is more Rock. But there are shows that I do with, Gavin Raston, and we play mandalin, acoustic, slide, electric, harmonica, piano and percussion instruments. And it's great because I learn a lot doing the acoustic shows because you can hide with a huge band.
Kelly Dunn: So the acoustic shows forces you to become a better musician?
Luân Parle : Exactly! It's make you a better player and it makes you interact more with the audience than being in a band. I love the band and I love this. I'm getting great feedback from the audience. I get to ask the audience what they like about the new songs. From their response that goes into the decision making for what songs make it onto futures. I love doing both the acoustic and band shows the same, it's hard to pick one over the other. They each have their own unique qualities.
Kelly Dunn: I see that you have to get to the sound check for tonights show. It's been my great please to meet with you today! Thanks again for spending time with SongwriterPro...
Luân Parle : Kelly, it's been my great please to meet with you. Hopefully, one day soon, you will be able to come over to Ireland to visit. It was great chatting with you today! Please check out my new web site, there's loads of new songs to check out. Tell everyone at SongwriterPro that I said hello!
Article: © SongwriterPro.com Kelly Dunn - All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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