Elly happy to wear her heart on her sleeve

Ambitious singer-songwriter Elly O’Keeffe plays Monroe’s Live this Sunday, May 3. Elly is currently based in London, having moved there from her native Cork.

“I moved here just over a year ago because I’m recording an album with Joe Hirst, the producer I’m working with,” she says. “It’s going really well, I’m about halfway through it.”

Joe took an interest in Elly’s brand of stirring folk music when he heard her performing at a gig in Cork about five or six years ago.

“I was recording my first album at the time, but I gave him my email address and we stayed in contact for about two years,” Elly says. “Then I came over to London to visit my brother and thought I’d contact Joe, because I was thinking about doing a gig. We had a meeting, and I didn’t realise he was so involved with the industry.”

Elly is hoping Joe Hirst’s experience in London’s crowded music scene will help her get a foothold there.

“Joe’s really managing me at the moment, he’s co-writing and producing with me,” Elly says. “He’s kind of like my mentor. He’s been dealing with publishers and having meetings with certain people.  It’s exciting.”

Her latest single, You, has just been released, and follows in the tradition of heartfelt folk, with superb instrumental backing.

For more, see this week’s Connacht and City Tribune