Connacht Tribune
Headford native keeps it country to make her name in Nashville
Mariah Butler may have been voted off in the quarter finals of the penultimate Voice of Ireland contest, but it marked a profound turning point in her life.
Westlifer Kian Egan described Mariah’s performance as absolutely incredible: “You to me are someone who would genuinely make it. You took that song and made it authentic. You could go to Nashville in the morning and get a record deal,” he exclaimed.
UK popster Jamelia labelled her fantastic: “When I’m watching you performing on stage, I’m imagining you next to Carrie Underwood and holding your own.”
A week later the Headford girl had booked a ticket to Nashville, changed her name to the more distinctive Riah – which was how she was known to family and friends, and quickly immersed herself in the absolute epicentre of American country music.
“I came over with nothing, I knew nobody but I was encouraged by what the judges had said and I thought, I’m young, if I don’t do it now I’ll never do it.”
Within two days she had struck gold. She had sent a few sample songs to an agent called American Country Star and was invited to perform at a downtown venue for a singer showcase. It turned out that she was singing in front of the city’s top record producers and country music bosses.
The showcase was a weekly affair and she kept getting through the heats. Eventually after three months, she was crowned the winner and for her prize was to pick songs from some of the best publishers in town to create her first EP.
“It was amazing. I was sitting in the offices of Warner Music and here they were playing songs for me to see if I wanted to record them.”
‘On Sundays’ was an immediate success in Ireland, shooting to the top of the Irish country charts. Riah performed solo gigs at home, mainly in Dublin and Galway where she had a fanbase from the RTE series.
Back in Nashville, it gained a lot of airplay on independent radio stations and opened the door to regular gigs in renowned country venues.
American Country Star sponsored her work visa, allowing her to go back and forth with ease. But she has so far chosen not to sign with anyone, preferring to remain independent until she fully finds her feet.
While immensely proud of her debut, she feels she picked some songs that were not the best reflection of her.
So, for the last year she has put the head down to write her own material, all the while living the dream. A dream, she reveals, that is almost a mirror reflection of what’s depicted on the hit TV show Nashville.
“I was actually an extra on Nashville when I first came over. I got a chance to meet all the cast. And like the actors, I work part-time in a bar, I play gigs, I do what’s called a songwriters’ round, where you get paid to sing new material with other songwriters. I also meet up and co-write with other songwriters, something I never thought possible until I came here.”
A native of Ballycurran outside Headford, her dad Donal is in construction and her mam Marie is a tour guide in Galway City Museum. Their love of American country music such as Garth Brooks, the Dixie Chicks and Randy Travis inspired her from a young age. They took her to her first concert in 1997 to see Garth Brooks in Croke Park.
She went on to take on starring roles in the Renmore Pantomine where she honed her craft before a live audience.
But it was always country music which was her first love.
“Back home people don’t know who the hell I’m talking about when I mentioned certain country singers. Over here, it’s huge – it’s bigger than pop music. Here country singers are superstars.”
She’ll have the chance to play with some of those superstars when she takes to the stage at Harvest 2017, a two-day country music festival in both Westport and Enniskillen in late August.
She’s particularly excited about singing alongside American country music grammy award winner Miranda Lambert, Texas and Oklahoma duo Maddie and Tae whose debut single ‘Girl In A Country Song’ made them only the third female duo to peak their debut single at number in the history of the Billboard Country singles chart, as well as Nashville singer-songwriter Kip Moore.
“This is the first big American county music festival ever to come to the west. It’s going to be huge. It’s the stuff I adore – the more contemporary, modern country music. To be on a bill with people like that, it’s unbelievable.”
Her ambition is to tour with the likes of Miranda Lambert; another is to someday play the Grand Ole Opry, a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville.
She has fit right into Nashville, which lives and breathes country music.
“It honestly feels like home – it’s one of the friendliest cities I’ve ever been to. I thought with everyone doing the same thing it would be competitive, but it’s not – it’s completely the opposite. Everyone is so supportive, they want to co-write songs every day. They are probably some of the best friends I’ve ever made.”
Riah Butler will perform at Harvest 2017, a two-day country music festival featuring 40 international and Irish acts over four stages, which takes place at Enniskillen Airport and Westport House on August 26 and 27. The main headliners are Nathan Carter, Miranda Lambert and Charley Pride.
The Harvest Café will feature the people behind top hits, such as Earl Bud Lee, who wrote ‘Friends In Low Places’ (Garth Brooks), ‘Who Are You When I’m Not Looking’ (Blake Shelton) and ‘One Night at a Time’ (George Strait); Don Mescall, who wrote ‘Secret Smile’ (Rascal Flatts); Victoria Shaw, author of ‘The River’ (Garth Brooks) and ‘I Love The Way You Love Me’ (John Michael Montgomery).
As well as the music, there will be dedicated dancing sessions over the weekend. It features a food village, market stalls, funfair, full bar facilities, camping options including glamping, campervan facilities and family camping area.
Weekend camping and day tickets are available from Ticketmaster.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
