A seventeen-year-old Carndonagh teenager is brimming with ambition as she launches into the music scene in Donegal.
Amy O’Connor is a talented performer with a beautiful voice and a clear goal – to make it big this year.
The fifth-year Carn Community School student has always loved music, but nobody had heard her voice until just three years ago.
Available for parties, weddings, and pubs, Amy is eager to share her love of music. And audiences are already enjoying her unique style and energy.
Amy tells Donegal Woman: “I picked up singing because I love to connect with music. I lost my mother when I was four years old, so I used singing to grow up in a way, and I’ve been singing all my life, but none of my family knew I could sing until three years ago.”
It was at a school talent show when Amy wowed her family with a powerful voice she had kept hidden for so long.
But now, she’s ready to get touring, and it couldn’t be more perfect timing with parties and dancing back in full swing. She embraces any music style for any occasion, be it pop Irish folk, country or other.
The Arch Inn in Carndonagh was Amy’s first pub gig last weekend, and she and her guitarist John McLaughlin had the crowd up dancing and singing along. Word is already getting out about the duo, and they’re determined to make it an unforgettable summer of performing.
“I’m so glad to have John by my side,” Amy said, “He comes from a talented family and we work well together.”
“I’m definitely going to keep working hard in the summer, I want to get out there and I’m trying to inspire others to get out there too, if you have a talent. This is what I am doing at such a young age, showing that all you have to do is believe in yourself. My goal for this year is get out and do gigs, next year I’m hoping to be able to teach younger girls and boys how to become a singer themselves.”
Amy says her self-belief is always driven by her late mother, Maureen. “I would look up to my mum a lot, I lost her so young everything I do, I always keep her memory alive.”
Amy has also dedicated a business to her mum’s memory – Maureen Makes – and she raised over €8,000 with a 5k walk for Donegal Hospice in 2018 on the tenth anniversary of Maureen’s passing.
Amy’s family and friends are hugely supportive of her new venture and are eagerly spreading the word about her launch into the local scene.
“They’ve always been so supportive, I am so lucky,” Amy said.
And there’s so much more to come from this up-and-coming artist. Listen out for her and John at summer festivals and follow Amy’s Facebook (click here) to get in contact about bookings.
Have a listen here:
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