Music « Thurles Information

The Saturdays – Chasing Lights Album – Una Healy

The Saturdays are a new five piece girl group who are set to take the charts by storm with their debut album ‘Chasing Lights‘. Building on the success of the now immortal Spice Girls and reality TV show winners come superstars Girls Aloud, The Saturdays are starting to prove their might among their female pop star peers.

Their first two singles ‘If this is Love‘ and ‘Up‘ have heralded the beginning of the girls’ reign in the charts. And while Ireland remains synonymous for its successful boy-bands like Westlife and Boyzone, its girl groups (remember Bewitched and Belfire!) have never really fared as well as the boys.

While four of the five girls in The Saturdays are English, they are fronted by Thurles town native Una Healy.

Una should be very well known to our towns residents. She comes from a very musical background and began writing original music and playing guitar at the early age of thirteen. Una also fronted local rock band ‘Unreal‘ for a couple of years and was also a contestant on the RTE reality TV show ‘You’re A Star‘.

Before joining the Saturdays, Una won recognition in 2004 and 2006 by winning the Glinsk Song Contest. In 2006 she released an EP entitled ‘Sorry‘.

From RTE to MTV, Thurles is very proud to see Una achieve the success that has appeared to be so forthcoming for the last number of years. The Saturdays’ debut album ‘Chasing Lights‘ is in the stores now.

Bua – The Thurles Connection

Described by their musical piers as ‘a superb band’ with ‘musicianship of the highest quality’, it is no surprise that Bua, taking their name from the Irish Gaelic word for victory, have quickly emerged as North America’s premier traditional Irish music act.

With a sound steeped in the traditional flair and romance of the Irish idiom it is no coincidence that each of the band’s five members has strong connections to the country from which their music, indeed their livelihood stems.

Bodrán and banjo player Jackie Moran is of particular interest as he was born in Thurles before immigrating to Chicago Illinois with his family when he was still only 10. He grew up to be a stalwart of the Chicago Irish music scene as a highly sought-after bodhrán player. Jackie has toured with such renowned names as Riverdance, the Trinity Irish Dance Company, the Drovers and Ensemble Galilei and he has recorded with many of today’s greatest traditional Irish musicians. Renowned for his vibrant and articulate drumming, Moran is integral to Bua’s dynamic rhythm section.

Jackie’s success with Bua has catapulted the band to the forefront of the popular traditional Irish scene in the United States and the group have played and performed at numerous prestigious festivals such as the Irish Connections festival in Boston and Celtic Fest in Chicago. Having achieved credible levels of success with their ‘Gan Bua’ and ‘Live at Martyrs’ albums, the band are due to release a new studio album of original material at the beginning of 2009.