• ‘Houndstooth Shirt’ will be available for download from iTunes, eMusic and indiestore from April 18th 2008.

Ian Whitty: Houndstooth Shirt.

Houndstooth Shirt is the first single to be taken from Ian Whitty’s full length debut album. The song was written about a shirt that Ian bought in a thrift store in New York whilst doing some gigs there a couple of years ago. “I guess the song itself is about the feeling of promise and release that comes with a Friday after you have been dragged by the eye balls across your working week,” is what Ian himself says about the song.

The single features vibrant string and brass arrangements, and was recorded by Ian Whitty and his recording and touring band ‘The Exchange’ with top Irish producer Ken Mc Hugh last year.

Since Ian’s emergence, he has been a highly active figure in the thriving Cork scene as well as being invited to perform with many of the luminaries of the Irish scene including Declan O’Rourke, Bell X1, Josh Ritter, Damien Rice, The Frames and Roderigo y Gabriella, to name but a few. Most recently Ian has been invited to perform as part of the IMRO tour 2008.

Ian is a songwriter who firmly believes in craft and in always placing substance over style. He is most often praised for his distinctive vocal delivery and lyricism that manages to be urgent, humorous and razor sharp without ever sacrificing the storytelling that underpins his songs.

Some of the new Ian Whitty recordings have already been selected for use in multiple documentaries, compilations and short films.

Praise for Ian Whitty:

‘Ian Whitty holds his audience spellbound’ ~The Kingdom

‘One of the finest at his craft in the country.’ ~Cluas.com

‘Ian Whitty has managed to carve out a personality, a sense of identity and idiosyncrasy, which is becoming increasingly difficult to do within the Irish scene.’ ~Hot Press

‘Ian Whitty’s new stuff sounds bloody good!‘ ~Michael Carr, Cork’s 96fm - The Green Room

‘Not On Your Side is a great pop song, and we will be hearing a lot more from Ian Whitty‘ ~Alan Jacques, 95fm - Green and Live

‘I love it! It’s different and different works for me‘ ~Roddie Cleere, Irish Nightlife WLR FM

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Fittingly enough for St. Patrick’s Day, Irish Acts are in the top two spots of the Billboard independent and internet charts. Last Thursday the number one spot was taken by Flogging Molly’s latest album ‘Float’, bumping another Irish album - the soundtrack to Once with the music of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - from the top spot to number two. Flogging Molly’s album has also taken the number four spot on the Billboard top 200 album chart, the highest position for any Irish artist other than U2 since Enya’s 2000 album.

Flogging Molly, who play a brand of Celtic infected punk, are fronted by Dubliner Dave King and Bridget Regan, and consists of both Irish and American members. ‘Float’ is their fourth album and was recorded at Grouse Lodge studios in Westmeath last autumn. The band have a huge following in the US where they do most of their touring but are not nearly as well known back in Ireland. They are planning a upcoming tour of Ireland which they hope will raise their profile back home.

It’s been the opposite story with Glen Hansard and The Frames until the success of the movie ‘Once’ - they have been very successful in Ireland but have not enjoyed large scale success Stateside. This seems set to change as Hansard has recently signed a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell which also includes songs Hansard has written for The Frames.

Irish artists other than U2 have had mixed success in the US in recent times. Damien Rice and The Thrills enjoyed some success, with both managing to have their songs used in leading US television shows. However neither managed to get near the top of the Billboard charts despite selling large numbers of albums.

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