Finneran showcases his songwriting talents

South Roscommon songwriter Declan Finneran has made it through to the final of this Midland Songwriter Showcase, the final of which takes place in Athlone’s Palace Loft on Sunday, April 29th, at 9 pm.             The five songwriters playing live this year are Agitated Radio Pilot from Ballymahon, Jimi Cullen from Gorey, Declan Finneran from south Roscommon, Fiachra Milner from Mullingar and Martin Staunton from Ballinasloe.             The songwriter showcase is unique in that it’s not just a live concert, but a live recording session. The intent is to allow artists the opportunity to strip away augmented performance and instrumentation to share their original material in an intimate, acoustic setting. Unlike a recording studio where performers are left to conjure a relationship with a potential listener, the showcase gives these talented people live attendants as they revisit their compositions.             A passionate performer, Declan Finneran is currently a student at the Athlone Institute of Technology and has been writing music for about eight years with no signs of slowing down.             While a good deal of his time is currently taken up with his studies, he still finds time to pen a large number of formidable pieces, mostly concerned with his perspective on society and how it can effect the individuals within it.             Speaking of his songwriting, Declan said, ‘It’s something I can never give up, because there’s so much pride in your writing and especially when you play in front of a live audience, it’s a totally different world, you forget about working and you forget about everyone else – it’s just you and your guitar and the music.             ‘Athlone has a songwriting community and it’s not publicised a whole lot – it’s definitely out there. I know from school friends who’ve been writing since they were a similar age to me and it’s certainly there and things like the songwriter night will certainly develop that and give it a voice. I hope it goes on for many years to come.’             At the songwriter showcase, audience members have the unique opportunity to attend the creation of a studio album in the making – who knows, you may just hear yourself on the CD when it’s released later this year. Songwriter.ie has been producing its annual showcase in Athlone and releasing live albums of the evening for the last three years. For more information, please visit www.songwriter.ie or email info@songwriter.ie