About the Collective

Dana Masters

Vocal coach

Dana Masters was born and raised in the deep south of the United States by family who ushered in and were deeply involved with the Civil Rights Movement of the 50's and 60's. Granddaughter of a celebrated Civil Rights Activist, Dana left home at the age of 17 to pursue a life in music, believing deeply that music could tell human stories with such poignancy and conviction that it could transcend divisions. She found herself in Minneapolis, MN for 4 years (working with Prince’s guitarist), followed by Los Angeles, CA (and accidentally doing a gig with Kanye West) trying to find a place where she could feel inspired to write and develop her gift. In LA she met and fell in love with a Northern Irishman and decided to take a leap and make Ireland her home.

It was here in Ireland, a chance meeting with jazz trumpeter, Linley Hamilton, catapulted her into the world of the Irish Jazz scene, igniting her appetite for the expression, freedom and musicianship that jazz carried. With jazz, infused with the music she grew up on (soul, funk, r&b and gospel), she found she could tell not only her story but the incredibly rich story of the women and men who raised her.

Dana was asked to perform with Van Morrison, and one show turned into 6 years of touring. Dana is determined to pour all of the experience, passion and creativity collected in the last 6 years into a unique project inviting the listener to not only hear, but to see behind the curtain of songwriting, producing, arranging and the rebirth of an artist as she moves from the shadow of one of the world’s most iconic musicians to stand on her own stage and tell her story in her own words.

Liane Carroll

Vocal Coach

Liane Carroll is an English vocalist, pianist and keyboardist.

In 1998 Carroll joined Trevor Watts' Moiré Music band and toured overseas with them. She became a respected session musician and also worked in bands under Dave Holdsworth, Gerry Rafferty, Jerry Donohue and Long John Baldry. She formed her own trio and recorded for Jazz Art, Bridge, and Ronnie Scott's Jazz House. From 1996 to 2002, Carroll worked with singer-songwriter-guitarist Peter Kirtley, with whom she composed many songs. They appeared together on a charity single for Brazilian street children, on which Carroll's backing singer was Paul McCartney.

From 1996 onwards Carroll started working with Hospital Records. In 2003 she toured internationally with a band formed by Hospital Records' owner Tony Colman, playing at the Brazilian Electro Dance Music Festival in Brasilia. In the early 2000s she began recording for the Splash Point label, releasing a series of recordings that embraced jazz, R&B and the singer-songwriter tradition. From 2005 onwards, she decided to focus on her jazz work.

Liane Carroll has worked with many artists ranging from Sir Paul McCartney and Gerry Rafferty to Ladysmith Black Mambazo. She has also performed as lead vocalist and Wurlitzer keyboardist for the drum and bass band London Elektricity. She is a regular performer at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club and the 606 Club in London, and has made several albums. In addition to performing, Carroll also teaches at jazz summer schools in the UK and Europe and also conducts workshops.

In 2005 Liane Carroll won two awards in the BBC Jazz Awards: Best Vocalist and Best of Jazz. In 2006 she won the Marston Pedigree Jazz Award for best vocalist. On 13 May 2008, Andy Burnham MP, then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, presented her with the 2008 award for Jazz Musician of the Year in the Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Her album Up and Down won in the Jazz Album of the Year category at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards in May 2012. In 2016 she won a Gold award from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA).

Foy Vance

Songwriting coach

Foy Vance is an Irish musician and singer-songwriter signed to Gingerbread Man Records.

Vance has toured as a support act to British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran and his music has been featured on numerous TV shows. In August 2013 he released his second full-length album, Joy of Nothing, which was produced by Irish producer and arranger Michael Keeney and was met with critical praise, being called "a gorgeous collection of open, uplifting songs, which showcase [Vance's] magnificent songwriting skills."

In May 2016, his third studio album The Wild Swan, produced and mixed by Jacquire King, was released and it was announced that Vance would support Elton John on selected tour dates in June and Josh Groban in July and August.

Jude Johnstone

Songwriting coach

Born in Bar Harbor, Maine, Jude Johnstone began writing songs at about age 8. At 18, she was "discovered" by Bruce Springsteen's saxophonist, Clarence Clemons. After spending some time in New York and New Jersey under his wing, in 1979, she moved to Los Angeles, where her songs quickly became sought after by other artists. She has been covered by Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, Bette Midler, Johnny Cash, Stevie Nicks, Mary Black, Jennifer Warnes, Stephen Bishop, Trisha Yearwood and more, including a #1 song for Yearwood's debut album called "The Woman Before Me" which earned her a BMI award. Her songs then appeared on 8 other Yearwood CDs. She also penned the title track to Johnny Cash's 1997 Grammy winning album "Unchained."

Jude has released 8 CDs of her own. She has been featured on the CBS Early Show, and NPR Radio's "Morning Edition." Her songs have also been on several television shows including "Nurse Jackie", "Army Wives" and "Lie To Me."

Jude has opened shows for Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, Richard Thompson, Shawn Colvin, Chris Hillman, 10,000 Maniacs, and others and toured Europe under her own name numerous times.

"Jude Johnstone’s ability to fashion the stuff of life seasoned emotions into handsomely crafted, lyrically attractive song fare is as remarkable as it is reliable."
- Duane Verh, Roots Music

Michael Mormecha

Producer

Michael Mormecha is a multi-instrumentalist producer based in Ireland. He has worked with a diverse range of artists and bands. Mojo Fury, Amy Montgomery, The Bonnevilles, Malojian plus many more. Michael opened his new 'Tree Song Studio's in Hillsborough in 2020. He is multi-instrumentalist, a fantastic guitarist and drummer but having led his bands to many key festivals in Ireland, UK and Europe, he has an eye and an ear for the unusual, thinks outside the box and helps artists discover themselves in places they never knew existed.

Peter Doherty

Producer

After playing in various bands and studying music at school, Peter got his serious taste of the music industry aged 19 when he signed to BMG records with Strabane band Eves Majesty. After recording an album that never made it to release and a Sony BMG merger he found himself starting again with a new band Kharma 45. The band signed to Warner records in 2006 and subsequently Peter also signed a publishing deal with Universal publishing.

During this time Peter developed his music production skills recording with producers and mixers such as Youth (Paul McCartney, the verve) Jim Abiss (Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian) and the world renowned mixer Michael Brauer in New York. With Kharma 45 he also toured extensively playing all the major UK festivals, including Glastonbury, Reading, Leeds, T in the Park and Oxegen, while also supporting bands such as Kasabian and Faithless. After the band disbanded in 2008 Peter worked as a session guitarist for billboard number one songwriters Aaron Curtis and Holly Lamar. He also set up his own studio and returned to education studying music at the University of Ulster. Peter is now a secondary school music teacher and freelance producer/mixer/songwriter.

Matt Curran

Producer

As a session guitarist, Matt is at home in any musical situation. He has toured and recorded with some of Nashville’s biggest stars, and for years toured with Nathan Carter playing sold out venues all over the UK and Ireland. He is also a revered session musician on guitar and harmonica with commissioned from RTE Concert Orchestra and shows by Brian Byrne. As a jazz musician he has several touring ensembles, and has completed a 1^st in his Masters and also his BMus degrees.

Rocky O'Reilly

Producer

Rocky O'Reilly is a producer, mixer and musician from Belfast. Recently he has been working with The Wood Burning Savages, Tebi Rex, Nathan Connolly (Snow Patrol), HAVVK, Roe, Slomatics and The Florentinas.

He started as a live engineer aged 16, mixing in venues and festivals across Ireland, touring Europe with acts including Longbeach, CA's Ugly Duckling. He soon started taking his experimentation with recording more seriously and formed a band called Oppenheimer. They released 3 albums with Bar/None Records USA, touring the states 15+ times and enjoying many life-changing indie-pop moments and lots of placements in Gossip Girl, Ugly Betty, How I Met Your Mother and campaigns with Nike, Fujifilm and BBC One.

In 2007 he set up Start Together Studio in Belfast, N.Ireland as a wonderland for musicians to make the records of their dreams. It continues to grow as a musician-focused, multi-studio set-up offering artists a comfortable, creative space with a huge collection of instruments and equipment. From these studio set ups, Start Together has hosted thousands of sessions for artists including Gary Lightbody, Tim Wheeler (Ash), Sharon Corr, Rihanna, The Script, And So I Watch You From Afar, Just Mustard, NewDad, Robocobra Quartet, Beauty Sleep, Ciaran Lavery, Brand New Friend, TOUTS, General Fiasco and labels and companies including Partisan Records, Sargent House, Domino, Jive/Zomba, Big Scary Monsters, BBC NI, 6 Music, Third Bar Artist Development, Output Belfast, NI Opera and The Belfast Ensemble.

Rocky continues to work closely, developing and collaborating with a wide range of genres from folk to metal, crafting songs, productions and mixes with artists from Northern Ireland and beyond.

Mark Egan

Musician - Bass

In his early career, Mark studied with jazz educator Jerry Coker. He switched from trumpet to bass part way through the program. While in Miami he also became friends and performed with Ira Sullivan, Pat Metheny, Danny Gottlieb, Clifford Carter. His teachers included Jaco Pastorius, Dave Holland, and Andy LaVerne.

In 1975, after graduate school, Egan went on tour with Eumir Deodato and the Pointer Sistersand recorded with David Sanborn. Two years later he worked as a studio musician in New York City, where he met Joe Beck and Steve Khan. He was part of the Pat Metheny Groupuntil 1981, then with the Group's drummer, Danny Gottlieb, started the jazz fusion band Elements. They were joined by Bill Evans on saxophone and Clifford Carter on keyboards. Elements recorded and toured through the 1990s. During the 1980s and 1990s, Egan was also part of the Gil Evans Orchestra. He founded his own record label, Wavetone Records.

He has appeared on the soundtracks of movies including Two Moon Junction, The Object of My Affection, You've Got Mail, The Color of Money, Rollover, Quick Change, Blown Away, and A Chorus Line. He recorded an album, Urge, with trumpeter Forrest Buchtel, Jr., featuring, among other things, the theme from CNN Headline News.

Egan has toured and recorded with a vast range of artists including Gil Evans, Pat Metheny, Stan Getz, Sting, Arcadia, Roger Daltrey, Joan Osborne, Marianne Faithfull, Michael Franks, Carly Simon, Art Garfunkel, John McLaughlin, Larry Coryell, Pat Martino, Judy Collins, Sophie B. Hawkins, Bill Evans, Lew Soloff, Bryan Ferry, Joe Beck, Jim Hall, Airto Moreira, Flora Purim, Toninho Horta, Paul Shaffer and The Pointer Sisters.

Liam Bradley

Musician - Drums / Percussion

One of Irelands top session drummers for over 10 years, Liam's C.V is a list of who’s who of Irish Rock covering a huge range of styles from folk to pop music.

For over 10 years he has recorded and toured with Van Morrison, as well as live and studio work with Sinead O'Connor, The Chieftains, Rob Strong (The Commitments), Mary Black. Liam was Ronan Keating's first call drummer and for 5 years recorded and toured extensively with Ronan, playing on Ronan's single and album releases since 2002.

Liam is presently splitting his time between Tim Robins & Van Morrison.

John McCullough

Musican - Piano / Organ

John McCullough is an experienced and versatile keyboard player. He has worked with artists and bands including The Waterboys, Van Morrison, Sharon Corr, Andrew Strong, Brian Kennedy, Declan O'Rourke, Gareth Dunlop and many more. At the age of 19 he travelled to Memphis USA to represent Ireland at the W.C Handy Awards Blues Festival. His playing has taken him to Japan, America, Spain, Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, UK & Ireland.

Highlights include appearing at Summersonic Festival in Tokyo & Osaka with Irish rock band RELISH which coincided with their number 1 hit in Japan "You I'm thinking of". John also performed at Glasonbury Festival with the "Grainne Duffy Band" and toured with "Al Green & Dr.John" in the support band opening their UK headline shows including 2 nights at The Royal Albert Hall, London. Throughout 2009 he played keyboards & hammond organ with "The Waterboys" on their European tours.

In 2015 John travelled to Nashville, Tennessee to record an album with singer songwriter Gareth Dunlop. It was on these sessions that he worked with Bass player Willie Weeks (Eric Clapton, David Bowie) and Drummer Nir Z (Genesis, John Mayer).

Francesca O'Connor

Management consultant

Founder of Make Waves Management, Artist Manager & Music Publicist.

Francesca is an artist manager and music publicist from Belfast. Following employment at Northern Ireland's largest management company Champion Sound Music, training under the tutelage of music industry pioneer, Lyndon Stephens, Francesca was promoted to label manager at Quiet Arch where she managed several album campaigns including two NI Music Prize award-winning albums. In 2020, Francesca set up her own business, Make Waves Management, providing services in management, PR and artist development for Irish artists. She strives to break down the geographical boundary between NI and London as the NI Champion for Association of Independent Music UK. Passionate about levelling the playing field for female artists, she works with 'The Female DIY Musician' educating and empowering womxn to record their own music and co-founded 'Safe in Sound', an initiative which raises the under-represented voices in the NI music sector.