The music industry is notoriously difficult to navigate, but speaking to Irish songwriter Orla Gartland, you get the impression that she’ll find her way through it, even if it means charting a completely new course.
Recently, Gartland toured North America promoting her latest album, Everybody Needs a Hero. There was such a high demand for tickets that some of the shows were moved to bigger venues. An impressive accomplishment for the self-funded independent artist, but it’s something she’s been working toward since she started uploading her performances to YouTube at the age of 13 and, later, busking on the street in Dublin.
In this session, Gartland shares her story, talks about making the new album, and about what it means to be truly independent as an artist.
This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.