Today we’d like to introduce you to Sinead Fahey
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up on the east coast in Baltimore, MD always doing something that involved music. I received my Bachelor’s in jazz/commercial music from Towson University in 2015 and began making a name for myself in the local music scene. I moved to New Orleans at the end of 2019 with dreams of finding success there as a singer but then the pandemic happened and everything shut down before I could even get started. I felt burned out from being a “starving artist” and always having to supplement my income with part time jobs and side hustles, so I welcomed the break and even considered completely changing career paths. Instead of committing to that idea, my partner and I decided to have a baby and I decided to go back to school and get my Master’s in Music Business. In 2022, my partner was offered a job that would require moving to St. Louis and by October of that year, we were calling STL our new home. By this point, I really missed performing and decided it was time to get back out there. I began performing at open mics at The Blue Strawberry and 1860 Saloon and my partner and I both enjoyed sitting in at the blues jam at the National Blues Museum. That is where I met Chuck Williams. He asked if I had ever considered singing in a Taylor Swift tribute and, a few months later, he called me to come audition for one. We had our first show just after Christmas at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center and, by next December, we were performing in front of six thousand people at Family Arena in St. Charles. The opportunity to be the “Taylor” in Taylorville, St. Louis’ very own Taylor Swift tribute band, is the best thing that has ever happened to me as a performer. After over a decade of struggling to find success in this industry, I finally landed a gig that I deeply enjoy and find very fulfilling. Being a tribute artist was not originally on my list of dream jobs, and there’s a stigma attached to it that leaves me feeling both respected and judged by other musicians, but it has completely changed my life and has reignited my passion for music. I get to travel the country with an exceptionally talented group of musicians, performing a high production show at notable venues. Not only that, but I am able to use some of my earnings to fund my original music which, of course, is my primary passion.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road to Taylorville was a long and difficult one. I struggled for many years and often wondered why I continued to pursue music as a career. I would settle on the fact that I’m not much good at anything else. Not completely true, but I did invest so many years of my life developing my skills as a singer and a performer so that’s where my expertise lies. I didn’t want to feel like I had wasted all of that time. Once in Taylorville, success happened very quickly. Taylor Swift is the biggest pop star maybe ever and her Eras tour was iconic. But it was also very expensive. Our tribute offered Swifties an affordable alternative to the real Eras Tour, with a more intimate experience that you just can’t get at a stadium concert. But the expectations were very high and, with so many other Taylor Swift tribute acts out there, competition has been intense. I was used to performing on small stages with a wedge monitor and so this felt like going from zero to sixty in the snap of a finger. Suddenly, I was using in-ear monitors and using backing tracks and having to command large stages. I was going from no costume changes to up to nine costume changes per show. I was having to get used to breathing in stage haze and hearing confetti and CO2 cannons going off and then, eventually, navigating a stage with pyrotechnics and lots of flashing lights. I was suddenly co-managing social media accounts and dealing with a lot of hateful comments from online trolls and backhanded compliments from a lot of musicians in the local music scene. Suddenly I was doing meet and greets and taking photos and signing hundreds of autographs a show. The guys have had to learn how to set up and break down video walls and lights because we don’t have a crew to help at most shows, and some of them have had to suddenly become accountants and booking agents because we didn’t have help with that at first. Almost all promotional materials have been made in-house as well so graphic design, photography, video editing; all of these skills have had to be developed at an insane speed to be able to get the attention of the kind of venues we wanted to play. A typical band may have years to build up to this kind of experience. We were just thrown into it because the demand for a show like ours was so high. All good problems to have, but overwhelming nonetheless. After all, this is only our first year.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am most known for being the “Taylor” in the tribute band Taylorville, but I’m also an original music artist and a wedding singer. I have performed cover gigs locally at Molly’s in Soulard, Hi Hat, 1860 Saloon, Pat Connolly’s and Tin Roof. My main passion is writing my own music and I’ve been lucky enough to have many opportunities to perform my original music around town as well. I am most proud of that because it’s what is most authentically me. I started sharing my music online as Sinead Angele a little over two years ago and have since released several singles, an EP, and even a music video. A lot of my songs deal with topics related to mental health because that is something that I have personally struggled with a lot throughout my life. Music by my favorite artists has always been such a life line for me in dark times and I share my music because I want to pay that forward. If just one person resonates to a song I wrote and it helps them feel better or understood or less alone, then I’ve succeeded as an artist.
What matters most to you?
What matters most to me is connecting with others. The well known concept that music is a universal language is so true. Music can reach people in ways that spoken word alone cannot. Whether it is my own music I am sharing or that of an iconic artist (like Taylor Swift), my job as the performer is to connect with the audience. My job is to make them feel something. Whether that is joy or sadness or simply a good time, my job is to convey to the listener the message of the song. My job is to feel it with them.
Pricing:
- Taylorville’s next local show will be at The Factory on April 27th and the 6:30pm show still has tickets available. Prices range from 30-40 dollars.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://taylorvilleband.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylorvilleband/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TaylorvilleBandSTL
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6r9sLcKNsbQ7DkVY4JSDFW
