Our LCM featured artist today is the award winning singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mairead Furlong. Mairead is originally from Ireland but is now based in Essex. We are delighted that she is currently recording her debut solo album which is scheduled for release later in 2018. Released on Friday our LCM #SongOfTheDay 'Pinocchio' which is themed around lying in relationships is high tempo, very catchy and full of attitude. It also showcases Mairead's superb fiddle playing.

Mairead writes songs primarily on guitar and piano but is also a champion violinist who toured internationally before moving to London. Having grown up in a family of talented musicians, she was immersed in music from a very early age. As soon as she could speak some of her first words were those of song lyrics which her mother would sing her to sleep with every night. When Mairead was just seven years old she picked up her first instrument, a fiddle. Mairead quickly realised that she had a special ability to articulate words and tell stories through creative writing and poetry. After years of piano lessons and teaching herself how to play the guitar, her love for writing and music naturally came together and that is where her songwriting began. Mairead made the decision to move to London to focus on pursing her music career and developing her skills and talent as a songwriter.

She won the Shure Songwriting Award in 2012 with Sony BMI and is a graduate of the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London. She is also a current winner of the Future Music Songwriting Competition 2015 out of 10,000 applicants throughout the UK. In 2016 Mairead performed as part of a band 'The Common Threads' who played a sold out show for London's Timeout Magazine, performed back to back performances at the C2C Festival held in London's 02 Arena and made a record at Mark Knopfler's British Grove Studios with producer Guy Fletcher (Dire Straits). This year she was handpicked as a songwriting finalist in the prestigious coffee music project competition held in London at 229 The Venue. Mairead is a proud Vevo artist.