NEWS
Press Release via AS Written, August 2021
FANS ALL-ABOARD FOR NEW ROE SINGLE
Glór Tíre finalist ALEX ROE has country fans all aboard for the release of his new single, a cover of WHERE THE BOAT LEAVES FROM, a hit for American country rockers, the Zac Brown Band.
Roe, who narrowly missed out on taking the Glór Tíre title last year, released Where The Boat Leaves From on August 2nd. And the man from Clara in Offaly is hoping his version of Zac Brown and Wyatt Durrette’s good-vibes track will do its best to lift spirits and keep people in a summer mood for as long as possible.
“This is actually a song that was on an album called ‘The Foundation,’ which was the very first Zac Brown Band album back in 2008. Like most people in Ireland who know the band, I got into them when I first heard the song ‘Chicken Fried,’ one of the most laid-back and catchy songs ever! And I think I first became aware of it when Johnny Brady recorded it for his ‘I Owe It All To You’ album in 2013. That’s what got me into the Zac Brown Band to begin with. I started going through their back-catalogue and as soon as I heard ‘Where The Boat Leaves From’ I knew I definitely wanted to take it into the studio some day.”
Alex continued, “So back earlier this year, when I recorded ‘I Loved Her First’ – and before I even knew I was going to release that one as a single, because that kind of happened out of the blue when so many people were asking about it – I was just thinking about what might be a good song to follow ‘I Loved Her First’ on an album. And the more I thought about it, the more I felt like ‘Where The Boat Leaves From’ would be the perfect choice. The Zac Brown Band have this knack of writing songs that are incredibly melodic and memorable. And at the same time, they’re songs that just make you feel happy when you listen to them. So I’m hoping we’ll be putting some smiles on faces with this single when it comes on the radio.”
Although Where The Boat Leaves From was itself never released as a single by the Zac Brown Band, the album it featured on – The Foundation – was nominated for Best Country Album at the 2009 Grammy Awards, and helped the Atlanta based outfit take home the Grammy for Best New Artist. The collection was also nominated in the Album of the Year category for the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2010.
During his time on Glór Tíre in 2020, judge Caítriona O’ Sullivan remarked that even his early performances showed him to be, “a king of the stage”, while his mentor, country legend Trudi Lalor described him as being, “…a star already, and will be an even bigger one in years to come.”
Despite being just twenty-two, Roe had clocked up the miles from his late teens on, performing at venues all around the country. And after close on a year and a half of not being able to do what he loves most, he can’t wait to get back out in front of fans again.
“It’s been a tough time for all of us, there’s no denying that. But what keeps me going is dreaming of the moment when all of this comes to an end. I can’t wait until we’re back to something like normality again, and I can introduce a song like ‘Where The Boat Leaves From’ knowing that I’m about to see every face in front of me light up with joy. That’s what music does. And that’s what this song does. Hopefully it will make people smile when they hear it on the radio for now. But the moment when that can happen again in real-life, that’s what I’m living for.”
~ WHERE THE BOAT LEAVES FROM, the brand NEW single from ALEX ROE, is OUT NOW on all platforms, and available to request from radio stations nationwide.
On The Right TRAX 