Donal Cox

Music! Writing, composing, singing, playing, performing where do I start? For me, music is something that has always been there in one form or another, admittedly sometimes in the background, but thankfully, in more recent years (namely this last seven to ten!), it has come to be a major driving force in my life. In-fact it would be fair to say that I find music to be something that quite simply defines me. You know when someone asks:” So what do you do?” the first thing that roles off the tip of my tongue is:” I’m a musician” or” I’m a singer songwriter”. You convey it in its simplest form, simply because it makes, and indeed takes, up so much time and energy of your life (In a very positive way of course). Admittedly the next thing they’ll often say is either: “no seriously, what do you do?” or “no, I mean for a living”.

I’m thankful to say that at least for part of my musical career I did indeed make a small living from music in the form of ‘Java Shrine’, a five piece band that in its first formation spanned ten years (1997-2007). Comprised of the best of friends and indeed three brothers to boot, Java Shrine travelled and performed pretty extensively (by unsigned standards anyway) throughout Europe and even touched on the east and west coasts of the States. I contributed in part vocally and musically as well as writing and co-writing some of our material. You’ll find the Java Shrine myspace link in my top friends list so please feel free to check that out. I’m fond of the thought that this is by no means the end of the road for the band but merely time set aside for new beginnings for its members.
Now let me make one thing clear, I don’t play and perform simply to make money. If there was no money in music my heart would still be in it. That being said we all know that music these days can be, and indeed is, big business and yes, I’d love to get in on that action. Keeping that only partly in mind and after parting ways with Java Shrine, I set out to record and produce my own record which finally came to fruition in early 2008. The album is called ‘In the Spotlight’ and of course you can sample some of it here. The album wouldn’t have been possible without an awarded grant from The Arts Council of Northern Ireland and as Mr Joe Cocker would say:” With a little help from my Friends”. Again Big thanks to all involved. The album features a couple of Java Shrine members in the form of Gary and Chris Day as well as other local musicians: John Bird, Fergal Hughes and Jarlath Mulholland. Check out my Blog for more detailed information on the album.
Since the independent release of ‘In the Spotlight’ I have travelled to Australia where I’ve become involved in a small Sydney project aptly called “Looking for Jane Doe”; seems like we’re all looking for something these days, right? Anyway, while mainly concentrating on new material (some of which definitely has that rawer edge with it being a three piece outfit), the Jane Doe trio: Stew Taylor, Paul Prammer and I began gigging around Sydney playing venues/pubs and partaking in Open Mic Jam sessions, as well as a little community radio. Although ongoing this project is unfortunately currently on hold as I now find myself in the out back of Queensland, Australia working to obtain my 2nd year visa which will allow me one more year here to develop the music and, of course, hopefully make new contacts in the process. And so for now, while I wade on through these country evenings under the Queensland sun with guitar, pen and paper in hand, in search of new material for what one would hope to be that ever illustrious 2nd Album (lol), it would appear that it’s a simple case of: Time will tell!

DOWNLOAD THE ALBUM NOW FROM iTUNES!