We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cora McEldowney. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cora below.

Cora, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I’ve loved performing for as long as I can remember. My mum tells me I used to dance and sing around the house in my little plastic princess heels. It wasn’t till I was applying to university that I realised I actually wanted to persue music as a career though.
I remember performing a traditional Irish song in my performing arts class and my teacher, Andrew Terrington, said that I didn’t just sing the song, I really performed it; told the story and connected with it. This really stuck with me, and made me realise what I really love about art, which is that it opens up the door for connection with yourself and others.
It wasn’t till I got to uni that I started writing and sharing my own music, which allowed me to connect with others in a new way, and really inspired me to continue perusing a career in music.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I write contemporary music with influence from folk, Irish trad and sound healing instrumentation, under the artist name “Cora”. I released my debut single “No Easy Road” in November 2023 and sold out Notting Hill Arts club for the release show, which was also my first ever live performance with a band. Since then I’ve released another single, played lots of fun shows across London, including 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, The Camden Club, Troubadour, festivals such as 2000 Trees and The Great Escape, and I’m currently recording my first EP.

However, the project I’m most proud of so far is a live performance I did at St. Mary’s church in Putney, where I incorporated sound healing instrumentation into my original music (full live recording on my YouTube @corabridgetmusic). I was joined by Alex Courtney on double bass, Arthur Samett on piano and Ella Bollon on BVs, Tibetan singing bowls and Kalimba. This performance really allowed me to explore my artistry and create an experience for my audience that was both captivating and healing, which allowed me to connect with people in a unique way. Now, I’m working on recording my music and I’ve been having fun incorporating crystal and Tibetan bowls into that too, and playing with unique ways to create sound. I even ended up using a gin glass on one of my tracks!

I’m excited to see where my music brings me. My dream is to get to travel with my music, meet new people and just have exciting experiences.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Every time I finish a song, I feel a sense of accomplishment and excitement to share it with others. The feeling of presence and calmness that writing gives me is probably one of my favourite parts of my work. However, the thing that’s the most rewarding is probably seeing how my music influences other people. When I released my first song, I was shocked to receive messages from people I’d never met, telling me how they connected with my music. Sometimes people have experiences that they don’t know how to talk about, and then the lyrics of a song describe it perfectly and make them feel seen, understood and less alone in their experience, which I think is really beautiful.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Growing up in a small town, I got used to the notion that women who put themselves out there were doing “too much” or were “full of themselves”. The phrase that I feel like still sticks with me quite a bit is “who does she think she is?”.

Though I’ve worked really hard to push through this mental block, I’d be lying if I said I’d completely overcome it. I still struggle to promote myself and my music due to the fear of how I might be perceived by some people. But I’ve certainly come a long way since my first release, where I genuinely felt sick for the few days leading up to it. I’ve found that what helps me the most is just reminding myself that my music deserves to be heard, and I’d be doing a disservice to me and to others if I kept it to myself.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cora.bridget_?igsh=a2thZzVuODEybGx5&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coramceldowneymusic?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCGC5z4fOlU-MpOqnkdhxhFQ
• SoundCloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/GKGWOLhyLjx3WcERhE

Image Credits
Izzy Vargas Symphorien DeMares Ethan Date Fraizer – dunleavy_photography