Hailing from a tiny rural village called Collon, in Co. Louth,  Ireland, Clare Cunningham is an independent, award-winning singer-songwriter, performing, touring, and recording artist. Her raspy, Celtic, soulful voice, with the ability to span across a multitude of genres, is what leads her to be an extremely unique artist.

 

Her 'GRAND OLE OPRY’ debut (March 18th, 2023) was a sold-out show and an accomplishment that’s extremely rare as a completely independent artist. A surprise add-on to the bill on the night was her childhood idol, GARTH BROOKS, and TRISHA YEARWOOD. Clare also performed with STEVE EARLE, singing his infamous ‘Galway Girl’ as a duet. Other performers on the night included LAUREN ALAINA, MORGAN EVANS, JEANNIE SEELY, John Conlee, Jameson Rodgers, and Jig-Jam. 

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As if the stars had aligned, Clare had only just starred in the new GARTH BROOKS documentary ''GARTH BROOKS: COMING HOME'' - An exploration of the life of the country music star, looking at his biggest songs. These relationships have influenced his career and his love affair with Ireland.

 

‘The Josie Music Awards’ crowned her 'ARTIST OF THE YEAR' in 2022; ‘VOCALIST OF THE YEAR’ in 2021 and ‘FOLK/AMERICANA ARTIST OF THE YEAR' in 2020, to name but a few of the accolades she has picked up since moving stateside in 2018.  She is currently nominated for 12 awards this year, being held at the Grand Ole Opry on October 22nd, 2023. 

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Clare recently had her debut headlining show at City Winery, Nashville on April 30th. She also played and held her album release party for her brand new album 'HELPING HAND' at the same venue She also shared the bill alongside VINCE GILL on June 4th for the 14th annual Dinner of Champions event for Volunteers of America, where Titans Derrick Henry was a Keynote Speaker. 

 

Clare had notable success before moving stateside as the lead singer of all female Swedish quintet THUNDERMOTHER (2013-2018) where she released two vinyl albums (Road Fever and Rock 'N' Roll Disaster) and was signed to WARNER MUSIC SWEDEN,  her first major record deal, gaining support from Motörhead, Zakk Wylde (BLS), Halestorm, In-Flames and many more. 

 

Having faced a lot of adversities in her own life, Clare feels she must give back to her listeners and be real, raw, and honest to help de-stigmatize the conversations around mental health, including addiction, suicide, anxiety, depression, and many more problems our world is facing. Her EP MERCY released September 2022, does exactly just this. Clare exclaims ‘If I can leave this world a little better off than when I entered, I’ll know I fulfilled my life’s purpose.  As a mental health advocate, I want to use my platform to be a voice for those who feel they can't express themselves or are too afraid to speak up and be a vessel of inspiration, hope, love, truth, and faith for those around me so that nobody ever feels like they are in this world alone''

 

Clare came back to faith at the end of 2020 and her music is now reflecting how she has become a conduit to her Lord Savior Jesus Christ. Her brand new Christian/inspirational album ‘HELPING HAND’ released worldwide on July 7th 2023.  She is on a mission to show that her past no longer defines who she is and that her outward canvas does not reflect what’s on the inside.

''I want people to really get to know me and spend a few moments in my presence before judgment is passed on my appearance.  My tattoos can cause a little controversy but I believe GOD uses my appearance to prove a person does not have to look like a Christ follower to be one''. 

 

Previous to the release of MERCY, Clare put out a collection of songs on an EP called DEAR IRELAND (2021) which pays a beautiful ode to her culture and heritage. 

 

Dubbed as having a vocal register similar to ADELE and most notably sounding like STEVIE NICKS, Clare’s voice is truly haunting and captivating. It hasn’t gone unnoticed amongst some familiar names in the industry either. 

STEVE CROPPER (Blues Brothers) who featured on guitar on Clare's single 'Heart of Mine' (2020) and who co-produced the vocals on 'Éireann i mo chroí' (On her EP 'Dear Ireland' 2021) has said ''Clare has such a tremendous voice. She makes me want to play because she sings with passion and feeling.' LZZY HALE of HALESTORM and PHIL CAMPBELL of MOTÖRHEAD have both said she has a ‘'Powerful’ and ‘killer voice'’. 

 

Cunningham’s love for music showed early on. At six years old her first instrument was the keyboard and by the time she was eight, she was playing Mozart. She self-taught guitar at 16. This was the start of her budding songwriting career. She was highly praised by Irish singer-songwriter JULIET TURNER and spent a week at a song-writing camp hosted by Turner. She saw the natural talent Cunningham possessed for writing and told her this was most definitely the path she needed to embark on.

Cunningham took Turner’s advice and moved to Dublin after high school at eighteen, where she obtained a national diploma in Popular Music performance and technology. 

 

With this at hand, she then headed overseas and studied at the ‘London College of Music’ (Vocal Tech) where she had her first TV appearance on ‘Sky TV’, singing one of her own penned songs.

After graduating with a BA Hon’s Degree in Music Performance and Technology, Cunningham then moved to Cardiff, Wales, UK, where she started up her own business and become a professional musician. She co-founded SMOKIN ACES, a function/corporate/originals band. They were extremely popular all across the country and often played between 350-395 shows per year. 

 

Clare and guitarist Jamie Hiscox created a duo from the band and it was after Cunningham decided to put up some acoustic material on YouTube which changed her life overnight. A phone call from Stockholm, Sweden, landed her the position of lead singer for the very successful Swedish all-female rock quintet THUNDERMOTHER. Cunningham received a phone call, from the band's founder, asking if she would be willing to take on the role of lead singer in the band, exclaiming her 'Whiskey voice was perfect for the band’. With an offer Cunningham couldn’t refuse - to open up for MOTÖRHEAD at 'Metaltown festival',  Sweden, Clare was on a flight to Sweden in less than 4 weeks. Life as she knew it would drastically change. 

 

After appearing on one of the biggest news channels in Sweden that night, the band gained instant popularity and toured extensively throughout Europe, alongside some of their rock n roll idols, including Metallica, Slayer, Black Label Society, Whitesnake, Megadeath, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Opeth, Rob Zombie, Jack Black, and Flogging Molly to name but a few. After only 3 months of being in the new line-up, the ladies were head-hunted at a festival by the boss at Warner Music Sweden and they signed their first major record deal. Clare moved full-time to Sweden in 2013 to concentrate on the band. 

They had major success in the rock charts with their first album ‘Rock n Roll Disaster.’ However, due to some discrepancies, the band left Warner and signed with ‘Despotz Records’ for their second album ‘Road Fever’. They were gaining support from a lot of well-known names in the industry but most notably from MÖTERHEAD (LEMMY would play their albums on his tour bus!)

 

Cunningham departed Thundermother in January 2017. A decision that wasn’t made lightly. She needed to focus on her mental and physical health after it declined rapidly. With her self-titled debut EP already doing well, her solo career kicked off after her move to the USA in 2018. 

 

Clare recorded her first project at iconic RCA studios, with her team ‘Eddie & Justy Productions’ on Music Row (Nashville) The band on the recording consisted of AUDLEY FREED on Guitar (Sheryl Crowe, Dixie Chicks, Black Crowe’s, Joe Perry) STEVE MACKEY on bass (Garth Brooke’s, Dolly Parton) and JARED KNEALE on drums (Lauren Daigle, Kacey Musgraves) 

 

She is currently on her second 01 visa and has been having an amazing response so far. She has played a host of major stateside festivals including ‘The Sundance Film Festival, ' The Nantucket Project’, and The Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival’. She has also graced the stage of some prestigious venues including ‘The Bluebird Cafe’, ‘Zanie’s’, ‘’ Tree’s, ‘The Listening Room’, and ‘The Texas Troubadour Theatre’. She’s also had a song placement in LIONSGATE movie (‘Bernie the Dolphin 2’).

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To date, Clare’s achievements include : 

• 'I swear' nominated for pop song of the year (Tennessee Songwriter Association International 2023)

• 12-time nominee (Josie Music Awards 2023)

• Semi-finalist - ‘Clovers’ (Unsigned Only music competition 2023)

• ‘ARTIST OF THE YEAR’ - Multi-Genre (Josie Music Awards 2022)

• Songwriter Achievement - “This is Me” (Josie Music Awards 2022)

• 5-time nominee (Josie Music Awards 2022)

• Best Music Video ‘Angel of the Emerald Isle’ (World Songwriting Awards, Spring 2022) 

• Best Pop Song - ‘I Swear’ (World Songwriting Awards, Summer 2022) 

• Semi-finalist - “I SWEAR’- Pop/Top 40 (International songwriting competition 2022)

• Winner (Honorable mention) - “Angel of the Emerald Isle” (Unsigned Only’ music competition 2022)

• Finalist- “Angel of the Emerald Isle” (Unsigned Only’ music competition 2022)

• Semi-finalist - “Angel of the Emerald Isle” (Unsigned Only’ music competition 2022)

• Semi-finalist - “I Swear” (Unsigned Only music competition 2022)

• SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR - GOLD (International singer-songwriters Association 2021)

• VOCALIST OF THE YEAR - Multi-Genre (Josie Music Awards 2021) 

• Pop/Contemporary Song of the year - ‘Heart of Mine’ (Josie Music Awards 2021)

• Songwriter achievement for an unreleased song - ‘I swear’ (Josie Music Awards 2021)

• 2nd place (Performance category) - Angel of the Emerald Isle” (International songwriting competition 2021)

• Honorable mention - 'Clovers' (International songwriting competition 2021)

• Semi-finalist - “Angel of the Emerald Isle” - Performance (International songwriting competition 2021)

• Semi-finalist - “Angel of the Emerald Isle” - Music Video (International songwriting competition 2021)

• Semi-finalist - “Clovers” - Christian (International songwriting competition 2021)

• Best Alternative Song- ‘Clovers’ (World Songwriting Awards, Spring 2021) 

• Semi-finalist - ‘Clovers’ (Unsigned Only music competition 2021)

• Finalist - ‘Watercolor world’ (World Songwriting Awards, Winter 2021)

• Finalist - ‘Clovers’ (Unsigned Only Music Competition 2021)

• Finalist - ‘Éireann i mo chroí’ (World Songwriting Awards, Summer 2021)

• Finalist - ‘Angel of the Emerald Isle’ (World Songwriting Awards, Fall 2021) 

• 6-time nominee (International singer-songwriters Association 2021)

• 8-time nominee (Josie Music awards 2021)

• Nominee ‘Aim to Misbehave’ (The International Music Awards, Holland 2021) 

• FOLK/AMERICANA ARTIST OF THE YEAR (Josie Music Awards 2020) 

• SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR - Silver (International singer-songwriters Association 2020)

• Folk Americana song of the year- ‘Angel of the Emerald Isle’ (Josie Music Awards 2020)

• Best Pop Song - 'Heart Of Mine' (World Songwriting Awards, Summer 2020) 

• Best Alternative Song - ‘Carry Me’ (World Songwriting Awards, spring 2020) 

• Finalist & honorable mention - ‘Éireann i mo chroí’ live performance (International songwriting competition 2020)

• 5-time nominee (International singer-songwriters Association 2020)

• 6-time nominee (Josie music awards 2020)

• ‘Aint your momma’ title of the album and song Clare co-wrote with Rhonda Funk) was up for consideration for a nomination for the Grammys 2021 in October 2020 and now has over 1 million streams