At the age of 17, New Bedford’s Molly O’Leary discovered the music of Will Hoge. Ten years later, Hoge will be the producer for their second full-length album and co-writer on select songs.
This February, O’Leary and bandmate John Fernandes will travel to Nashville, TN, to record O’Leary’s follow-up to their debut, “Holding Space,” which was released independently last October. O’Leary and Fernandes will be joined by “Holding Space” producer John Mailloux of Bongo Beach Studios in Westport, MA.
“Holding Space” earned national attention from the indie music community, and led to O’Leary opening for Hoge and Geoff Rickly at Sonia in Cambridge, MA, last April. Hoge was so impressed with the performance that he invited O’Leary to open for him at the Astra Theatre in Jasper, Indiana, last June.
“When I first heard Molly’s music, it hooked me,” Hoge said. “Molly has a great voice and really cool songs. Molly also seems to really have the other thing that is vital to being a musician and that’s the desire and work ethic to get yourself out there and do the hard work of getting your music heard by folks. I’m a fan and I can’t wait to see where the path Molly chooses and follows takes them next.”
Hoge has a strong national and international following with 14 albums to his credit. He is currently on the Americana Album Chart and Singles Chart. He has released a pair of albums on Atlantic Records and has been a Grammy nominee for Country Song of the Year, and a Country Music Association nominee. He has had albums appear on the Billboard 200 chart and the Independent Albums Chart.
On October 1st, O’Leary launched an eight-week crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, the same process they successfully used to fund “Holding Space.” O’Leary will be hosting a “Songwriters in the Round” and open mic series, presented by PB&J Records, to promote the campaign. The series will also give local songwriters a chance to perform their originals in listening room venues. There will be eight shows in total. If you are a New England based singer-songwriter interested in performing, contact O’Leary to sign up. O’Leary has until November 24 th to fund the campaign, so check out the Kickstarter link below.
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mollyolearymusic/molly-olearys-sophomore-album
O’Leary is employed as an Adjustment Counselor for Rodman Elementary School in New Bedford, MA.
O’Leary can be reached at: mollyoleary95@gmail.com or on social media @mollyolearymusic
Written by Sean McCarthy
