A talented trio of female singers from Newry are enjoying unprecedented exposure after featuring in a video recorded in an unusual venue recently. The teenagers performed a stunning mash-up of hit songs by artists such as James Bay, George Ezra and Ellie Goulding from the backseat of Dundalk based “Maxi Taxi Talents” cab recently. The video has since gone completely viral, having been viewed over 130,000 times and counting since it was first posted on the Maxi Taxi Talents Facebook page two weeks ago.
The unique musical platform is the brainchild of Dundalk taxi driver Mark Kavanagh who has become somewhat of a local hero to artists by regularly inviting local singers and musicians to perform in his taxi cab and sharing the footage on his facebook page, providing some much welcome exposure for up-and-coming singers.
Newry trio Caoimhe McAleavey, Sarah-Louise McCaul and Niamh McCoy were invited to showcase their inimitable singing voices after Mark was sent a video the girls had posted of their mash-up performance. Jumping at the chance to feature in his talent taxi, the girls met with Mark earlier this month and belted out a pitch perfect performance in Newry’s Canal Court Hotel car park!
Speaking to The Examiner about the phenomenal reaction to the video, 19 year old Caoimhe McAleavey said the girls have been blown away by the response. Caoimhe, who like Sarah-Louise and Niamh, produces her own videos on Youtube of her solo renditions, revealed that the trio have bagged a number of local gigs on the back of the viral video, as well as an invitation to perform at the wedding of a Newry bride-to-be.
The girls are all students at the Bimm Music Institute in Manchester and they hope this boost to their profile will help them on their path to musical success.
Explaining how the talented friends came to collaborate, Caoimhe added,
“We all do our own music separately but we’re all studying music together at Bimm. Niamh is studying vocals and Sarah-Louise and I major in songwriting.
“We just decided to collaborate on something together. We never thought we’d get this response so we’re definitely going to start doing things together as well now.”
With local and national radio stations such as Downtown Radio, Iur FM and Cool FM all sharing the video and vying for an interview with the trio, the singers are certainly in demand, and with local gigs in the pipeline, the video is also raising their profile in Manchester. It seems the three friends will now have to put their talented heads together to come up with a name for their band to ride the wave of their newfound popularity, as, in keeping with the Maxi Taxi Talents catchphrase – “the Greatness keeps moving along!”