The collaborative fruition of eighteen local talented musicians, all with one goal in focus, was unveiled to a vast listening audience on Friday last.
Penned by Athlone singer/songwriter, Shaun Fox, ‘United As One’ is a song which was written with the sole purpose of raising funds for frontline personnel within five Irish hospitals who are toiling daily with the persistent pandemic that is COVID-19.
Together with his song contributors, the target is to raise €10,000, which, when realised, will be donated to Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar, Mater Hospital Dublin, Cork University Hospital and Donegal Community Hospital.
Speaking to the Athlone Advertiser this week, Shaun Fox, who has been writing songs since the summer of 2019, told of how the song came to be.
“Sitting at home, there is a constant flow of COVID-19 related news, all of which appears to be negative at this time. I wanted to make a contribution in the fight against the pandemic and ease the heartbreak of families throughout the country so the idea of writing a song with the am of raising funds towards the cause came to mind,” Shaun stated.
The Marist College fifth year student started to pen the song and within moments the lyrical juices were in full flow as a powerful chorus began to emanate.
“As I wrote the song, I soon realised that this would not be a solo single and I decided to reach out to all my musical friends with a collaboration very much in mind. The chorus holds a powerful message and I wanted this to be resonated by a wealth of local singing talent. Thankfully, I received eighteen positive responses and so ‘United As One’ was born,” Shaun commented.
With lockdown in situ, gathering en masse in a recording studio was not possible so the the song came to fruition as each singer recorded their contribution on voice messages via WhatsApp which were then merged in the surrounds of Lakeland Studios in Glasson by Michael O’Dowd.
“The recording process took a period of two weeks and it was during this time that I decided that the funds raised following the release of the song should be attributed throughout the country, not just locally, as COVID-19 is affecting Ireland as a whole,” Shaun added.
The song was officially released on the various music platforms on Friday evening last with the proceeds from streams going towards the fundraising cause. Shaun has also established a ‘United As One’ gofundme page to which donations can be made as the musical collaboration strives to achieve their €10,000 target.
“All donations of any financial size are most welcome as we aim to achieve our target of €10,000. Those who do donate will also have the opportunity to win one of many prizes donated by local buisinesses,” Shaun noted.
Affording his immense gratitude for all those involved with the ‘United As One’ music project, Shaun aspires to maintain his rich songwriting vein following the release of his initial two songs, ‘The Mistake’ and ‘Future Plan’.
Having accumulated vast numbers of streams, both songs will be complemented by further single releases during the year, the plan being to release a full album of self written material in 2021 when a large swell of listeners has been attained.
‘United As One’ Singing Collaboration
Singer/Songwriter- Shaun Fox
Singers - Amanda Keyes, Claire Kenny, Clodagh Forte, Daniel Butler, Ellen Ryan, Evan Gallagher, Faye McDonald, Jack Tiernan, Jane Creavin, Jemma Skye Wedding, Jessica Dowling, Josh Jocher, Kylie King, Lorcan Withers, Michael Butler, Sarah Dowling, Shaun Fox and Therese McCormack.
At the time of going to press, ‘United As One’ had realised in excess of €5,000 in funds raised with the initial target of €10,000 set, very much in focus.
