Soaring in from Chelmsford, Essex, is singer-songwriter and Americana pop/rock recording artist Roisin O'Hagan with her latest soulful single, "Road From Nevada."
Roisin O'Hagan is so stranger at creating cathartic and heartfelt pieces. She's been featured on a handful of Spotify playlists and has been supported by industry professionals like Max Helyer (You Me At Six), Georgie Rogers (BBC 6 Music), and Matt Malley (Counting Crows bass player).
With a ton of radio airplay under her belt, we can only expect the same coverage with her latest chilling and heartfelt piece, "Road From Nevada." The song is the second single from her upcoming EP 'Summer,' that bursts with a lust for life, love, and the things that inspire Roisin O'Hagan.
Hitting play on her new single, "Road From Nevada," the experience opens with lush country-pop instrumentals that twang and flutter in the background alongside a smooth acoustic guitar. As Roisin O'Hagan makes her vibrant vocal appearance, she sings of dreaming of the days when she'd be 21 years old in New York City. This anthemic piece covers the emotions of growing up, fleeing the coup, and yearning to live like it won't last long.
There's so much genuine emotion, and heart in this single, and Roisin O'Hagan's gentle performance perfectly gets her message across with boundless hope and faith for the future. Her dreamy country-pop instrumentals keep the energy and euphoria alive as Roisin O'Hagan heads towards the outro and claims her newfound freedom that comes with turning 21 in busy New York City.
Cherish each milestone with help from Roisin O'Hagan's moving and compelling new single, "Road From Nevada," now available on all digital streaming platforms.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Roisin O'Hagan. We're honestly impressed with the authentic emotion in your recent single, "Road From Nevada." What inspired this anthem for growing up and reaching your dreams?
Thank you so much! ‘Road From Nevada’ was a song that started with a verse full of lyrics referencing some of the things that inspire me; nods to New York, London, Springsteen songs, and Tom Petty make up the first verse. It then became a song which, over the course of 6 months, I added lyrics to every time I felt I had another inspirational moment or thing in my life to add to it. In the face of the scary parts of growing up, learning who you are, and realizing your dreams, I wanted it to be a song that summed up all the things, places, and moments that have made me who I am along the way. I’m 23 and looking at all the things I have experienced from being a teenager to how allowed me to sit back and acknowledge all the inspirational moments that were pivotal in bringing me to being the person I am right now. Did you work alongside any producers or musicians when creating "Road From Nevada?" How did they help execute the vision you had in mind?
Yes, the song was produced by Neal Handforth, who also helped me finish writing the song. I had 90% of the song finished, and he helped me finish some of the last remaining lyrics. It was a really rewarding collaborative process, as he was able to sit with me and pull the last bits of lyrical content out of me to complete them. We actually just talked a lot about the things that inspire me and shape my character, values, and dreams. Then, he would suggest lyrical ideas that would push me to the final lyric I was looking for. I also worked with some incredible Nashville musicians on ‘Road From Nevada’, who I’ve since met and spent time recording in Nashville with on upcoming tracks. The track features instrumentation from Tim Galloway, Brian Allen, and Miles McPherson. It was mixed by Billy Decker, who I had the pleasure of meeting on my Nashville trip too, and mastered by Adam Grover. On top of that, I recorded the vocal with vocal engineer Graeme Young at Chamber Studio in Edinburgh. So it’s been a bit of an international project! What was the most challenging part about creating "Road From Nevada?" Did you face any personal or emotional roadblocks?
When I wrote the first verse, which, as I mentioned was written first before I came back to finish the song, I wasn’t entirely sure what the song wanted to say. I think I was wishing I was in New York or watching Tom Petty, and I just wanted to list these things I loved. In that way, it was a challenging song to write as I didn’t know it was essentially going to become a list of these things, with the overall takeaway being the lyric “if all my heroes learned to fly, then why can’t I?”. I didn’t know when I started it that it would become something that took time to write properly, but that’s what ended up making it so rewarding. I feel so happy looking at the lyrics that make up this song, as I know every single one was fully intended, thought through, personal and meaningful. Was there a certain message that you wanted listeners to pick up from "Road From Nevada?" What did you want them to think and feel?
Again, I think the lyric “all my cynics, they might call me starry-eyed, but if all my heroes learned to fly, why can’t I?”. I, as everyone does, have moments of weakness where I question what I’m doing, wonder if I should just do things to please others, or let other people’s negativity affect me. This lyric just sums up the conclusion I *always* come back to in the end; you can work towards whatever you want in life, and you certainly shouldn’t let the thoughts and doubts of others change who you are and what you want from life. The message I want to project in both my musical and personal life is all down to me, not down to what others think I should do or think. So I would like the song to remind people that they are in control of their mindset and what matters to them in life, too. How does "Road From Nevada" tie into your upcoming EP. How does this song prepare us for the project?
I think the whole EP is a really good summary of me, where I’m at as a person, and how I got here. I mean that in the way of growing from a teenager to a young woman and looking at all of the things that determined how that happened. There are some really personal songs on this EP. Collectively, they are personal songs to me at the stage of life I’m at, and all carry my values as a person in them. Through working on, writing, and recording this collection of songs, I have acknowledged in myself a journey from being a teenager to a young woman; this EP projects all the highs and lows of that journey.