While the project has in previous years brought out the best of its young stars, there was something extra special from the get-go of this collection.

Five acts are on display, at the top of their game and ready for yet bigger and better things, and all thanks to a little run Glasgowbury course in Mid-Ulster.

For the first time yet, each act was handed a stack of their own EPs to take as well as featuring on the collective album and what emerged was an artistic experience like no other.

The album, featuring all the songs from the five individual artists - Junior Johnson, Silhouette, Building Pictures, Oonagh Clarke and The Q - can be purchased by contacting Glasgowbury at: glasgowbury@gmail.com


Junior Johnson
'Stoned, Ripped, Twisted, Good People'

1 - Colder Ground
Is this Junior Johnson? That always soft spoken, folk driven legend? Well if ever you needed an advert for the power of the Rural Key, look no further. Junior kicks things off in a barage of talent that will stop and make you think. The organ is in full swing, occasional lead guitar accosts the sound and a full band round off a song that takes Mr Johnson down a very happy path indeed. You can almost sense the smile on his face.

2 - Lonely Places
It's a softer set-up for track number two, a more personal endeavour where his depthly lyrics have all the room they need. It's no less a powerhouse of a tune and Junior revels in the joys of a full band sound that takes him to whole new heights. Harmonies weave in and our come the track's end and there's a heavenly feeling that disregards its subject. Radios were made for this kind of thing.

3 - The Ballad Of Glasgowbury
The stripped down song that recognises the sound of Junior's past is exactly what you'd expect from the man who's previously perfected the one man and his guitar circuit. It's a song full of despair ("The work's drying up and the painted smiles are gone/Lost haze of the summer sun") that finds an uplifting home ("Wanna find out who I am/Take my head from the sand/Can you understand?").



Building Pictures
'Like Minded People'

1 - For The Meantime
John's second year on the Rural Key has seen him grow in ways probably believed impossible by even him.
For The Meantime kicks off his Building Pictures career in the realm where Gribbin left off, but where Pictures allows him the chance to go that extra mile.
What starts off as singer/songwriter-like affair morphs into a heavy little indie tune that repeatedly bounces from one side of your head to the other. John has created something quite new.

2 - Hidden Agenda Types
What starts off as a beast of a song, one that threatens to overpower you, is controlled by Gribbin's common sense approach in telling a story.
Taking a jibe at some unknown foes, Building Pictures is off on an artistic exploration of sorts; the last minute a descent like journey of mind-expanding proportions.

3 - It Slows Down
The slow song, the story of It Slows Down is the advert for the Rural Key. Born out of a collaboration one fine day on the project, it's a song so simplistic you'll have to hush all around you to be allowed full immersion.
You get the feeling that if Lightbody was to go solo (now a reality, it seems) he'd do anything to have the likes of this on his roster. Transforming into a Razorlight infected finish, Building Pictures proves both his songwriting and ever-increasing talent in one of the album's stripped bare and finest tunes.



Oonagh Clarke -
'In So Many Words'

1 - Hold My Hand
Doing what she's always done best, Oonagh continues on the form that's moulded her career thus far. This year's songs use the same tried and tested formula, changing only the structure here and there to shape her impeccable folk-pop infused voice around.
With the help of John Gribbin, Hold My Hand is a personal little tale of getting through the hard times and being all the better for them. The heavenly song, it adds to the already bulging list that Oonagh has gathered which could, with her dedication, hit a location near you very soon.

2 - I Wish
An oldie, revamped and packaged with a touch of encouragement from Glasgowbury, I Wish is the changing face of Oonagh's music. What begins like most, slowly moves into unfamiliar territory as a full array of bells and whistles make themselves heard.
Her personal song, I Wish is, like it suggests, a song about wanting to do more, to 'soar above the sky' as she so beautifully lays it out. An added electric guitar and drum combo make this one of the most surprising radio friendly hits on the record.

3 - Observation
The album's shortest track, Observation is Oonagh's life in song. Hesitations, apprehension, excitement - all make up part of 'her journey'. It too picks up more than an acoustic guitar, but as with most of Oonagh's work it's the pureness and simplicity of her style that works best.
"You gotta live your life and enjoy every part of the ride", is a message we can all adopt and one you could well believe Oonagh has had experience of in her 19 years and the track ends on that repetitive, positive note.



Silhouette
'Artworks and Illustrations'

1 - Volume Destroyed
There's a clear quirkiness about all things Silhouette, and her first song keeps that dream alive. Volume Destroyed is a little bit of everything we know about Shauna Tohill.
There are flashes of that fantastically original voice shining through and with help from Peter McCauley she devises a song that's short, catchy and delivers an otherworldly aura. You will instantly want more.

2 - Put The Silence On Hold
And with Silence, you got so much more. Here it's all about Silhouette letting her voice go free on what may be her strongest song.
It's a passionate affair ("So never let go from this passion that unfolds, don't you know/I don't wanna go home"), yet like most Rural Key songs is naturally uplifting, and will, in its simplicity, astound you.

3 - Under My Skin
The song that will, like its title suggests, get under your skin. A personal jaunt by all means, Silhouette bears her soul and with a hint of anger and desparation makes her case.
With lyrics like "I'm safe, safe, just like a baby lying in the arms of god", you'll be unsure whether or not to laugh or cry but you'll be happy throughout the learning process. For you may well have found one of your new favourite artists.


The Q
'Big Fubb'

1 - Magpie
The Q are a revelation, re-focused and re-driven with the Rural Key's help. Magpie lays down an early manifesto of great things, young Paul bellowing his way through short, sharp lyrics that take him on such trips as to a credit crunch defying hosiptal.
Naturally all are involved in the comprehensive sound, while there's an added touch of sleaze and old school rock and roll rattling round. More please.

2 - Trap Door
If it's more rock you're after then look no further than the Trapdoor - a song plucked straight from the 60s - one that Connolly has the space to tell more of a story while the guitars create a spacy kaleidoscope effect all around him.
Like an affecting and heavy song, the Trap Door clearly has some secrets lurking behind it and with a heavy push, The Q, too. are revealing theirs. That jangly punk-pop now has some serious substance.

3 - Radio
Wow. If this is The Q's stripped bare song, then their down time is one very spacy affair indeed. From those first plucked bass chords, you'll feel it immediately getting under your skin. It will work it's way up your leg, touching every square inch affectingly, before Paul's echo-ed vocals take over your brain like some beamed in alien message.
If psychedelic sleaze wasn't yet invented, The Q have found it. At just under 6 minutes, it won't, ironically enough, make most radio. But who cares, because this is all that we love about The Q - a gloriously constructed, mammoth of a tune that will appeal to both your parents and you. No easy feat.