Cork-born musician Stephanie Rainey’s fortunes changed in one fell swoop. One moment Stephanie was recording in a freezing church, with family loans and her own personal dedication offering a DIY solution to a lack of industry backing. The next, her ‘Half of Me’ EP was sitting near the top of the Irish charts with only The Script and Hozier blocking the path to the number one slot and has since led to signing a record deal with East West Records (via Warner Music)
Of the signing to East West Records, Stephanie says;
‘The past few months have been crazy. Since I put out Please Don’t Go I’ve been all over the place meeting some amazing people. It’s led to me signing a record deal with East West Records’ and a publishing deal with B-Unique. I’m so glad to be working with these two companies. I think we’ll make some great music together. It’s literally a dream come true. There’s a lot of work to do at the minute as were working towards recording my first album this year which is so exciting. It’s hard to imagine what I’ll be looking back on this time next year’
In August 2015, Stephanie posted the very emotional video for the track ‘Please Don’t Go’, the song was inspired by the tragic loss of her nephew ten years ago, and has since made an astonishing emotional connection with a huge audience around the world. The video to the song ‘Please Don’t Go’ has had over 3.5 million views on Facebook and over 470,000 views via Youtube; and the figures are rising steadily.
Aside from the video’s popularity from a purely statistical viewpoint, it also offers a unique connection between the viewer and the artist. “A lot of people were sending me their stories of what had happened to them and the profound effect that the video had on them,” continues Stephanie.
In the midst of a flood of tales of similar suffering were messages from labels eager to get involved – especially as the song was making inroads on the US iTunes chart too. A deal was soon reached with East West. “It’s a chance to focus on more writing, gather some of the stuff I have and make a killer album,” she enthuses. “It’s also a massive opportunity to work with some really great people that I didn’t have access to before.”
It’s a while away from completion, but Stephanie expects the material on the album to range from intimate compositions in the vein of ‘Please Don’t Go’ through to soaring full-band anthems. Best of all, she states, is that she can finally unveil tracks which she didn’t previously have the means to explore to their full potential.
For the few that haven’t yet discovered her- 2016 will be Stephanie Rainey’s time to demonstrate the full vista of her talent.
