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Following the success of singles Huge Mistake and Sapling Be, West Cork-based songwriter Polly Barrett releases her third album Sapling be with focus track Following Her Truth. Sapling is out on Friday.

With two studio albums to her credit Polly Barrett is no stranger to the creative process of writing and recording albums.

However, it took the birth of her son and her rebirth as an artist for Polly to find her authentic truth.

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Recorded in her home in West Cork Sapling be… is dedicated to her son who came up with the name itself as he strummed the guitar as a toddler.

Saturated in Polly’s new home life the record is imbued with her struggles as writer’s block got its angry claws into her and the ethereal, meditative peace she found and made for herself in West Cork as she navigates the path of motherhood.

“The great thing about ageing is how much you learn about life as you go,” said Polly, speaking on the album. “In my 20s I thought I knew everything, but it wasn’t until I had my son at 31 that the real learning began.

“Our children can be little mirrors, showing us our weaknesses and our strengths, our patterns and our pitfalls. Before I became a mother I thought I would teach my child everything I knew. I didn’t expect to learn so much from him! The journey of motherhood has brought me to know myself. What a gift!”

After struggling with her own sense of identity and looking to be open and fluid as an artist Polly found her creativity in nature through a Forest Therapy course in Glengarriff Nature Reserve and through music as she began to experiment with the loop pedal and tongue drum. Finding her creativity flow through these meditative mediums she found explored the overwhelming love for one’s child and transformation of becoming a parent.

Sapling be… is a journey through motherhood, love and loss, the very life cycle of nature itself.

“It reminded me how connected with nature we all are. Not even connected. We are nature. I wanted to express that in this album. A connection to the earth, the past, ourselves,” she adds.

Initially used as a tool for meditation, the tongue drum found a place in Polly’s songwriting opening her up to fully embody the music. Ethereal and rhythmic both ‘Sapling Be’ and ‘Hedgerow’ were written with just the tongue drum and loop pedal.

Other songs also feature the loop pedal including ‘Huge Mistake’, ‘Sparrow’, and ‘Standing by The Sea’. Polly plays most of the instruments on this album which include acoustic guitar, tongue drum, bodhrán, tin whistle, low whistle, bass guitar and piano.
Sapling be… was mixed by grammy-nominated producer Chris O’Brien. Polly Barrett will perform at the Hole in The Wall on October 14.

www.pollybarrett.ie