Move forward Joe Lington has the most modern R&B sound and is Cork's own musical gem. It's just as interesting to read about Lington's quick rise in the R&B scene around the world as it is to listen to his music, which is based on the emotional rhythms of the lively streets of Cork. As the saying goes, all artistic projects have to start somewhere....

The moment the jaunty guitar kicks in on John Smyths’ new single, "Now I'm Wiser", you feel a familiar, comfortable warmth. It’s the sound of a good chair in a bar where the floor is sticky with spilled truths. And then the story starts, a classic yarn of a hard-living past yielding to a peaceful present. Smyths, a Dutch ex-metalhead singing country out of...