'One Christmas' is first song from Navan man David Cassidy

A Navan man who wrote his first song during the Covid lockdown has had it recorded with a local children's choir.

David Cassidy of Donaghpatrick started playing guitar six years ago - at the same time as his daughter.

"My daughter wanted to learn how to play so I bought her a guitar, brought it home to tune it up and couldn’t put it down myself then – I was hooked. I wasn’t entirely new to music though, I had learned piano as a kid with Siobhan Blake Lynch, but fell away from that in my early-mid teens.

David explains that during Covid, he came across an Irish-based group on Facebook called the Backline.

"This was a platform for all styles and abilities to post in the safety of a closed group," he says. "A weekly challenge would be set around a particular theme or topic and winners were chosen at random at the end of each week. It was a very supportive space, seeing others who were only beginners having the courage to post to the group and seeing the encouragement they received as a result - really helped me to lean into discomfort and do likewise. In October 2020, the group set a challenge to write an original Christmas song. I had annual leave from my job to take before year end, but we could not travel with all the restrictions in place. And so I locked myself away for a couple of days with my guitar and wrote 'One Christmas'.

"Fast forward 2023 and I connected with talented music producer Mark Cahill from Ivory Studios on the Slane Road, and decided to bring the song to life with a full production and release. Mark suggested the addition of a kids' choir to the arrangement and we engaged with local talent from Áine Farrelly’s Elite Stage School based out of Gibbstown, Wilkinstown and Slane.

"The song itself talks to the emotions that always seem to be amplified at Christmastime, when those who cannot be with us for whatever reason come to mind. It’s like a song of two halves in a way, with the key change mid-way through symbolising a sense of optimism, looking forward to the new year and possibilities for the future.

"Huge thanks to all who helped make this a reality: Mark Cahill, Áine Farrelly, all the kids and their parents who attended the practice and studio sessions (to the other kids who expressed an interest in taking part but we simply couldn’t accommodate in the studio), and finally Aidan Farrelly of Bad Apple Films."

'One Christmas' is available on Spotify, Apple Music and all platforms, with a full video on YouTube.