Belfast singer/songwriter Michael Kerr is releasing a stunning new video and single ‘Life Goes On’, out now. The single is a first taste of Kerr’s new EP due out in 2022.
Influenced by greats such as Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and Van Morrison, ’Life Goes On’ is a song about grief. One person is helpless to do anything while the other is saying there’s nothing else to do other than accept the inevitability of death. It’s the end for one but not the other. Life goes on and you have to keep moving knowing that the person that is gone has given their blessing.
The video was created and directed by Danny Mills of Dan Dan Media. Starring local Belfast actor Richard McFerran, the story centres around one man rebuilding his life after a painful event in his life. Michael says, “I wanted to present the song as an emotive piece of storytelling as opposed to the usual me sitting on a bar stool playing the song. I was introduced to Dan through Doot Doot Music and I loved the previous work he’d done with other local artists and he’s hit the nail on the head with this video. I was not only delighted with it but I was also delighted that I didn’t have to be in it. I’m really looking forward to sharing it.”
About the song, Michael says, “the song is an older one I had and I sort of benched it for 5/6 years as I didn’t know what to do with it musically. I knew there was a good song there but I couldn’t place it or know how to best deliver it. When I was pitching songs in New York, it managed to find its way back into my periphery and I gave it to Michael Mormecha to throw some ideas at it. With that and the whole pandemic, it became a meaningful song again and felt right to get it out there. When I wrote the song I was thinking about a story my uncle told me when he visited my Grandfather in hospital just before he died. My Grandfather was unwell for a while and I think he knew he was ‘goosed’, as he used to say. My uncle said the night before he died he was with him and he determinedly took the oxygen mask off his face and said “its not working, take it away”. Despite my uncle’s attempts to force the mask back on him, he realised it was his way of saying I’m ready to go. It was a tough one to hear but that was my Granda, he knew when his time was up.”
Whilst making a living on the local circuit, Michael has been slowly building his portfolio as a singer/songwriter and he really came to the fore following the release of his 2018 EP, ‘Treasure Chest’. Since that release, Michael has supported artists such as Steve Earle, John Oates, Hothouse Flowers and he’s also been playlisted on local commercial radio stations as well as a play on Radio 1s Introducing.
His songwriting has evolved to form melody driven songs on a foundation of swelling guitars and heartfelt lyrics. ‘Life Goes On’ will be Michael’s first single release from his upcoming EP due out in 2022.
