It’s time for the world to hear Sydney Irving.
The 22-year-old singer-songwriter has appeared on pretty much every stage in Central New York, relentlessly sharing her mix of Americana, pop, rock and modern folk music since she was 14. Now she’s releasing a new album through a record deal signed with Deko Entertainment, a label distributed by Warner Music Group / ADA.
“Unfashioned Creatures” will be released on CD and all major streaming services Oct. 17. She’ll also be celebrating the 12-song collection with a performance at an album release party Oct. 22 at the Heritage Hill Brewhouse in Pompey.
Irving, who won Best New Artist at the Syracuse Area Music Awards (SAMMYS) in 2022, wrote or co-wrote all the songs on the album, including the punk-inspired “You Can’t Forget About Me,” the power-pop styled “Seasons Change” and the acoustic “Dreaming.” Her guitar teacher describes her sound as “epic acoustic,” but she calls it a mix of all her influences, including Jack Johnson, The Ramones, Tom Petty and Taylor Swift.
Irving wrote a lot of the songs while she was still a student at Marcellus High School and stuck at home during the Covid pandemic in her junior and senior year. She starts with an acoustic guitar on her bedroom floor and works out the lyrics herself, then polishes the songs with additional instruments; for two new songs, producer Steve Sopchak added ideas from a dream after she sent him a concept.
“I think when we are in the studio and we’re trying to make the music, we try to go for a timeless thing,” Irving told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. “If you listen to it in 30 years, it doesn’t feel old. It still feels like it could have come out yesterday.”
Since graduating in 2021, Irving has been working hard and performing more than a hundred shows a year, including sharing the stage with artists like Midland, Barns Courtney, Martina McBride, Gavin DeGraw and Starship featuring Mickey Thomas. She’ll put her own unique spin of covers of songs like Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” but is most passionate about sharing her own music.
“A lot of these songs on the record, I’ve been playing out for years,” Irving told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. “But it’s new to a lot of people.”
Irving’s father gave her a guitar when she was 9 years old. She began writing music when she was about 12 and went to Little Rockers Camp at The Redhouse Arts Center in Syracuse. Her parents were impressed by her deep lyrics at a young age and encouraged her to get into a studio and record an album.
“We knew it was something that she loved, so we were wanting to be supportive in any way that we could,” her mother, Johanna, said.
“Unfashioned Creatures,” named after a Mary Shelley line from “Frankenstein,” is actually Irving’s third full-length album. She released “Hello Stranger” when she was 14 and “The Halfmoon Sessions” about a year later, but both have been removed from streaming services to focus on her growth and maturity as a songwriter. She also co-produced and arranged all the tracks on the new album.
Syracuse-based singer-songwriter Sydney Irving is releasing her new album, “Unfashioned Creatures,” through Deko Entertainment, a record label distributed by Warner Music Group / ADA.Deko Entertainment
After a series of concerts in Upstate New York, Irving plans to take her songs to the rest of the U.S. on tour. She dreams of headlining shows at venues like Red Rocks, attending the Grammy Awards, and maybe collaborating with another artist who was born in Syracuse: Post Malone.
Irving got connected with Deko Entertainment after her guitar teacher met Bruce Pilato, a manager for Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Pilato listened to Irving’s music and liked it immediately and soon signed her to his management company, Pilato Entertainment.
Deko is a distribution label for artists like Slash (of Guns ‘N Roses), Brian Setzer Orchestra, Warrant, The Guess Who, Rik Emmett (of Triumph), John Entwhistle (of The Who), Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, and Watertown native Albert Bouchard (of Blue Oyster Cult).
It’s Irving’s latest step into a larger music world, though her talent has not previously gone unnoticed. She was named the 2020 Young Adult Artist of the Year by The International Singer Songwriters Association and won Best Pop Artist at the 2023 Mississippi Music Awards.
She also won her second SAMMY in Syracuse last year with the original, independent version of “Unfashioned Creatures.” The 10-song collection won Best Pop recording at Syracuse’s version of the Grammys, but the new version of the album will feature two additional songs.
Sydney Irving & The Mojo perform during the SAMMYS at the Palace Theater, Syracuse, N.Y., Friday March 8, 2024.
(Scott Schild | sschild@syracuse.com)
Scott Schild | sschild@syracuse.com
“I want to say a huge ‘thank you’ to every single person who has supported my songs; came to a show; streamed my music; and believed in me,” Irving added. “This is just the beginning, and I can’t wait to share everything that’s still to come.”
For tour dates and more info, visit sydneyirvingmusic.com. Tickets for the Oct. 22 album release party are on sale at heritagehill.ticketspice.com/sydney-irving-album-release-party.
See the music video for Sydney Irving’s “You Can’t Forget About Me”:
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