Local singer celebrates after ‘The Sacrifice’ hits top of country music chart

Maria Doherty’s ‘The Sacrifice’ is a cover of a Dolly Parton original and is ‘all about thinking about the choices that you have made and things that you have given up along the way to achieve a goal or a dream and wondering if it was worth it.’

Maria told the Journal how the song is appropriate when reflecting on recent times.

“I think that’s something everyone can relate to - we have all gave up on holidays or time with friends for work or other responsibilities, in the hope that it will lead to an opportunity or better standard of living for you or family.

“I think this last year with lockdowns and not being able to do the things that we have always taken for granted inspired me to record this song, as we have all sacrificed so much for the greater good in the last 18 months.”

The video shows Inishowen woman Maria in some very familiar locations around Buncrana.

“Aidan O’Donnell, from Videotek Media Productions, filmed and produced the video for me and we filmed it across two locations.

“I have really wanted to use St. Mary’s Hall in Buncrana for a video for a long time now, as it’s place that is very special to me.

“I’ve spent a lot of time in the hall over the years when I’ve been involved in local pantomimes, musicals and concerts and it’s somewhere that I have so many great memories.

“It’s a big part of my musical and performance journey, so it was a very special place to make this video. We also did the outside shots outside of Tullyarvan Mill in Buncrana. It’s a lovely spot with the Crana River in the background. We live in a beautiful area in Buncrana and it’s lovely to share it with people from all around the world.”

Maria told how she has been ‘delighted with the reaction the song has received so far.’

“I was apprehensive with the release of this single after the success of my last release “Build Me a Daddy” last year - it’s always difficult to follow up on something that has performed so well! But, thankfully, this song went straight into the number one spot on the Irish Country Music iTunes chart again and has received great airplay across Ireland and the UK so far.

“The video was released on Friday evening and got over 2.5k viewers in 24 hours and is lined up for a number of shows on the Spotlight Music channel over the next few weeks. Hopefully it will continue to be well received.”.

With restrictions easing, Maria is looking forward to performing in front of an audience again.

“It’s great for musicians to see things opening up again now after everything being put on hold during lockdown, I’m looking forward to seeing normality returning with gigs, theatres and live music in general. I’ll hopefully be back in the studio again in the near future and start working on more new music.”

‘The Sacrifice’ is available on all music platforms to download and stream and at all radio stations to request.