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Orla Gartland sets her own rules on 'Everybody Needs A Hero'

XPN | By Raina Douris,
Miguel Perez
Published December 11, 2024 at 11:28 AM CST

The music industry is notoriously difficult to navigate. But, speaking to Irish songwriter Orla Gartland, you get the impression that she'll find her way through it — even if it means charting a completely new course.

Recently, Gartland toured North America promoting her latest album, Everybody Needs a Hero. There was such a high demand for tickets that some of the shows were moved to bigger venues. An impressive accomplishment for the self-funded independent artist, but it's something she's been working toward since she started uploading her performances to YouTube at the age of 13 and, later, busking on the street in Dublin.

In this session, Gartland shares her story, talks about making the new album, and about what it means to be truly independent as an artist.

Set list

  1. "Backseat Driver"
  2. "Little Chaos"
  3. "Mine"
  4. "Why Am I Like This?"


This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.

Copyright 2024 XPN
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Artist Interviews World Cafe
Raina Douris
Raina Douris, an award-winning radio personality from Toronto, Ontario, is the host and writer of NPR's daily nationally-syndicated music interview and discovery program World Cafe. She has interviewed artists like Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, Questlove and Brandi Carlile, and was a 2022 keynote lecturer on the topic of Folk Music and music discovery at the Chautauqua Institution.
Miguel Perez
Miguel Perez is a radio producer for NPR's World Cafe, based out of WXPN in Philadelphia. Before that, he covered arts, music and culture for KERA in Dallas. He reported on everything from the rise of NFTs in the music industry to the enduring significance of gay and lesbian bars to the LGBTQ community in North Texas.