Talented Fermanagh singer-songwriter Clara Tracey was shortlisted for the final of a song contest being held as part of the Night and Day festival at Lough Key Forest Park in Co. Roscommon, coming fourth.

Clara discovered her passion for songwriting in Paris where she lived for a decade. Her earliest solo performances took place in Jazz cafes, and the French language still inspires and permeates her sound.

On returning to Ireland, she continued her musical evolution under a number of guises, whilst also playing with notable acts including Maija Sofia, Paddy Hanna and Aoife Nessa Frances. Her debut album, ‘Black Forest’, is an opening into her magic world where women reign, stained glass masterpieces come to life and fantasies are playfully erotic.

Describing her work, Irish music magazine and website Golden Plec wrote: “With ‘Black Forest’ Clara Tracey has delivered a deeply impressive debut album that announces her as an exceptionally magnetic talent, bursting with boundless potential. It is an album which implores you to submit to its alluring charms.”

The overall winner will perform at this year’s festival – which features acts such as Mercury Rev, Pillow Queens, Hot House Flowers, Wallis Bird and David Keenan – and will receive a day’s filming and two days’ editing with Lensmen Photography and Video Production, as well as their choice of studio to record in.

The runner-up and second runner-up will also get a day’s recording in one of Night and Day’s sponsored studios.

The partnered studios include the prestigious Hell Fire Studios in the Dublin mountains – where artists such as Hozier, Sinead O’Connor, Liam O Maonlai, Sharron Shannon and Lankum have all recorded albums – as well as Dublin studio Soundcaster Studios, as well as Galway’s Paddy Jordan Recording.

Describing the toughness of deciding the winners, judges hailed fourth-placed Clara as “a real talent”, who they hope to have at the festival in the future.