As Omagh beauty Donna Taggart prepared to release her cover of Jenn Bostic’s song Jealous Of The Angels little did she know it would change her life forever.
Touched by the sentiment of the lyrics and melody of the music, Donna chose to cover the song simply because she liked it. But this decision set the wheels in motion that would see her torn between two careers she loved.
By day Donna, 31, was a Children’s Behaviour Support Therapist working for the Children’s Autism Service for Western Trust, by night she was gigging around the country tentatively testing the waters of the music business.
Whilst music was something she always loved, the work she did with the children in the Western Trust meant a lot to her.
So Donna ran both careers simultaneously until she released the video for Jealous Of The Angels on Facebook.
Almost overnight it became an internet hit, having now clocked up more than 100 million views to date and counting.
In fact it coincided with Donna’s maternity leave after the birth of her second child Matthew who was just six months old at the time.
However, the rapidly growing success of the song meant Donna had to make some choices. One of them was getting management.
She explained: “I was very busy with music, I could have been at music full time but I suppose like most musicians, it’s very difficult to make a living out of it full time and it’s quite a scary thing to go into full time.
“The kids [Grace (3) and Matthew (18 months)] were my priority so in the back of my head was that responsibility of paying the bills. That was my reasoning for not going into the music full time.
“I was off on maternity leave when the song began to outreach all my expectations so it was easier at the time to find the time to concentrate a bit more on the music.
“After some time I realised that it was an opportunity I had to take because the music business is very fickle and I may not have got the opportunities at another time, I try to take nothing for granted.
“The thing is I really loved what I do, working with the children. I had always worked with children, it wasn’t something I could give up lightly.”
So she didn’t. Donna found a compromise that would allow her to pursue her music career but not give up her career options as a behaviour therapist.
“I’m currently on a career break” she said.
“The song has now passed 100 million streams on Facebook and over five million on YouTube and I’m proud of that. I funded everything myself from the recording of the song and video to the initial promotion. I didn’t have a record label to help me.
“When people say it’s come out of nowhere, it really has and it’s given me the confidence to pursue it.
“The way I look at it is that I could have a good year, two years or forty good years, I don’t have a crystal ball so I’m taking it one step at a time. I’ll see how it goes and keep my options open.”
Donna is currently touring across Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England. Early next year she’ll be taking to the states with songwriting legend Phil Coulter to support him on his tour.
She’s learning every day and Donna admits it’s been quite the whirlwind.
“I think any industry is tough but I think for me I’m learning it all very quickly and I’ve had to learn a lot of things very fast as I was only ever doing it part time.
“I went from nobody knowing who I was to somebody who had 100 million hits on a song. I’m not complaining, I’m just simply acknowledging that I’ve had to learn a lot in a very short period of time and learn my craft very very quickly. It’s a lot of hard graft.”
And how will she follow Jealous Of The Angels?
Donna is being realistic, she isn’t pressurising herself into believing her next release has to have the same success.
She said: “People are saying ‘oh you are going to need another big hit’. I’m very grateful that I have had one and what I will continue to do is to do what I do well and what I feel I do well.
“I will continue to record songs that I feel I am naturally drawn to and that I am naturally gravitated to. I was doing that prior to Jealous Of The Angels going viral and for that reason I have other songs already recorded.
“They might never have the same success that Jealous Of The Angels had but it comes back to being true to who you are as an artist. It may not have 100 million hits but at least I can stand over it as an artist.”
Supported by her husband Colm, who’s not in the industry himself but quickly learning behind the scenes too, Donna is currently concentrating on her tour and enjoying meeting the audiences.
“At the beginning it was just crazy, I was managing a young family and in those initial weeks it was non-stop” she said, adding: “But it was worth it, I was able to book my own shows of which some have been sold out.
“Walking towards that first stage at my first own headline gig was a mixture of nerves and exhilaration. There was so much warmth from the audience and there were so many people there that had been following my career from when I first started recording seven years ago. It was a very special feeling.”
For more information and tour dates log onto www.donnataggart.com
