Sean Rowlette exclaims that with Ploughing cancelled, not only is the opportunity for his young daughter to showcase her singing talent gone, but so is family holiday. But let’s not panic here – Leanne is after all only 14 years of age, so there will be plenty of Ploughings in her future.
Irish Country Living first met the Rowlettes at the 2019 Ploughing, when they came to watch our Ploughing for Stars competition. Although too young to enter, Leanne was singing that evening on the main bandstand stage, as she had done in previous years, even duetting with Richie Kavanagh in 2018. The youngster has had her share of media coverage since first being recorded by her father singing Go Lassie Go on their tractor, age just 11.
Leanne explains that although it was not her preference – “I asked Dad not to put it on Facebook but he did and it went viral” – that is where it started and soon she was singing all over the country.
Sean, a sheep and beef farmer from Dromore West in Sligo, sadly lost his wife Sally in 2013 during childbirth. And it was after this devastating loss that Sean invested in singing lessons for his oldest daughter, among other activities.
“We were advised that singing and sports would be good for them,” he said.
Leanne Rowlette and her siblings Abby (12), Joseph (nine) and Sally (seven).
Leanne is in second year in Easkey secondary school. Her siblings, Abby (12), Joseph (nine) and Sally the youngest at seven, are in school in Dromore West. Aside from the singing, they also enjoy dancing, sports and farming.
Sean has been farming all his life. He inherited the farm from his own father, but as he also works in construction part time, he is grateful to have his father knocking about “still telling us what to do.”
The main operation on the farm is the sheep, with the family lambing 100 ewes this year and also running 60 hoggets. Like many others, COVID-19 has meant adapting, Sean explains.
“We would normally buy in heifers, bull them and sell them off, but this year we still have them. Had done away with the calving other years, but there was nowhere to sell them this year, so we calved 15.”
But despite the complications presented by the pandemic, there were some positives.
“They (the kids) have an interest in it (farming), they are used to it. It was great that they were off school during the lambing, as they would see if something was wrong on the camera system and they would run down to check the sheep.”
In the early years following Sally’s death, it was not easy for Sean, with four young children to support.
Leanne Rowlette now 14 is in second year in Easkey Secondary School.
Like many families, the partnership is what makes things work well on a farm and the impact of the loss of one of the partners can be far reaching.
“Sally was more or less at home minding the kids. She would have done a bit around the farm, but I was able to do everything myself, as she was there with the kids.
Sean gave up much of his construction work and concentrated on the farm initially.
“We were fortunate, we had good family around us which supported us. Before, it was more difficult. When they were younger we would need to get babysitters in. But now the kids are at an age where they come along on the farm and help out. Now we can go together, but it wasn’t always like that.”
As the children were out on the farm more after Sally’s passing, Sean was conscious of farm safety and adapted the farm to be as child-friendly as possible.
“I have it in such a way that everything is locked away in the shed. I have an extra seat in the tractor, it’s all enclosed. I made changes so that they couldn’t be climbing up on things. They kids know where the stock bull is and they know themselves it’s a dangerous place.”
The second time that Irish Country Living met the Rowlettes was last October at the 2019 Women and Agriculture conference. All four danced as part of Sandra Ganleys jiving juniors troop, who provided some after dinner entertainment to attendees in Sligo.
Leanne’s process
“I started [singing] lessons when I was seven, but I don’t do them anymore, I would like to break into the country music scene. Cliona Hagan, Lisa McHugh and Philomena Begley are my favourites.”
Leanne has recorded a number of covers, including Jealous of the Angels which she says is “different to the rest of my songs.”
All the music is on YouTube and Facebook and she has a CD out, which was recorded in Letterkenny.
Aside from the singing Leanne and her siblings also enjoy dancing, sports and farming.
Irish Country Living being naive to the ways of the music industry, queries what the process of recording an album is. Leanne was happy to explain.
“We go up to Letterkenny to Brian Kerrigan’s Harmony Recording Studios, and you could be making three trips for each recording. He gets me to sing the song twice the first time and he sends it off to the guitar and keyboard players and the backing vocals. They build the music around the voice.
“Then when I go back, he has the backing track built and I sing it about five times and we work around the music. I am hoping to start writing my own music and Dad keeps asking me to do that.”
Inspiration from those in the know
A lady who started out in the country music scene herself when she was just a little bit older than Leanne has given her some advice.
“One night I was at a gig and Philomena Begley was there and she was really good.”
Explaining the realities of the industry, Philomena said that it was a tough industry and although you will get praise, you will get the negatives too – but continue on and don’t let the negatives bring you down.
Sean thinks this was great advice for Leanne to hear, from someone who has 58 years of experience in the industry behind her.
There were big plans for 2020, as Leanne had a number of bookings. She was supposed to be in Spain singing for Paddies day and in New York in April for a Pieta House fundraiser but, like everything else, all of those things were cancelled.
Leanne did, however, support the charity by taking part in the Dromore West singing for Pieta event, which raised €12,000 this year. A group of 13 got together and recorded a concert that was shown on Zoom.
Sean is hopeful about the future of farming: “All the kids like the farming. Once the homework is done, they are allowed out onto the farm. But farming is gone difficult and at times you wonder about staying in it. We are just hoping that this will blow over and she can get back gigging as soon as possible.”
Read more
Country Sound: missing the music, but the people too
Watch: our best videos of farming people in 2017
Reader writes: The inspiration behind a new song
Ploughing for stars champions
Sean Rowlette exclaims that with Ploughing cancelled, not only is the opportunity for his young daughter to showcase her singing talent gone, but so is family holiday. But let’s not panic here – Leanne is after all only 14 years of age, so there will be plenty of Ploughings in her future.
Irish Country Living first met the Rowlettes at the 2019 Ploughing, when they came to watch our Ploughing for Stars competition. Although too young to enter, Leanne was singing that evening on the main bandstand stage, as she had done in previous years, even duetting with Richie Kavanagh in 2018. The youngster has had her share of media coverage since first being recorded by her father singing Go Lassie Go on their tractor, age just 11.
Leanne explains that although it was not her preference – “I asked Dad not to put it on Facebook but he did and it went viral” – that is where it started and soon she was singing all over the country.
Sean, a sheep and beef farmer from Dromore West in Sligo, sadly lost his wife Sally in 2013 during childbirth. And it was after this devastating loss that Sean invested in singing lessons for his oldest daughter, among other activities.
“We were advised that singing and sports would be good for them,” he said.
Leanne Rowlette and her siblings Abby (12), Joseph (nine) and Sally (seven).
Leanne is in second year in Easkey secondary school. Her siblings, Abby (12), Joseph (nine) and Sally the youngest at seven, are in school in Dromore West. Aside from the singing, they also enjoy dancing, sports and farming.
Sean has been farming all his life. He inherited the farm from his own father, but as he also works in construction part time, he is grateful to have his father knocking about “still telling us what to do.”
The main operation on the farm is the sheep, with the family lambing 100 ewes this year and also running 60 hoggets. Like many others, COVID-19 has meant adapting, Sean explains.
“We would normally buy in heifers, bull them and sell them off, but this year we still have them. Had done away with the calving other years, but there was nowhere to sell them this year, so we calved 15.”
But despite the complications presented by the pandemic, there were some positives.
“They (the kids) have an interest in it (farming), they are used to it. It was great that they were off school during the lambing, as they would see if something was wrong on the camera system and they would run down to check the sheep.”
In the early years following Sally’s death, it was not easy for Sean, with four young children to support.
Leanne Rowlette now 14 is in second year in Easkey Secondary School.
Like many families, the partnership is what makes things work well on a farm and the impact of the loss of one of the partners can be far reaching.
“Sally was more or less at home minding the kids. She would have done a bit around the farm, but I was able to do everything myself, as she was there with the kids.
Sean gave up much of his construction work and concentrated on the farm initially.
“We were fortunate, we had good family around us which supported us. Before, it was more difficult. When they were younger we would need to get babysitters in. But now the kids are at an age where they come along on the farm and help out. Now we can go together, but it wasn’t always like that.”
As the children were out on the farm more after Sally’s passing, Sean was conscious of farm safety and adapted the farm to be as child-friendly as possible.
“I have it in such a way that everything is locked away in the shed. I have an extra seat in the tractor, it’s all enclosed. I made changes so that they couldn’t be climbing up on things. They kids know where the stock bull is and they know themselves it’s a dangerous place.”
The second time that Irish Country Living met the Rowlettes was last October at the 2019 Women and Agriculture conference. All four danced as part of Sandra Ganleys jiving juniors troop, who provided some after dinner entertainment to attendees in Sligo.
Leanne’s process
“I started [singing] lessons when I was seven, but I don’t do them anymore, I would like to break into the country music scene. Cliona Hagan, Lisa McHugh and Philomena Begley are my favourites.”
Leanne has recorded a number of covers, including Jealous of the Angels which she says is “different to the rest of my songs.”
All the music is on YouTube and Facebook and she has a CD out, which was recorded in Letterkenny.
Aside from the singing Leanne and her siblings also enjoy dancing, sports and farming.
Irish Country Living being naive to the ways of the music industry, queries what the process of recording an album is. Leanne was happy to explain.
“We go up to Letterkenny to Brian Kerrigan’s Harmony Recording Studios, and you could be making three trips for each recording. He gets me to sing the song twice the first time and he sends it off to the guitar and keyboard players and the backing vocals. They build the music around the voice.
“Then when I go back, he has the backing track built and I sing it about five times and we work around the music. I am hoping to start writing my own music and Dad keeps asking me to do that.”
Inspiration from those in the know
A lady who started out in the country music scene herself when she was just a little bit older than Leanne has given her some advice.
“One night I was at a gig and Philomena Begley was there and she was really good.”
Explaining the realities of the industry, Philomena said that it was a tough industry and although you will get praise, you will get the negatives too – but continue on and don’t let the negatives bring you down.
Sean thinks this was great advice for Leanne to hear, from someone who has 58 years of experience in the industry behind her.
There were big plans for 2020, as Leanne had a number of bookings. She was supposed to be in Spain singing for Paddies day and in New York in April for a Pieta House fundraiser but, like everything else, all of those things were cancelled.
Leanne did, however, support the charity by taking part in the Dromore West singing for Pieta event, which raised €12,000 this year. A group of 13 got together and recorded a concert that was shown on Zoom.
Sean is hopeful about the future of farming: “All the kids like the farming. Once the homework is done, they are allowed out onto the farm. But farming is gone difficult and at times you wonder about staying in it. We are just hoping that this will blow over and she can get back gigging as soon as possible.”
Read more
Country Sound: missing the music, but the people too
Watch: our best videos of farming people in 2017
Reader writes: The inspiration behind a new song
Ploughing for stars champions
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