Eleanor McEvoy (born 22 January 1967) is one of Irelands most accomplished contemporary singer/songwriters.[1] McEvoy composed the song Only A Womans Heart, title track of A Womans Heart, the best-selling Irish album in Irish history.[2McEvoys life as a musician began at the age of four when she began playing piano. At the age of eight she took up violin. Upon finishing school she attended Trinity College, Dublin where she studied music by day and worked in pit orchestras and music clubs by night. McEvoy graduated from Trinity with an Honors Degree in music, and spent four months busking in New York City. In 1988 she was accepted into the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra where she spent four years before leaving to concentrate on songwriting. She built up a following in clubs in Dublin with her three piece band, Jim Tate on bass, Noel Eccles on drums, and latterly Bill Shanley on guitar. During a solo date in July 1992, she performed a little-known, self-penned song, Only a Womans Heart. Mary Black, of whose band McEvoy was a member, was in the audience and invited her to add the track to an album of Irish female artists. The album was subsequently titled A Womans Heart and the track was released as the lead single. A few days before A Womans Heart was released, Tom Zutaut A & R from Geffen Records, who had previously signed Guns & Roses, Motley Crue, and Edie Brickell, offered McEvoy a worldwide recording deal after watching her perform at The Baggot Inn in Dublin. The album went on to sell over three-quarters of a million copies in Ireland alone and was (and remains) the biggest selling Irish album of all time.[2] Eleanor McEvoy, the self-titled debut offering, recorded in Windmill Lane Studios, was released in February 1993, and tours in the United States, Asia, and Europe followed. Back on Irish soil, McEvoy was awarded Best New Artist, Best New Performer, and Best Songwriter Awards by the Irish entertainment and music industries. In 2011 Portuguese singer Luis Represas included a lovely version of Go Now from McEvoys eponymous album on his recording Reserva Especial. As she began writing her second album, Tom Zutaut departed Geffen Records, so when Columbia U.S. offered her a new deal, she jumped ship and began working on a new, edgier second album, which would eventually be titled Whats Following Me? The album was released in 1996 and the sound was louder and grungier that her debut. The single Precious Little built to a Top-10 radio hit in the United States, giving McEvoy the exposure she needed for a headline tour of the U.S. She was invited to contribute of a number of movie and TV soundtracks. At home, the success of A Womans Heart continued to overshadow McEvoys solo work and fans of the mammoth hit were disappointed with the rock elements of the second album and those that might have identified with her bittersweet lyrics, sensual vocals, and loud guitars turned a blind eye to the album. McEvoy released her third album Snapshots in 1999. Her primary goal was to make Snapshots her most song-oriented album to date. Toward that goal, McEvoy hooked up with legendary producer Rupert Hine (who worked with Stevie Nicks, Tina Turner, Suzanne Vega, and Duncan Sheik) and recorded the album at Rupert’s “Chateau de la Tour de Moulin” and then in Metropolis Studios in London. The extensive use of drum loops was a complete change in style from her previous work. The album was greeted by rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic. ”... her sophisticated voice and compassionate seasoned lyrics ... make Eleanor McEvoy’s album a gem....” declared The Boston Globe,[3] while The Sunday Times described it as “her strongest album to date, with well appointed social comment topics...McEvoy’s take on matters emotional also hits pay dirt with the likes of the excellent Did You Tell Him?[4] However Columbia Records had been unprepared for the complete stylistic change and relations between the company and McEvoy became strained. Despite this, a sell-out, 24-date tour of the United States accompanied the release of Snapshots in the summer of 1999, followed by the Snapshots Unplugged tour March–April 2000, which culminated in a performance in Boulder, Colorado accompanied by the E Town Band where she duetted with Richard Thompson. By 2000 McEvoy found herself increasingly entwined in record company red tape, Columbia had bought her first album Eleanor McEvoy from Geffen Records, but were refusing to release it. Neither Whats Following Me? nor Snapshots had set the sales charts on fire, and McEvyoutu.be/C1DKJEk-EkE
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 07:14:50 +0000
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