Eleanor McEvoy

In a world where the word star and the gift of talent are often devalued, Eleanor McEvoy is neither an overnight success nor a four week wonder. A musician and songwriter of note, the real deal, possessing all of the qualities that go to make up the complete artist.

Her career began at the age of four when she took piano lessons, taking up violin at the age of eight. Upon finishing school she attended Trinity College in Dublin where she studied music by day and worked in pit orchestras and music clubs by night.
Eleanor graduated from Trinity and was accepted into the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland where she worked four years before finally taking the plunge to concentrate on her passion for songwriting.

After a long hard slog, the girl who spent the year of 1988 busking in Union Square, New York had come a long way, a route that took her through the disciplines of classical music, Irish traditional music and contemporary music to a point where she finally found success in 1992.
It happened when one of her songs "Only a Woman's Heart" inspired the title for, and appeared on, the "A Woman's Heart" anthology album. It has since gone on to become the best selling album in Irish history, staying in the Irish Top 10 for over a year.
Since then Eleanor has gone on to become an artist and performer known throughout the world. Her critically acclaimed canon of work spans six albums, several singles and appearances on numerous compilation albums and is today recognised as Ireland's most successful female singer songwriter having enjoyed personal chart success and numerous cover versions of her songs. (Emmylou Harris, Mary Black, Phil Coulter, amongst others). Her song "All I Have" features in the lastest series of the HBO cult series "Six Feet Under"

Her co-writing song credits have seen her published with fellow writers and performers such as Rodney Crowell, Lloyd Cole, Johnny Rivers, Brad Parker, Henry Priestman and Dave Rotheray. The new album "Out There" takes a hard look at the precarious nature of our new wealthy world as well as throwing new light on the idiosyncrasies of love and life. The songs are fresh, the tunes infectious, the lyrics wry and witty and the playing gorgeous. "Out There" features 12 brand new Eleanor McEvoy compositions, plus a co-write with The Beautiful South's Dave Rotheray and an interpretation of Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me."

 

RIP Turner Stephen Bruton

Stephen Bruton, a Texas musician long admired and much in demand as much for his astute guitar work as for his insights as a songwriter, died Saturday May 10, 2009 in Los Angeles of complications of cancer. He was 60.

Bruton, who had played with Kris Kristofferson for nearly 40 years and whose songs had been recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Jimmy Buffett and numerous others, died at the home of a friend since childhood, musician-producer T Bone Burnett, with whom he'd recently completed work on a film, "Crazy Heart," that Burnett is producing and for which he asked Bruton to produce the music.