SACRED GROUND is the new single from Good Intentions. After 25 years four members from the original 80s line ups have got together again to write, record and play original music. Since Christmas nearly 40 new songs have been written!
The new single, SACRED GROUND, is a celebration of Dublin, where all the guys hail from. ‘There’s no where better, no where to be found, Dublin is the place I love, it’s like walking on Sacred Ground, Sacred Ground’ The chorus says it all. A positive, uplifting rock ballad with a great feel good factor. The message will strike a chord with everyone, no matter what City, Town or Parish they come from. Pride in your home place and yourself, time to park the recession, remember how good we all are and let Ireland shine in the world once more.
Good Intentions comprises: John O’Grady, Kieran Farrell, Ian Bolton and Tony Floyd Kenna. John O’Grady has been into music since he was a Kid. His Dad taught him Banjo and Guitar and gave him a love for traditional music. He also plays piano and writes all kinds of music, including classic/melody only. John likes collaborating on songs and his past partnership with Tony has been revived. John and Tony were of course in school together, where a passion for music and songwriting brought them together. John is responsible for Tony playing bass, having one day suggested that Tony should go and buy one!
Kieran Farrell started his musical career at age 14 and during the 70s and 80s, when live music in Dublin was an everyday thing, he played with many Dublin bands. These included Orient, Music City, Gypsy, Maggies Farm, Good intentions, Sound Proof and Face To Face. Having retired in 84 to work, raise kids and buy houses, Kieran has dusted off his two Stratocaster guitars and is getting stuck into both playing and developing his songwriting.
Ian Bolton just loves playing his drums, particularly his new Yamaha ones with custom heads and hardware. Ian was also busy in the 70s and 80s and played and recorded with many bands including Sodium Rock, Maggies farm, Bareheart, Aragorn, Good intentions, and Soundproof , the embryonic Face To Face. Ian was the one who regularly asked over the years ‘when are we playing again?’
Tony Floyd Kenna started writing songs with John in the latter days of their school life in Synge Street, Dublin. At John’s encouragement he took up Bass and played/wrote/recorded with lots of Dublin Bands from the late 70s thru’ to the late 80s. These included Sodium Rock, Maggies Farm, Rocky DeValera & The Grave Diggers, Bareheart, Aragorn, Good Intentions, Soundproof and Face To Face. He also spent these years sound engineering and served on the council of IASC (the then songwriters association). Retiring from the professional music life in 1988 Tony says that it’s just great to be back playing and writing and having fun with his friends all over again.
Sacred Ground is released on July 22nd. Not content with just doing a single Good Intentions have included four
more new original songs in the release.
Today’s Irish Star has a free CD featuring new Irish Music which you might want to check out:
Alan MX – Warpsichord
The Cast Of Cheers – I Am Lion
Miracle Bell – Love Sounds
Juliet’s Rescue – Make Yourself A Hero
Pilotlight – All Purpose Underneath
Our Little Secrets – Daylight
Not Squares – Asylum
House Of Dolls – Gimme Some Glory
Craig McConkey – Thumpin Head
We Cut Corners – A Pirate’s Life
Ed Zealous – Talk With Your Hands
Windings – Brain Fluid
The Karman Line – Salka
Building Pictures – Building A Picture
Talulah Does The Hula – Don’t Panic
LOWmountain – Captive Blue
Heliopause – Little Ashes
The Wonder Villains – TV
The Minutes – Secret History
Brian Deady – Sun Up
LaFaro – Tuppenny Nudger
IFPI has announced that Frances Moore is to succeed John Kennedy as its Chief Executive Officer. She will take up her new position at IFPI's London-based headquarters in July.
Frances Moore is currently Executive Vice President of IFPI and Regional Director, Europe. In this capacity she has headed IFPI's European Regional Office in Brussels, leading the music industry's representation to the European Union and coordinating strategy with national groups across the 27-member EU.
A barrister by training, Moore has worked for more than 20 years in government relations and public affairs, representing European and US companies in the electronics and retail sector before joining IFPI in 1994. She has directed the recording industry's activities in Europe on major policy, trade and legislative issues over the last 15 years, working with the EU institutions and governments across Europe.
This seminar will take place on Wednesday 4th August from 6:30pm – 8:30pm at IMRO, Copyright House, Pembroke Row Dublin 2.
Panel:
Paul Williams – songwriter/composer
Todd Brabec – Industry Specialist (Panel Moderator)
Gregory Magee – Composer
Oisin Lunny – Composer/Producer
This seminar will cover the broad topic of music for film and TV, a notoriously difficult area for emerging Irish composers to break into. The event will be moderated by Todd Brabec and an expert international panel will be on hand to give their collective insights and experiences on this aspect of the business.
Please note that the number of places available are limited. This seminar is provided free of charge.
This seminar will also feature a special screening of the award winning the short film TUFTY Written and Directed by Jason Butler & Brendan Butler which won Best Original Music for composer Louise Heaney at the prestigious Fastnet Short Film Festival in 2010. Tufty is one of the four short films to feature in the 2009 IMRO/RTE/FAS Screen Training Ireland/Filmbase/CMC Film Scoring Programme.
Panel Biographies
Paul Williams
Paul Williams is an Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe winning Hall of Fame songwriter. He is a recipient of The National Music Publishers President’s Award and is President and Chairman of the Board of ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers). ASCAP is the first and leading U.S. performing rights organization, representing the world's largest repertory totaling over 8.5 million copyrighted musical works and is the only U.S. performing rights organization owned and governed by its 360,000 plus writer and publisher members.
Recognized as one of America’s most prolific and gifted lyricists and composers, Paul's standards have been recorded by such diverse musical icons as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, David Bowie, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughn, Johnny Mathis, The Carpenters, Luther Vandross, REM, Mel Torme, Anne Murray, Diana Krall, Gladys Knight and Diana Ross. His songs have also found favor with Country legends including Chet Atkins, Kris Kristofferson, Charlie Pride, Crystal Gayle, Lynn Anderson, The Oak Ridge Boys, Diamond Rio and Neil McCoy.
When asked which song is his favorite, Paul is quick to respond, "That’s easy! It’s "The Rainbow Connection". It’s a thrill to hear my words interpreted by such inimitable talents as Willie Nelson, the Dixie Chicks, Sarah McLachlan, Judy Collins, Jason Mraz and Kermit the Frog!” “The Rainbow Connection”, from the children’s classic The "Muppet Movie", is one of two Paul Williams’ songs that grace the American Film Institute’s list of the top movie songs of all time; the second, "Evergreen" is from the award winning Streisand/Kristofferson remake of A Star Is Born. Additional song scores include the cult favorites Phantom of the Paradise and Ishtar, as well as "The Muppet Christmas Carol", "Bugsy Malone.", and Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas, the latter of which has now been adapted for the stage. His recent work has remained wonderfully diverse, from creating and writing the songs and story for Disney's A Muppets Christmas: Letters To Santa, to writing with the Scissor Sisters, to penning the music and lyrics for Garry Marshall’s theatrical sensation Happy Days.
Although most people came to know the witty Mr. Williams as one of Johnny Carson’s recurring favorites on The Tonight Show, or as an actor in dozens of films, television comedies and dramas, it is his musical legacy that continues to inspire. "We've Only Just Begun", "Rainy Days And Mondays", "You and Me Against The World", "Just An Old Fashioned Love Song","Let Me Be The One" all remain pop classics and are performed by Paul in venues from New York to the Philippines.
Publicly lauded for his work as a songwriter, performer, actor and humanitarian, Paul predicts he’ll be remembered for playing Little Enos in the Smokey and the Bandit trilogy and for his lyrics to “The Love Boat” theme, although it is the lyrics from Bugsy Malone, recast for a recent Coke commercial, that aptly sum up his philosophy: “You give a little love and it all comes back to you; You’re gonna’ be remembered for the things that you say and do”. As a devoted husband to writer Mariana Williams and proud father, Paul considers his son Cole, and daughter Sarah, to be his best work.
Oisin Lunny
Composer, producer and DJ Oisin Lunny has been working in the world of music and media for over 20 years through acts like Marxman and Firstborn, and also through composing music for film and TV as Lifeblood Productions since 1996.
Marxman were pioneers of the "Trip Hop" genre blending Irish instrumentation with leftfield beats and soulful samples. They had a top UK 30 hit with "All About Eve", toured with U2 and Depeche Mode, and recorded with Sinead O'Connor and Gangstarr. Oisin also released the album "When It Hits You Feel No Pain" under the name of Firstborn and had a number one club hit with "The Mood Ciub", named after a legendary Northern Soul venue in Dublin.
Oisin's works have been licensed for motion pictures such as Human Traffic, Derailed, Mean Machine, Peaches, A Room For Romeo Brass and Alpha Male. He has also composed and produced original music for films I Want Candy and The Waiting Room.
His work for TV has included the audio rebrand of Irish National TV station RTE ONE in a collaboration with his father Donal Lunny, scoring the MTV Europe Music Awards, and also the station idents and programming strands for TnaG. Other TV commissions include RTE Christmas idents, work for Channel 5 UK, MTV Real World, and TV adverts for Sky Broadband, Northern Bank, and Bank Of Ireland.
Production, programming and remixing projects have included Bono and Adam Clayton, David Grey, Beth Orton, Shara Nelson (formerly of Massive Attack), Sharon Shannon, The Starseeds, Baz, Ted Barnes, The Shortwave Set, Melaton, Playful and Headzinc.
Oisin is currently working on the score for a documentary about London's Arlington House, made by Irish film makers Enda Hughes and Brendan Byrne, with the support of the Irish Film Board and BBC Northern Ireland. He will also be DJing at the Electric Picnic festival.
Gregory Magee won Best Score in the 2005 Irish Film & TV Awards for his music for the feature Winters End, directed by Patrick Kenny and produced by Damien Donnelly. He composed and produced all the music for The Fairytaler, a 26 part multi-award winning animation series, based on the stories of Hans Christian Anderson. Produced by Magma/A-Films/Super – RTL, the series is broadcast in more than 90 countries. More recently, the short animated film Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty received much attention in the form of an Oscar nomination in 2010.
Other tv credits include the 26 part series Zombie Hotel (BBC/Telegael/France 3); Under The Hawthorn Tree (RTE/Channel 4); the title music for RTE’s Rose of Tralee and the reality based tv series Cabin Fever (Coco TV/RTE). He has scored a multitude of shorts including An Evil Cradling, based on the book by Brian Keenan (Kavaleer Productions); The Cat & The Moon, an adaptation of the Yeats play produced by Patrick Bergin for Crimson Films; The Milliner (Kavaleer); The Angelic Organ and The Nest, both for Rocket Animation; Limbo (Zanzibar); Ocras (TG4); The Longest Ditch (Espresso Films/TG4); A Lonely Sky (Zanita) and more. His documentaries include Blaire Maine for Rapid Films.
Earlier in his career Gregory worked as a music supervisor on the feature Countess Cathleen for Crimson Films and a scoring supervisor on the features The Last Word (TG4/TV5); A Love Divided (Parallel Films); Filleann An Feall (TG4) and the IMAX film Rheged – The Lost Kingdom.
He received his formal music training at The Royal Academy of Music in Dublin and afterwards gained his music degree at Trinity College. He went on to study with the legendary American TV composers Don Ray and Bob Drasnin. He was later awarded a bursary by Screen Training Ireland to undertake further film music studies at UCLA in Los Angeles and apprenticeships with the American composers Mark Watters (Disney) and John Graham (Pensacola – Wings of Gold)
He also writes concert and theatre music and his works have been performed widely across the US on a recent tour by the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra. His works are also to be included in their upcoming concert tour of China. In the past he has also contributed to a variety of publications from instrument tutors to songbooks, many of them published by Walton’s Music Publishing in Dublin. He works from his own digital recording studio in Dublin as well as in London.
Todd Brabec
Todd Brabec is licensing consultant and former Executive Vice President and Director of Membership for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). A former recording artist and entertainment lawyer as well as being a graduate of the New York University School of Law, he is an adjunct professor at the USC Thornton School of Music/Music Industry Department where he teaches the business of publishing, motion pictures, television and recording. He along with his twin brother Jeff are winners of the Deems Taylor Award for excellence in music journalism and they are authors of the book, MUSIC, MONEY AND SUCCESS: THE INSIDER'S GUIDE TO MAKING MONEY IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS (Schirmer Trade Books/MusicSales/435 pages). For further information see www.musicandmoney.com
BAND CELEBRATES RECORD RELEASE WITH SHOW IN DUBLIN, IRELAND ALONGSIDE GUITAR LEGEND SLASH
Irish rockers GLYDER are having one hell of a week. Their third full length record “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” saw its North American release on Tuesday via SPV/Steamhammer, their record is currently in the number 1 spot on 89.5 WSOU and the band played a killer show alongside guitar legend Slash yesterday in Dublin, Ireland.
In only their second week of radio airplay in the United States, GLYDER has taken over the number one spot on 89.5 FM WSOU Seton Hall University’s college radio station. WSOU is the most influential hard rock and metal college radio station in the country and was recently named the United States #1 college radio station by Playboy Magazine.
Yesterday GLYDER had the honor of playing a show in Dublin, Ireland with guitar legend and icon Slash, who is currently on tour in support of his new solo record. GLYDER took to the stage and tore through a hard-rocking set featuring tracks from their new record as well as some GLYDER favorites.
Guitarist Bat Kinane said the following yesterday in regards to everything currently going on with GLYDER:
“Three amazing things happened for Glyder today!
– Our album came out in the USA
– We opened for the greatest living rock legend, Slash in Dublin Ireland
– We heard the news that you guys (WSOU) have given us the thumbs up and that's the hat trick!!
We hope to have the opportunity and honor to rock out with you guys in the near future. Seton Hall, we salute you!!!”
GLYDER'S latest album "Yesterday Today and Tomorrow" is available now in stores and online via SPV/Steamhammer.
Saturday 3rd July 2010 // 11.30am-6pm @ IMRO, Copyright House, Pembroke Row, Lwr Baggot St., Dublin 2. INFORMATION ON GUEST PANELISTS
Noel McHale – Senior live booking agent festivals and major events, MCD.
McHale is one of the key bookers with MCD some of the leading artists he’s brought to Ireland during his seven year tenure including Pavarotti, Queen, The Killers, Snoop Dogg, P Diddy, The Game and Rihanna. Pre-MCD Noel promoted The Bothy Band and The Boomtown Rats in the West, assisted Ollie Jennings getting the Galway Arts Festival off the ground and establishing the Bulmers comedy festival and its UK counterpart festival.
Niall Dolan – Venue manager and live bookings, Dolans Warehouse, Limerick.
As chief live booker for Dolans Warehouse in Limerick, Niall has firmly placed Dolans on the map of both domestic and international touring acts with Bell X1, Delorentos, Duke Special, Paddy Casey and Lisa Hannigan regular visitors. The Warehouse has expanded its remit to also include corporate sponsored events like the upcoming Jagermeister Hot Press Sessions plus comedy events like Apres Match 2010.
Una Molloy – Tour manager for Lisa Hannigan.
With a very long string of dates over the past 18 months in the U.S. and U.K., not to mention Ireland, Una has helped Lisa Hannigan run a tight ship on the live touring front managing the tour party through industry showcases and high profile support slots with the likes of David Gray and Jason Mraz.
Liam Murphy – Live Wire Business Management
A Chartered Accountant trained with Coopers & Lybrand. Liam joined Live Wire in 2000 following 10 years experience in financial services in both Dublin and the Channel Islands. LiveWire Business Management was formed by Alan McEvoy in Limerick in 1997. Since then it has expanded to the current team of 9 staff who draw their experience from a wide field of accountancy/financial work. LiveWire now offers a wealth of Business Management experience to some of Ireland’s biggest names in music and entertainment. Clients include Westlife, Girls Aloud, Ronan Keating, Boyzone, Paul Potts, Pat Shortt, Cecelia Ahern & Bell X1 among others.
John Weston – Backstreet International Merchandise
John Weston is the Director of the Dublin operation of Backstreet International Merchandise. Backstreet are one of the leading merchandise companies with offices in Dublin, London, New York & LA and working with acts as diverse as Horslips, Sharon Shannon, Dizzee Rascal, The Coronas, And So I Watch You From Afar, Babyshambles, Rage Against The Machine & Satyricon. Backstreet are a 360 degree merchandiser looking after clients touring, online merchandise stores, retail distribution and graphic design. John has previously toured Europe with Blur taking care of all on the road aspects of the tours merchandising for the Think Tank tour. Subjects covered in this session will include:
– Live music circuits & opportunities: local clubs to international touring
– Building the live team (domestic to international): what to expect & key issues to be aware of
– Working with booking agents & concert promoters
– Deals & Agreements: key terms & conditions, implications & issues
– Planning, accounting & budgeting: cash flow control & where the money goes
– Tour & production management: logistics & predictable problems
MMF MEMBERS – €20 for registration in advance of the event
IMRO MEMBERS – €32 for registration in advance of the event
NON-MEMBERS – €70
Don’t forget THE MUSIC MANAGER’S BIBLE will be on sale at each event for €15.
The composer Vincent Kennedy was recently named as the top Irish Composer in the Lyric FM Top 100 poll as voted on by listeners to Lyric FM. It rounds of a very busy year for the composer which included the premiere of Dublin – Overture to my City with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra conducted by David Brophy and live performances of his music to over 10,000 people in venues from Wexford to Donegal. Vincent is currently preparing the Donegal Youth Orchestra to accompany Altan in the Errigal Arts Festival on Sunday July 11th. http://www.eaf.ie/
After this he plans a short break before embarking on another year centred around new compositions and commissions and performances of his works at home and abroad, some of the performances he will conduct himself.
Vincent previously won the RTÉ prize for music to commemorate the life of the broadcaster Michael O’Hehir and the work Soliloquy and March was performed on All Ireland Final day in Croke Park. He completed 3 other major works in recent years. The Winds of Change was written as part of the peace process for young people from different communities in Donegal and Derry and has been performed a number of times including twice in the National Concert Hall the most recent, February 2010. The Hook – A Place and People is a 40 minute work consisting of 9 movements concerning the people and place and history of the Hook Peninsula and was commissioned by Wexford County Council. Both this and The Winds of Change were the subject of documentaries on RTÉ radio 1. Dreams a substantial work for Solo Violin and Orchestra was greeted with standing ovations in virtuous performances given by Cora Venus Lunny in concerts conducted by Colman Pearce across the USA in 2009.
THE BLAS SUMMER SCHOOL AT THE IRISH WORLD ACADEMY OF MUSIC AND DANCE UL presents Paul Brady.
One of Ireland’s most enduringly popular singer-songwriters, Paul Brady gives this year’s Francis Roche Memorial Lecture ‘From Holyrood to Hooba Dooba: My Life in Music’ at the Blas Summer School of Irish Traditional Music and Dance at the University of Limerick.
The illustrated talk will detail his life and career in music, from his first ever gig at the Holyrood Hotel Bundoran in 1968, to the release of his 2010 album ‘Hooba Dooba’. The lecture will be chaired by Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, director of the Irish World Academy.
Venue: Theatre One, new Irish World Academy Building, UL Thursday July 1st, 5 pm.
N.B Admission is free but seating is limited so please RSVP, by June 30th to ellen.byrne@nullul.ie Phone: 061 202917
Songwriters wishing to reserve a place at this seminar should send an email to keith.johnson@nullimro.ie to book a place. (limited availability) (no admission charge).
An element of this seminar will feature a demo listening session. A number of tracks will be selected during the course of the seminar to be critiqued by Ralph. If you would like to have a track of yours considered please bring along a copy of the song in CD format, making sure to clearly mark your name and the name of the track on the CD cover and a please include a typed or clearly written copy of the song lyrics. Participants will also be given the opportunity to re-work their songs and present them again on the second day of the seminar.
Ralph Murphy Biography:
Canadian songwriter Ralph Murphy has achieved near-legendary status in Nashville through his career as a performer, producer, songwriter, publisher, and most recently, Vice President, International and Domestic Membership, ASCAP.
He had his first UK Number One in 1965 with ‘Call My Name’ recorded by James Royal. Other hits followed with acts like Vanity Fair and The Brotherhood of Man.
In 1969 Ralph moved to New York as Director of Production for Belwin/Mills Publishing, where he produced demos for Broadway musicals and started two successful record labels. Among the many acts he produced during that time were legendary Canadian Rockers April Wine, for whom he produced two gold albums. He had a country hit in 1972 by Jeanie C. Riley ‘Good Enough To Be Your Wife’. With Roger Cook, he formed the Picalic Group and Pic-A-Lic Music Publishing and has had more than twenty Number One records and was publisher for Song of The Year, ‘Talking In Your Sleep’ by Crystal Gayle. Pic-A-Lic became one of the most successful independent publishers in Nashville and was eventually sold to EMI.
In 2006 Ralph had success in the UK charts with ‘21st Century Christmas’ (co-written by Paul Brady), a Number Two for Cliff Richard. He is also an instructor for the respected Nashville Songwriters Association International Song Camps.
Will Kevans is a UK-based singer-songwriter and master of the catchy pop tune and lyric. ‘Dialling Tone’ recently won Will an award in the prestigious ‘International Songwriting Competition’ and the video for the song stars Being Human’s Russell Tovey. It has also been featured on a compilation album released by Universal alongside artists such as James Morrison, the Goo Goo Dolls and Keane.
Will’s unique Nashville-influenced brand of hooky songs have given this performer quite a reputation on the live circuit, where he’s a regular at venues such as The Water Rats, The Borderline and The Fly. He was described by one critic as being ‘Ian McNabb meets Squeeze’. Will is very much one of the new breed of singer-songwriters on the new folk acoustic circuit. His heartfelt and catchy songs reflect life’s experience and the human condition. The thinking man’s Johnny Cash by way of Nick Lowe. Will has just signed a publishing deal with Eaton music former home classic writers Jimmy Webb. These classic 1970s Americana influences sit very well alongside Will’s own song-writing. This is indicative of Eaton’s commitment to supporting talented new artists. Will played a very successful showcase at CMJ 2009 and has signed a US Album deal with Wildflower Records. The label belongs to the seminal American folk artist of the 60s and 70s Judy Collins, Will has just completed an opening slot for Judy in New York on 21st December 2009 at The Bitter End. Will’s single ‘Sand’ was play listed on BBC Radio 2 for 8 weeks.
The names associated with his debut solo album ‘Everything You Do’ (released on 1st February 2010) speak for themselves. He is currently working with producers Ian Grimble (Travis, Manic Street Preachers and The Enemy) Gavin Monaghan (The Editors, Ryan Adams, The Twang) and Andy Hughes (The Orb, Basement Jaxx). The album also features slide guitar legend Al Perkins (who has performed with the likes of Gram Parsons, The Eagles, Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris). Guest vocals come from former Beautiful South songstress Alison Wheeler whilst keyboard skills are provided by James Blunt’s pianist Paul Beard. Further guitar excellence is supplied by ex Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers guitarist Elliot Randall, whose guitar solo on ‘Reelin’ in the Years’ has entered the annuls of rock history. Will recently returned from 2 showcases at Canadian Music Week in Toronto where he also recorded 2 new tracks for the album with Tom McKay at Canterbury Studios. The new tracks were mixed by Bowie/Prince producer Mark Plati in New York and the album has now been mastered at Abbey Road studios. The first single ‘Everything You Do’ was released on 20th October 2008 through IRL Records (Damien Dempsey). The Album was released on 1st February on Stunt Dog Records through Cadiz and Universal.
Will is currently on tour throughout the summer (see tour dates below) and is also happy to announce a Gibson Guitar endorsement for the tour. The 19-day UK single tour will started on 26th May 2010 in London at Hoxton Underbelly and Will shall return to New York in September for some more gigs, the anticipated US Album release being September 2010. In October last year Will undertook a two week tour of New York and surrounding areas, including a CMJ 2009 Showcase, where he was described as a “British raconteur who fashions crafty acoustic pop and sing along anthems”. As well as playing at North by North East music conference in Toronto, where he was voted ‘Best Act of the Festival’, Will has also performed numerous showcases at Popkomm in Berlin, Canadian Music Week, South by South West, Brighton’s Great Escape Festival and at last year’s North By North-East music conference where he received a rapturous response. Whilst there, he played a support slot to Ron Sexsmith. He has also recently supported Get Cape Wear Cape Fly and The Holloways.
Will received rotational play on US college radio, going straight to #17 on VIC top 30 and in at #6 on KASB's top 30. Dialling Tone has now received play on over 80 US College stations. Will has also played live on BBC Wales, BBC Radio West Midlands, Steve Lamacq’s Radio 2 show, and the Gary Crowley show on BBC 6. Will’s no stranger to radio either. In 2008, the ex-Junk TV front man released ‘Out There’ on Badass Records to much critical acclaim. The single has since been played extensively on Radio 1’s Chris Moyles and Jo Whiley shows as well as receiving numerous other plays on stations such as Virgin, Kiss FM and Capital Gold. Will’s song ‘London Fields’ was also a finalist in BBC London’s 2012 Anthem where he received numerous plays on The Robert Elms Show.
Will’s song ‘Sand Makes a Pearl’ went to number 2 in the German mp3 charts Netzparade and he has also been the featured artist of the month on both the Hit Quarters and Sonicbids websites. His other achievements include making it to the semi-finals of the 2005 International Song Competition with ‘Out There’ which also won him the ‘Song of the Year’ competition. He was subsequently chosen to represent the ISC in both Delaware and Seattle.
Artwork for both single and album comes from Will’s wife Annie Kevans, a much lauded and well respected up and coming artist who’s entire collection of paintings ‘Boys’ was bought by Charles Saatchi in 2004. Annie has received excellent press and has been featured in the Independent, Sunday Times, Harpers Bazaar, Have I Got News For You and the Evening Standard to name a few. Annie was also interviewed by BBC London News and by Jono Coleman and JoAnne Good on BBC London Radio. The image used for the single cover had to be cropped, as iTunes would not allow the full image (including nipples) to be used.
Here’s what the critics say about Will:-
Q Mag “The country flavoured singer-songwriter pop of London's Will Kevans can be both delightful & sincere, particularly Dialling Tone, which won the International Songwriting Competition."
Sunday Times (Olivia Cole) “Catchy debut single”
Guitar Techniques "This album is full of commercialism, contrasts & musical excellence."
Guitarist "Slickly produced UK singer-songwriter has a great voice & polished pop rock writing."
Blues Matters ”With the right exposure this should do very nicely for Will. Yes I liked this musical diversion a lot.”
MOJO Magazine “Messing About At the Weekend’ is a classy calling card. The bluesy guitar and adventurous use of a string quartet marks it out”
TIME OUT London: “Promising up and coming songsmith/performer, Kevans purveys his stylish and accomplished, rootsy, pop influenced rock. His sensitive and mature talent”
Gt. Yarmouth Advertiser “Will’s tracks are very commercial sounding, packed full of hooks and interesting melodies. Expressive, well-crafted lyrics & good musicianship, including some interesting guests, make this a slick album.”
Get Ready To Rock 3*** “Everything You Do is a quality piece of adult orientated pop that suggests that Will Kevans is set to become a household name.”
Birmingham 101 Lifestyle Mag "If you still like the idea of Robbie Williams but wonder where he lost the song plot, then London singer-songwriter Kevans may well be the answer to your prayers. This album deserves to put Kevans firmly on the path to success."
Burton Daily Mail ”Pop rock songs tinged with country influence all enveloped in a mainstream radio-friendly sheen.”
Classic Rock Society ”This album oozes charm, has class written all over it and is one of the best albums I’ve heard all year.”
BBC Radio 2 Steve Wright, Simon Mayo, Janice Long, Alex Lester, Richard Allinson "This is the new song from Will Kevans and we like this."
Maverick ”The album is a diverse variety of sounds which makes for fascinating listening experience.”
R2 “4**** “With a modicum of good fortune any of these tunes could & should be gracing a radio near you soon."
Eastern Daily Press ”3*** Dialling Tone is the album’s highlight, blending a pumping piano riff with a big, big chorus.”
Blackpool Gazette ”This UK based singer songwriter has come up with a refreshing slice of simplicity. Clearly one to watch.”
UK Tour Summer 2010
JULY
Wed 07 July LONDON The Cobden Club 170-172 Kensal Road, London London London W10 5NB On stage @ 8pm
Sat 10th July: CHELMSFORD The Fling Festival Central Park Essex On stage @ 6pm ADM FREE
Fri 23rd July: CHELMSFORD The Fleece 84 Duke Street CM1 1JP On stage @ 8pm ADM £5
Fri 30th July: GREAT BARDFIELD The High Barn 28 Bardfield Centre Essex CM7 4SL On stage @ 8pm ADM £5
AUGUST
Mon 16th Aug: LONDON The Bedford 77 bedford hill SW12 9HD On stage @ 8pm ADM £5
SEPTEMBER
Fri 3rd Sept: CAMBRIDGE Lodestar Festival Lode Near Cambridge On stage @ 8pm ADM £5
Fri 10th Sept: MILTON KEYNES The Stables Stockwell Lane MK17 8LU On stage @ 8pm ADM £5
Sat 18th Sept: HAILSHAM Out of the Ordinary Festival Knockhatch Farm On stage @ 2pm ADM £5
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