Paul McCann is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Cavan, Ireland. Paul has played many high-profile gigs around the world including the Cavern Club in Liverpool, Nashville, multiple appearances at the Electric Picnic festival and much more. Paul has also performed with Rufus Wainwright, Pugwash, The Strypes, Duncan Maitland (Picturehouse), Sandy Kelly and Nelson Bragg (Brian Wilson Band/Beach Boys), among many others.
Following many years of performing with numerous artists and bands (backing songstress Aine Cahill and touring Ireland’s Prisons with Johnny Cash tribute ‘Get Rhythm’), Paul has been carving a solid solo career for himself since 2015. Following two acclaimed EPs (The Magician in 2015 and Beginning to End in 2017) and the murder ballad single ‘Widow Maker Blues’, Paul released his debut album ‘Here Comes the Rapture’ in 2018. The album was met with praise from many reviewers, with The Irish Times’ Tony Clayton-Lea citing: “with his debut offering McCann comes into his own… 10 exuberant songs…. Here Comes the Rapture has flawless influences…McCann delivers a collection of taut tunes…. numerous dingers here that well and truly hum”.
Paul’s music draws inspiration from a wide variety of sources, from Jeff Buckley to The Beatles, Kate Bush to Johnny Cash, Queens of the Stone Age and beyond. The songs included on these releases cross a wide variety of genres, including Power Pop, Folk and Alternative Rock.
Paul draws inspiration from the life around him. Paul was featured on the ‘Best of Power Pop’ compilation, compiled by the legendary Bruce Brodeen (Not Lame Recordings).
With his upcoming album titled ‘Alter Ego’ (due in 2023), Paul chronicled his grief following the sudden death of his father in late 2018. Where previously McCann had played most of the instrumentation himself, the format of the second album is somewhat different and features guest appearances from several high-profile musicians including Jason Falkner (St. Vincent, Beck, Paul McCartney); Roger Joseph Manning Jr (Beck, Jellyfish, Air); Charlotte Hatherley (Ash, Bat for Lashes); Gary Lucas (Jeff Buckley, Captain Beefheart) and many others.
Love is all that Matters offers a softer folk musical flavour from Paul McCann. The idea for ‘Love is all that Matters’ came from a note his young daughter gave to him which
included a drawing of the two of them with the song’s title written at the top. The song was written as a kind of response to the note, also dotted with reflections on life. The song features McCann’s favourite songstress Sylvie Lewis sharing lead vocals.
Born in London, England, Sylvie Lewis is a folk-jazz composer who has released five highly acclaimed albums. As if this isn’t impressive enough, McCann also recruited one of his guitar heroes to contribute to the song. Gary Lucas is best known for having written the music for, and playing guitar on both the opening song ‘Mojo Pin’ and title track ‘Grace’ on Jeff Buckley’s only complete studio album. Lucas who is a highly acclaimed guitarist and composer was also a member of the Captain Beefheart band.
Of the song, McCann said: “It has always been a dream of mine to work with Sylvie Lewis and Gary Lucas. To have both of these guys on the same song really is incredible, and I think their involvement in this song elevates it to a completely different level”.
The song was recorded at JAM Studios in Kells, Co Meath with Martin Quinn producing alongside
McCann. Strings on the song were played by The Avoca String Quartet.
Stream ‘Love Is All That Matters’ below:
