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As Irish and iconic as Guinness and also dark and lively in equal measures…
Singer songwriter Eleanor McEvoy first came to wider attention in 1992 when she was part of “A Woman’s Heart” compilation with Mary Black and other female Irish artists. Signed to Geffen Records, she released her self-titled debut album in 1993.
By the late 1990s, following the release of two more albums for Columbia and some success in the USA, she became disillusioned with the lack of interest (and investment) in her music by the label and – with the Internet offering new marketing channels – she became very much her own cottage industry.
Peter Muir, who writes for GRTR!, established his Market Square label in 1999 and Eleanor was one of his first signings, initially recording a track for a Bert Jansch tribute – ‘Where Did My Life Go’ – and then releasing the exquisite ‘Yola’ in 2001.
Her fourth studio album pre-dates GRTR! by a couple of years. It is significant in that to a large extent it provided the template for McEvoy’s releases over the next two decades: high production values, introspective and insightful lyrics and eclectic musical styles. McEvoy is an accomplished violinist but also plays guitar and keyboards.
Long-time fan and advocate Pete Whalley takes up the story…
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For me, Yola signalled the beginning of a love affair that has transcended the GRTR! years and continues unabated over two decades on. I can clearly recall Managing Editor David Randall – probably around the time of the GRTR! launch, and knowing my penchant for singer songwriters – saying “there’s an album by an Irish singer songwriter that you really should check out”. I came across a copy in a Soho backstreet record shop and from first listen I was smitten. Within months I’d tracked down copies of her back catalogue (none of which were an easy ‘find’ at the time) and got them signed at my first Eleanor gig at the West Houghton Folk Club in February 2003 on the tail end of the ‘Continuing Yola Tour’. I remember her being quite impressed I had them all. The album was an outpouring of pent up creativity following her break away from the shackles of mainstream labels and was a piano and acoustic guitar driven masterpiece. With not a superfluous note, nothing about the album – looking back 20 plus years later – could be improved upon. For me it stands shoulder to shoulder with undisputed classic singer songwriter albums like Carole King’s Tapestry and Tracy Chapman’s eponymous debut. But the part played by Brian Connor’s sympathetic keys cannot not be overstated. Both live, and on record, his sparse, delicate lines were the perfect foil to Eleanor’s ‘late night’ musings and while their partnership extended into Early Hours (2004) – her first release to be reviewed by GRTR! – she was, by then, beginning to explore fresh songwriting styles. Others, including Eleanor, have sat behind the keyboard in the ensuing years, but Yola captured a mesmerising but all too brief musical chemistry perfectly attuned to her heartfelt confessionals. It was, and will remain, one of my all time favourite albums. |
‘Portrait Of A Songwriter’ was a seven-track sampler given away with Hi-Fi News in 2003
‘Yola’ perhaps unsurprisingly won “Record Of the Year” from HiFi+ magazine reflecting the high production and sonic values, another characteristic of future releases. Later, a limited edition 7″ single was cut to vinyl from the Yola SA-CD masters in 2009. The album’s successor ‘Early Hours’ was also available in Super Audio (SA-CD) format.
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Early Hours takes a subtle sideways step from the emotional apocalypse of Yola. It’s almost as if, drained by those outpourings there was nothing left to give. So Early Hours finds Eleanor in a sometimes melancholy and sombre mood – upbeat at times, revisiting childhood memories, paying homage to absent friends and, despite everything – still a wistful and incurable romantic. ***** Pete Whalley Album review (Early Hours, 2004) |
By mid-2004 Eleanor was going on tour on her own without the piano accompaniment of Brian Connor who had also contributed to, and enhanced, two albums.
And as Pete Whalley noted in our first live review in July 2004 “In the main, the set was just Eleanor and her acoustic, but her vocals were so mesmerising and the songs so strong that frankly, you don’t need much else.
She even used the guitar body to provide a hypnotic percussive backing to ‘Isn’t It A Little Late’. And the fiddle was given an airing for the exquisite ‘Driving Home From Butlers’ and a traditional Irish jig/reel that had the crowd stomping and clapping…
But it was almost as if, performing solo, she was able to focus on delivering each song as the mood took her, undistracted by the confines of working as a duo. It really is unusual to be able to see an artist of this calibre so ‘up close and personal”.
| Setting up on my own away from the major labels. It was the best thing for my music and for me as a person. Eleanor McEvoy, 2004 |
This pared-down instrumentation and intimacy was now perpetuated for gigs, whilst the obscure venues could always present a challenge: “Invariably, they’re small function rooms hidden behind pubs, over golf clubs or in the back of beyond. And this was no exception – a small, dark, decidedly cool (and I mean ‘cool’ as in ‘I wish I’d brought my jacket’) room at the back of the Eagle Hotel on Buxton Main Street which is used as a regular Thursday night live music venue.”
As Eleanor told David Randall in 2004: “I’m enjoying playing solo more than I thought I ever would, it’s filled me with a new enthusiasm for the gigs. when it’s just one person and the audience you can get this incredible connection between the artist and the audience, which is sometimes hard to do when you’ve other musicians with you.
If you want to repeat a section of a song, or alter a playout, you have to signal to someone on stage which means your focus is split to some degree. I’m finding now that when I’m on my own, my only focus is the audience.”
Long term fan Graham Ashmore reviewed Eleanor at a favourite venue – Alexanders in Chester – in April 2005 whilst several months later he experienced his favourite with a full orchestra in Dublin. He hoped that the gig would be released on CD and that the orchestral approach would be repeated.
“Mention Eleanor McEvoy to those who know her and get them explain what she does then the immediate reply would be a top class folk singer and songwriter who plays acoustic guitar and violin. What they might forget to mention is that her guitar playing is just so bloody good.”
Around this time, Eleanor was managing to regain the rights to some of her back catalogue. Peter Muir re-released her debut album in 2003 with bonus tracks including a re-recording of ‘Only A Woman’s Heart’.
David Randall noted the more recent change of musical direction “If Eleanor turned her back on electric arrangements with 2001′s brilliant ‘Yola’ it is perhaps to be hoped that she will again receive the call of the great God Marshall Stack.
She was years ahead of Jewel, Dido, Sheryl Crow and co. and frankly in a league of her own. She is a fiercely independent artist and recent times have seen low-key intimate tours with musical partner Brian Connor.
It would be great to hear these songs played again in an electric setting. And it would be good if the albums that followed,’What’s Following Me’ and the brilliant ‘Snapshots’, were given a new lease of life, too.”
Thankfully, although ‘What’s Following Me?’ (the second album for Columbia) remains with the label 1999′s ‘Snapshots’ was reissued in 2009 via Market Square and MOSCO, Eleanor’s own imprint.
In 2006 Jason Ritchie and Pete Whalley noted that “by and large she remains an undiscovered talent.” And went on that she “encompasses folk, blues, country, traditional, acoustic and even light jazz.
Admittedly this can put some people off and big record labels never like anyone who doesn’t fit their neat marketing niches. More fool them, but this suits Eleanor who prefers to plough her own furrow.”
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Never one to ‘go with the flow’, Out There is yet another outstanding album with the classic McEvoy hallmarks of great songs, wonderful vocals and magnificent production…And as on recent releases the instrumentation and arrangements are sparse, allowing the songs and performance space to breathe. Album review (Out There, 2006) |
Reviewing Eleanor’s gig in October 2006 David Randall commented “Low-key is how Eleanor seems to prefer things these days, the following day she was driving up to the Isle of Arran where to all accounts she would be playing to one man and his sheep.
In the past few years she has delivered a couple of memorable and atmospheric albums, ‘Yola’ and ‘Early Hours’. Simple in their cosy domesticity, but one worried slightly that she was becoming a sort of Earth Mother figure.
The latest, ‘Out There’, is more immediately accessible, perhaps a bit more edgy, and has definitely put a new spring in her step.”
On ‘Out There’ she included a couple of cover versions, again a regular trend on millennium releases which reached its zenith in 2008 with ‘Love Must Be Tough’ with Eleanor’s interpretations of songs written by men about women. This album was characterised by rich instrumentation, and a riot of saxes and horns.
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…while exploring old ground with a fresh slant it nevertheless remains an album that has all the hallmarks we’ve come to expect from Ms McEvoy – great songs, fantastic production and, of course, Eleanor’s wonderful vocals. Album review (Love Must Be Tough, 2008) |
Pete caught a number of gigs on the tour that promoted ‘Love Must Be Tough’ in May/June 2008 including an unusually visceral performance in Newcastle-under Lyme - at a “spit and sawdust CAMRA pub that operates a (paying) lock-in system for gigs. A great range of beers, a great sound system and friendly staff, but little by way of creature comforts – no carpets and as for seating – a stool or hard backed chair (if you were lucky).”
Four days later The Rock, Maltby “a small but perfectly formed purpose built concert hall close to Roche Abbey where soft furnishings were very much the order of the day. A venue where the feral Eleanor McEvoy put away her claws and purred to a rapt audience.”
And finally, the ever-faithful Alexanders in Chester “a working jazz club, but with the refinements you would expect of a cathedral city.”
“Eleanor served up a veritable smorgasbord of old, new, borrowed and blues, which after a relatively restrained first half, saw the audience indulge in some hearty involvement on I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock And Roll), When You (Smile), Be My Baby Tonight and Only A Woman’s Heart (complete with a Spanish chorus).
It was yet another first rate set, confirming that Ms McEvoy remains on top of her game at present. The highlights were many, but for me at least were ‘What’s Her Name’ played on bass, ‘Eve Of Destruction’, ‘Ave Maria’, ‘Be My Baby Tonight’ and a quite stunning second encore of the little aired ‘Stray Thoughts’ from her debut album.
Truthfully, singer-songwriters and solo performers don’t come any better than this.”
On 1 June 2008 David Randall chatted to Eleanor McEvoy about her career, from the time she was signed to Geffen Records, and toured the States, to the series of albums she released in the millennium (37:45)
Throughout her career she has always collaborated with others, early on she was a member of Mary Black’s band, and since ‘Out There’ has worked regularly with one-time member of The Beautiful South Dave Rotheray, a liaison that was forged on tour in 2005 with his band Homespun, and a joint venture album (with Hull crooner Mike Greaves) ‘Songs From Behind Bars’ (2017) under the pseudo name Prosecco Socialist.
She’s also worked with Polish acapella group Banana Boat, Lisbee Stainton, to say nothing of having her songs reworked in instumental form by an Irish jazz quartet going under the name of Corazon in 2015.
Accompanying the album releases from 2001 were a series of singles, many getting limited circulation merely as promos for radio stations and magazines. It made sense to bring them together and in 2009 ‘Singled Out‘ provided that compilation.
Pete Whalley enthused: “Without question, Singled Out is the perfect introduction to one of the singer songwriters of the 21st century.” The album included a track inspired by her visit to Uganda on behalf of Oxfam Ireland.
In 2008-10 Eleanor made further gigging forays to Australia whilst 2010′s ‘I’d Rather Go Blonde’ was a conscious return to a ‘Snapshots’ like structure, with the album mixed by Ruadhri Cushnan who had engineered that late-1990s album.
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The subject matter, as always, remains firmly fixed on matters of the heart, but this time around it feels delivered from a more observational perspective by a woman who sounds comfortable with her place in the world. One thing you could never accuse Eleanor McEvoy of is resting on her laurels, and once again she’s come up with the unexpected. **** Pete Whalley Album review (I’d Rather Go Blonde, 2010) |
David Randall chatted again to Eleanor in September 2010 around the album ‘I’d Rather Go Blonde’ and in this edit she chats about reconciling her preferred approach with reaching a wider audience (6:57)
We commented in 2011 that what was really lacking in the McEvoy oeuvre was a live album. But to some extent this was addressed with the release of ‘Alone’.
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As many of the greatest songwriters will tell you, it’s the space between the notes that are the most important, and here there’s plentiful space that embellishes the vulnerability of the material and performance. It’s a brave move that takes ‘unplugged’ to a whole new level, giving the listener an almost voyeuristic insight to the sentiment behind the songs. **** Pete Whalley Album review (Alone, 2011) |
Over the past 10 years Eleanor McEvoy has become active in speaking up for artist’s (copy) rights as a member of the Irish Music Rights Organisation (and Chair from 2017). And for a couple of years (2012-13) she drove herself to gigs in a converted hearse as “The Girl In The Black Car”.
In 2013 “the creative inspiration for ‘If You Leave’ was the blues rock explosion of the 1960s, and in particular the Brian Jones’ story which sparked Eleanor into revisiting some of the classic albums of the genre by the likes of The Stones, The Beatles and The Beach Boys.”
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…very much follows the pattern of Eleanor’s previous releases in focusing on matters of the heart, albeit with a twist that ‘neo-retro’ sums up nicely. Album review (If You Leave, 2013) |
If “Singled Out” was a compilation of not-always-easy-to-obtain singles 2014′s Stuff also provided another landmark of sorts bringing together “something for everyone by way of collaborations, single remixes and B-sides, and even some new material.”
And in 2015 Eleanor was back at Alexanders in Chester when David Randall summed up: “She can sometimes be found in the back room of a pub near you plying her trade. This allows her audience to get up close and personal, witnessing an intimate performance by one of our finest, unsung, singer songwriters.”
To demonstrate a free spirit the tour was billed as “Alone – The Performance” based on her album released four years previously. Time doesn’t really matter when you’re not standing still.
“Stripped bare, with just a guitar, an occasional fiddle or a keyboard and occasionally punctuated by some percussive guitar slapping or rattling matchboxes (honest!), her songs are exposed as exquisite three or four minute vignettes, the lyrics always thoughtful and the Irish-inflected vocal infectious and alluring.”
2016′s ‘Naked Music’ marked another collaboration, but this time with an artist Chris Gollon who inspired the album concept. Eleanor’s music also inspired Gollon who produced 23 paintings based on the song ‘Gimme Some Wine’ (the title of McEvoy’s latest album in 2021).
Pete Whalley called the album ‘Alone – Part 2′ and although he said like Alone it would “endure in way that other albums will struggle to match” he was disappointed there was no new material. ‘Naked Music’ revisited former songs. In 2016 it was our Singer Songwriter Album of the Year.
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The result is another truly high fidelity studio ‘live’ recording one that takes ‘minimalism’ to a whole new level. It proves, again, that all you need to make a great record is the singer, and the song. And she does just that with an acapella version of ‘The DJ’ (lifted from her 2004 album Early Hours) where she impressively carries the melody with just her vocals. … in its own right, the gentle, whiskey drinking, candle watching music of Naked Music is hard to fault. Few could compare under the glare of such a bright spotlight. Eleanor shines. **** Pete Whalley Album review (Naked Music, 2016) |
The 2016 ‘Naked Music’ tour was almost scuppered by the untimely death of artist Chris Gollon but Eleanor pressed on by way of providing a tribute. Our man Whalley was there again to note:
“…she is developing into something of a skilled raconteur as well as a singer-songwriter, captivating her audience as much with her music as with her entertaining inter-song banter. Give her a slightly sharpened script and she could give a good number of stand-up comics a run for their money.”
But there was a more intriguing gig in May 2017 at Penylan Hall in Melford on the Welsh Borders. A recording studio and performance space provided an intimate gig and also a rather welcome chilli supper. David Randall reported:
“For the past couple of decades Eleanor McEvoy has very much ploughed her own musical furrow, eschewing the trappings of commercialism but still producing consistent – and occasionally surprising – good works.”
And Eleanor’s versatility was further demonstrated in 2017 with the release of ‘The Thomas Moore Project’ celebrating the Irish poet by putting his words to her own music.
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As ever with Eleanor’s work, the construction and delivery simply cannot be faulted. In that sense The Thomas Moore Project is the aural equivalent of Michelin Star ‘fine dining’. **** Pete Whalley Album review (The Thomas Moore Project, 2017) |
Eleanor’s 2018 album doesn’t appear in her official discography (at least on her website). It was a specialist audiophile release available in different hi-res formats. As Pete Whalley noted: “From a songwriting perspective, Forgotten Dreams perhaps – an album cut direct to vinyl playing in real time - reflects the fact that her days of edginess and angst are long passed…”.
Supported by ex-Beautiful South keyboard player Damon Butcher, it was largely another revisiting of past material and covers (that of the Pointer Sisters ‘Slow Hand’ being particularly memorable).
But Eleanor McEvoy always has the ability to surprise and with her eclecticism and wonderful musicality we always know it is going to be an interesting journey.
Which brings us almost up to date. Eleanor is currently gigging promoting her latest release ‘Gimme Some Wine’ (2021) – a reflective album not only mourning the loss of artist Chris Gollon – to whom the title track is dedicated (with the painting he made in response featuring on the album cover) – but also bearing the scars of emerging from a 23-year relationship and re-locating to Dublin where her career started.
In particular, on what might have been – meeting an old flame on ‘South Anne Street’ and ‘Found Out By Fate’, a savage indictment on a cheating partner, co-written with Paul Brady,
In summation, writing his primer on female singer songwriters during GRTR!’s lifetime Pete Whalley noted the hallmarks of this most captivating of artists as “consistently great songs, sublime vocals, and excellent production.” And, to paraphrase the old Guinness adage, decidedly good for you.
Story coordination: David Randall (Additional material and edit: Pete Whalley)
Contributors: Graham Ashmore, David Randall, Jason Ritchie, Pete Whalley
David Randall interviewed Eleanor before the gig on 2 March and chatted about her life and music since their last meeting in June 2008. She is a Featured Artist at Get Ready to ROCK! Radio and throughout the month of March 2023 more of her tracks will be added to the station’s general playlists.
Gig review (Alexanders, Chester, 2 March 2023)
Grotto Home Page
GRTR!@20
TOUR DATES
UK GIMME SOME WINE TOUR 2023
Saturday 18 Feb Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith, London
Sunday 19 Feb Acapela, Cardiff
Monday 20 Feb Prince Albert, Stroud
Thursday 23 Feb Chapel Arts, Bath
Friday 24 Feb Stables, Milton Keyes
Saturday 25 Feb Village Hall, Alstonefield
Monday 27 Feb Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham
Wednesday 1 March Penylan Studios, Meifod, Powys, Wales
Thursday 2 March Alexander’s, Chester
Saturday 4 March Old Cinema Launderette, Durham
Sunday 5 March The Crescent, York
Monday 6 March Folk Club, Stirling
Tuesday 7 March Glad Cafe, Glasgow
Wednesday 8 March Greystones, Sheffield
Thursday 9 March MET Arts Centre, Bury
Friday 10 March The Rope Walk, Barton
Saturday 11 March Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
IRISH TOUR 2023
Friday 24 March St Augustine’s Church, Derry
Saturday 25 March The Oriel Centre, Dundalk
Thursday 30 March The Red Hot Music Club, Kilcullen
Friday 31 March The Venue, Ratoath
Saturday 15 April An Taibhdhearl, Galway
Thursday 27 April Bob’s Hideout, Durrow, Co Laois
Saturday 29th April, Wexford Arts Centre, Wexford
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.
Latest session: Sunday 14 April
Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio
David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 7 April 2024.
UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 2 April 2024.
How to Listen Live?
Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)
Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”
Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.
More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com
Power Plays w/c 15 April 2024
ENMY The Ledge (FiXT)
KAROBELA Get Hard (indie)
KATH & THE KICKS Neptune (indie)
THE BEE TELLERS River Poem (Black Sand Records)
LAUREN FREEBIRD Like A Bomb (indie)
Featured Albums w/c 15 April 2024
09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 KATARINA PEJAK – Pearls On A String (Ruf Records)
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