Hello there! It's weird writing a broad, sweeping summary of your musical life. Words just scratch the surface, like a nail on the side of a mountain. Anyway here we go...
I released an album called Night On My Side in 2002. I didn't expect the album to get much attention so it was very exciting when it was nominated for a Mercury Award in the UK and for me to have won Best Female Artist at the Meteor Awards in Ireland. So, I toured that album extensively and enjoyed every moment of it. I wasn’t prepared for the spotlight and I honestly didn't feel comfortable in it at all. I reached a point where I needed to take some time off. So, I headed home to Ireland, then left for France for a bit. And after I’d cleared my head, I slowly but surely started writing again. During this time I wrote songs for films, recorded with other people like Magnet, Joe Chester and co wrote a song with Adam Duritz from the Counting Crows.
Two years later I travelled to Los Angeles where I recorded my second album The Roads Don't Love You. The title is taken from one of my favourite songs from Magnetic Fields called “Long Vermont Road.” I was very proud of the songs on this album as they were pulled out from my gut over two or three years. So, yep… back on the bus. I toured for a while again, ate lots of ploughman sandwiches and sour cream and onion crisps. It was great to receive the award for Best female Artist at the Meteor Awards in Ireland again. Awards ceremonies are strange events, it puts the most diverse styles of music into the same category like best male, or best new act etc. It seems sort of ridiculous but it's great when you win if only for the parents as it confirms that you're not just bumming around!!
Well this all brings me to my third album, The Hollow Of Morning I made it with my dear friend David Odlum. He co-produced and engineered it with such dedication and love. He was willing to work into the wee hours of the night and morning everyday for months. Kevin Shields played some guitar, Karl Odlum and Paul Noonan also contributed their amazing talents to the album. I stole the title from a poem by Samuel Menashe. It refers to that time, just before you fully wake, when everything is as it should be and you are at peace, something that only lasts a second before your daily thoughts kick in and pull you out of the silence. And the silence is an important part of this album, perhaps just as important as any instrument.
Anyway, I hope when, or if, you listen to my music that you make it a soundtrack for your days, especially the rainy ones! Well, I guess that’s it.
Thanks for taking the time to read this
Slan agus beannacht
Gemma X
Nu online!
