Damien Rice (born December 7, 1973) is an Irish folk rock singer, famous for his two albums O and 9. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, to George and Maureen Rice and was raised in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland.
Rice was originally a member of Juniper, a rock band which released the singles "The World Is Dead" and "Weatherman". On the eve of recording their first full album for Polygram in 1999, Rice became disenchanted with the commercial label and quit. His Juniper band mates became Bell X1. He moved to rural Italy where he played acoustic guitar, wrote songs, and busked around Europe until he was able to form a band and get coffee shop gigs in the Dublin area. Exploiting a lucky connection to David Arnold, his second cousin, Rice was able to record O, for which he won the Shortlist Music Prize in 2003. Rice recorded an old Juniper track, "Crosseyed Bear" (originally titled "Jewellery Box"), for the new War Child album. He spent 2004 and 2005 recording the follow-up to O. His latest album, 9, was released in November 2006.
Rice's songs have been featured several times on popular films and television shows. "The Blower's Daughter" and "Cold Water" featured prominently in the 2004 film Closer. "Cold Water" was also featured in the 2003 film I am David, the HBO film The Girl in the Café, and on the NBC dramas ER and The Black Donnellys. "Cannonball" also featured in The Black Donnellys and the 2004 film In Good Company. "Delicate" was featured on the ABC dramas Alias, Lost, and the Fox drama House. "Older Chests" was featured on the NBC drama Crossing Jordan and in CBS science-fiction drama Jericho. His song "9 Crimes" was featured during the episode "From a Whisper to a Scream" on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy. "Grey Room" was featured on One Tree Hill, in an episode of Criminal Minds, and on an episode of House. Most recently, "The Blower's Daughter" could be heard in the Fox criminal drama Bones and segments of his single 9 Crimes were featured in the major motion picture Shrek the Third.
Rice recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios in October 2006 for Live From Abbey Road. His performance was screened in an episode alongside those of Jamiroquai and the Goo Goo Dolls.
Rice played on the Friday night at the Glastonbury Festival 2007, in the Acoustic Tent. On 7 July 2007 Rice performed with David Gray at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium, London. Rice played the backing rhythm to Gray's "Babylon" before Rice played "Blower's Daughter" (Gray now doing the rhythm). The pair then finished with a cover of "Que Sera Sera". On 8 July Rice played at the T in the Park music event in Scotland. He also headlined Latitude Festival in Suffolk on 12 July.
Rice is also scheduled to play the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas on 15 September 2007.
Garth Brooks was born February 7, 1962 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the youngest of six children in Yukon, Oklahoma. His father Troyal Brooks worked as a draughtsman for an oil company, while his mother Colleen Carroll was a country music singer on the Capitol Records label in the 1950s and also a regular on the Red Foley Show.
Brooks began his professional music career, singing and playing guitar in Oklahoma clubs and bars, particularly the Tumbleweed in Stillwater. After a failed 1985 24-hour trip to Nashville to gain a record contract, Brooks returned to Oklahoma and in 1986, married Sandy Mahl of Owasso, Oklahoma, whom he had met while working as a bouncer. The following year, the couple moved to Nashville, and Brooks was able to begin making contacts in the music industry While struggling to be noticed by industry executives, Brooks frequently recorded demo records for songwriter Kent Blazy. Blazy introduced Brooks to Trisha Yearwood, another aspiring country singer, in October 1987. The pair became friends and pledged to help each other in their careers. Brooks achieved success first, signing a recording contract with Capitol Records in 1988. Keeping his promise, in 1991, he invited Yearwood to be the opening act on his tour.
Garth Brooks' eponymous first album, Garth Brooks, was released in 1989 and was a critical and chart success. It peaked at #2 in the US country album chart and reached #13 on the Billboard 200 pop album chart. Most of the album was traditionalist country, influenced in part by George Strait. His follow-up album No Fences, was released in 1990 and spent 23 weeks as #1 on the Billboard country music chart. The album also reached #3 on the pop chart, and eventually become Brooks's highest-selling album, with domestic sales of over 16 million records
While Brooks' musical style placed him squarely within the boundaries of country music, he was strongly influenced by the 1970s singer-songwriter movement, especially the works of James Taylor. In his highly successful live shows, Brooks used a wireless headset microphone to free himself to run about the stage, adding energy and arena rock theatrics to spice up the normally staid country music approach to concerts
Brooks' third album, Ropin' the Wind, released in September 1991, had advance orders of 4 million copies and entered the pop album charts at #1, a first for a country act. The Chase was Brooks's fifth album, and in October 1992 all five of the albums were listed on Billboard's pop top 50 albums chart, a first for any artist in the modern pop era.
Brooks won his first Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1992 for the album Ropin' the Wind. He was awarded the Academy of Country Music award for Entertainer of the Year for 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993, and the award for Top Male Vocalist for 1990 and 1991.
One of the later peaks in Brooks' fame came on August 7, 1997, when he gave a free concert in New York City's Central Park, drawing hundreds of thousands of people in a city that many would say is far removed from the country music world. Estimates of the actual crowd size varied considerably, from 250,000 to 750,000 or even higher, primarily because many people were enjoying the show from outside the full-to-capacity venue. Brooks himself has estimated the crowd at close to 900,000. An additional 14.6 million viewers watched the performance live on HBO. Billy Joel and Don McLean made guest appearances.
After showing that he still had the ability to draw such a large crowd, it was not surprising that Brooks won the award for the ACM Entertainer of the Year in 1998. The following year the Recording Industry Association of America announced that Garth Brooks was the second best-selling solo artist of the 20th century in America, after Elvis Presley.
As his career flourished, Brooks seemed frustrated by the conflicts between career and family. He talked of retiring from performing in 1992 and 1995, but each time returned to touring. In 1999, Brooks and his wife separated, announcing their plans to divorce on October 9, 2000. Two weeks later, on October 26, 2000, Brooks officially announced his retirement from recording and performing. Later that evening, Capitol Records saluted his achievement of selling 100 million albums in the US with a lavish party at Nashville's Gaylord Entertainment Center.
Brooks's final album, Scarecrow was released November 13, 2001. The album eached #1 on both the pop and country charts. Although he staged a few performances for promotional purposes, Brooks stated that he would be retired from recording and performing at least until his youngest daughter, Allie, turned 18.
In the mid-1990s, many tabloids reported throughout the decade that he was actually having an affair with longtime friend and collaborator Trisha Yearwood. The two have continually denied having had an affair. Following Brooks's divorce, however, the pair did begin dating, and the couple wed on December 10, 2005, at their home in Oklahoma, marking the second marriage for Brooks and the third for Yearwood.
In early 2006 Wal-Mart issued The Lost Sessions as a single CD apart from the boxed set, with extra tracks including a top 40 duet with Yearwood, "Love Will Always Win". The couple were later nominated for a "Best Country Collaboration With Vocals" Grammy Award for the song. On November 1, 2006, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. announced that Garth Brooks made history as the company's top selling music artist of all time. With nearly 20 million discs sold at Wal-Mart in the first year of his exclusive relationship with the retailer, Brooks has been able to transcend his retirement and continue his history-making performances.
Brooks proclaims that his job as a father is a lot harder than touring. In a CMT Garth Brooks concert special he also remarked "I love what I'm doing, but I miss what I did." In virtually every interview he has done in 2006, Brooks has talked about whether he's going to stage another tour, often saying "if the door opens up" he would have a tour that is better than anything he's ever done.
Aint Goin Down (Til the Sun Comes Up)
Standing Outside the Fire
Hard Luck Woman (Duet with Kiss)
Shameless
What Shes Doing Now
The River
Unanswered Prayers
The Dance
You May Be Right (Billy Joel cover)
Keep Your Hands to Yourself (Georgia Satellites cover)
Ocean Colour Scene (often abbreviated to OCS) are an English rock band from Birmingham. They were formed after two other local bands called The Boys and Fanatics disbanded.
With the explosion of the Britpop scene, OCS's music became nationally and internationally known. Their second album Moseley Shoals was received to critical acclaim, containing four hit singles and reaching the heights of #2 in the UK Albums Chart and the follow up, Marchin' Already displacing Oasis at the top of the charts. Their song The Riverboat Song was featured on Chris Evans' TFI Friday - as the backing music when guests were introduced, and "Hundred Mile High City" and "July" were used in the film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and the associated television series.
Having undergone lineups changes, the band continue to record and perform, though they have struggled to recapture the success they enjoyed with their breakthrough album, Moseley Shoals. Their sound is deliberately retro, and influenced by sixties rock especially.
As they have done in recent years, the band have recently announced a number of December tour dates, and Glamour Model Jodie Marsh has anounced that they will be playing at her wedding on 1st September which will be filmed for her MTV Show Totally Jodie Marsh: Who'll Take Her Up the Aisle?
One of the best live bands in the world Ladies and Gents!
Riverboat Song:
Foxy's Folk Faced / The Day We Caught the Train
Travelers Tune:
Song of a Baker (live) w/ Paul Weller:
Day Tripper (live) w/ The Real People & Noel Gallagher:
Dire Straits were an English rock band, formed in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), his brother David Knopfler (guitar), John Illsley (bass), and Pick Withers (drums), and subsequently managed by Ed Bicknell. Although the band was formed in an era when punk rock reigned, Dire Straits worked within the conventions of classic rock, albeit with a stripped-down sound that appealed to modern audiences weary of the overproduced stadium rock of the 1970s. In their early days, Mark and David requested that pub owners turn down the amps so that patrons could converse while the band played — indicative of their unassuming demeanor. Despite this oddly self-effacing approach to rock and roll, Dire Straits soon became hugely successful with their first album going multi-platinum globally.
Brothers in Arms was released in 1985 and went on to become the biggest selling album in the UK of that year and a huge hit internationally. It spawned several chart singles, including the U.S. number one hit "Money for Nothing", which was the first video ever to be played on MTV in Britain.
The 1985–86 world tour was phenomenally successful. While playing a thirteen-night residency at Wembley Arena, the band moved down the road to Wembley Stadium on the afternoon of 13th July 1985 to appear in Live Aid. Their set included "Money For Nothing" with Sting as guest vocalist. The tour ended at the Entertainment Centre in Sydney, Australia, where Dire Straits still holds the record for consecutive appearances (21 nights). The commercial success of Brothers in Arms was greatly aided by being one of the first fully digitally recorded and produced albums available in the then new Compact Disc format, leading early adopters of the new technology to consider it a "must buy" album in a limited landscape of available music in CD format. "Brothers in Arms" is also reported to be the world's first CD single, issued in the UK in two separate singles as a promotional item.
Brothers in Arms was successful in the US, peaking at No. 1 on Billboard Magazine's Top Pop Albums Chart for nine weeks, going multi-platinum, and finishing at No. 5 for 1986. Also, in a recent poll conducted in the UK it was found that Brothers in Arms is the third best selling album there of all time
Following the release of Live at the BBC, a collection of live recordings from their early years, Dire Straits disbanded quietly in 1995, after Knopfler expressed a desire to give up touring on a large scale and he immediately went on to work full time on solo material and film soundtracks, while the other group members pursued their own careers.
Three 'Best of' albums have been released, the most recent being the compilation The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations in November 2005, which consisted of material from most of Dire Straits' studio albums and Mark Knopfler's solo and soundtrack material. The album was an underground hit, and did exceptionally well, considering the group had split up over ten years previously, and it contained only one previously unreleased track - "All The Roadrunning", a duet with Emmylou Harris later released on an album of the same name.
Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler have sold in excess of 118 million albums to date.
Aslan emerged from the working class areas of Finglas and Ballymun in Dublin's Northside, in the mid 1980s. They released a demo single, 'This Is', in the Spring of 1986, which was a huge hit and became the longest ever play-listed single on Ireland's pop radio station, RTÉ 2fm. At the end of 1986 Aslan walked away with The Stag/Hot Press,' Most Promising New Band' award and signed to EMI.
In 1988 they recorded their debut album, 'Feel No Shame' which shot straight in to the No.1 spot of the Irish charts and remained there for weeks. Within a couple of months it was certified Gold. Then in August 1988, just as the option for their 2nd album had been picked up, Aslan infamously imploded, torn apart by overindulgence of all kinds.
Five years and a day to the last time they gigged together (on the 11th of July 1993) they played what was supposed to be a one off charity gig in Finglas; the spark was reignited and Aslan landed a new record deal with BMG. The first fruit of the deal, their single "Crazy World", entered the charts at No 4 and stayed in the charts for 3 months, becoming one of the most played songs on Irish Radio for the year. "Crazy World" also won the "Single of The Year" in 1993's Hot Press Awards. A few months later the follow-up single "Where's The Sun" reached No.3 on the chart.
The latter part of 1994 was spent touring consistently in Ireland and recording their album, 'Goodbye Charlie Moonhead', which was released in Ireland at the end of 1994 and charted at number 1, going on to be certified Gold weeks later. Then in 1995 the band were dropped, the victims of boardroom changes at BMG. Undeterred, Aslan went into the studio under their own steam and began recording a new album, 'Here Comes Lucy Jones' in April 1996. Released in October 1997, the album went into the Irish chart at 14 and Aslan were nominated in seven categories of the 1997 Hot Press readers poll. 'Shame About Lucy Moonhead', a compilation of the best of Aslan's recorded work on EMI, was released in July 1998, shot into the Irish albums charts at No.1 and has since turned double platinum.
In Summer 2000 Aslan toured Australia for the first time to promote the release down under of the album "Shame About Lucy Moonhead" and in the process, sold out shows in Sydney and Melbourne. Aslan ended 2000 by playing their first gig in the Netherlands to a sell out crowd and then returned to home soil to sell out the Point Theatre again on Dec 27th.
In September 2001, the band's most recent studio album, "Waiting For This Madness To End" went straight into the Irish Album charts at number 1, out selling the number 2 album four times over. The following week it remained at number 1 and kept Kylie Minogue off the top spot! "Waiting For This Madness To End" hit the platinum sales mark after only four weeks.
In Christmas 2001 Aslan again sold out the 9000 capacity Point, and in 2002 Aslan were nominated for eight categories of the Hot Press readers poll, demonstrating the immense following the band have in their homeland.
Gram Parsons (November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. A solo artist as well as a member of the International Submarine Band, The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, he is best known for a series of recordings which anticipate the so-called country rock of the 1970s and the alt-country movement that began around 1990. Parsons described his records as "Cosmic American Music". He died of a drug overdose at the age of 26. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #87 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time
Parsons attended Harvard University, studying theology but departing after a semester. Despite being from the South, he first became serious about country music during his time in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1966, he and others from the Boston folk scene formed the International Submarine Band. By 1968 Parsons had come to the attention of Chris Hillman of The Byrds who, depleted by the firing of David Crosby and the departure of Michael Clarke, were seeking new members. During this period Parsons became friendly with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. While in England, Parsons developed a close kinship with Richards and reintroduced him to country music. Sitting around for hours, the twosome would play obscure records and trade off on various songs with their guitars.
Returning to Los Angeles, Parsons was soon joined by Hillman (both as rhythm guitarists), and the two formed the Flying Burrito Brothers with bassist Chris Ethridge and pedal steel player Sneaky Pete Kleinow. Parsons's own use of drugs had increased to the extent that new songs were rare and much of his time was diverted to partying with the Stones, who briefly relocated to America in the summer of 1969 to finish their forthcoming Let It Bleed and prepare for an autumn cross country tour.
The singer's dedication to the Rolling Stones was rewarded when the Burrito Brothers were booked as the opening act of the infamous Altamont Music Festival. Playing a short set including "Six Days on the Road" and "Bony Moronie", Parsons left on one of the final helicopters and attempted to pick up Michelle Phillips. "Six Days..." was included in Gimme Shelter, a documentary of the event.
Burrito Deluxe, was released in April 1970. The album is notable for the Parsons-Hillman-Leadon song "Older Guys" and for its take on Jagger and Richards' "Wild Horses"—the first recording released of this famous song. Burrito Deluxe underperformed commercially but faced the double whammy of being lambasted by critics. Disenchanted with the band, he left the Burritos in mutual agreement with Hillman, at his wit's end after two years of babysitting Parsons. Under his direction, the group recorded two more LPs.
Parsons immediately signed a solo deal with A&M Records and partnered with producer/scenester Terry Melcher, who had produced The Byrds' Mr. Tambourine Man and worked with The Beach Boys. With a mutual penchant for alcohol, cocaine, and (by this juncture) heroin, the sessions were unproductive and found the singer in a holding pattern of covering country hits and himself ("Hot Burrito #1"). Eventually losing interest altogether, he checked the master tapes out in 1971. He accompanied the Stones on their 1971 tour in the hope of being signed to the newly formed Rolling Stones Records, intending to record a duo album with Richards. Moving into Villa Nellcôte with the guitarist during the sessions for Exile on Main Street, Parsons remained in a consistently incapacitated state and frequently quarreled with his much younger girlfriend, aspiring actress Gretchen Burrell.
He returned to the US for a one-off concert with the Burritos, and at Hillman's instigation went to hear Emmylou Harris sing in a small club in Washington, D.C. They became friends and, within a year, he asked her to join him in Los Angeles for another attempt to record his first solo album.
Parsons, by now featuring Harris as his duet partner, played dates across the United States as Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels. For his next and final album, 1974's Grievous Angel, he again used Harris and Burton. The record, which was released after his death, received even more enthusiastic reviews than had GP, and has since attained classic status.
Before recording, Parsons and Harris played a preliminary three show mini tour as the headline act in a Warner Brothers country-rock package. The backing band included Clarence White, Pete Kleinow, and Chris Etheridge. On July 14, 1973, the legendary White was killed by a drunk driver while loading equipment in his car for a concert with the New Kentucky Colonels. At White's funeral, Parsons and Bernie Leadon launched into an impromptu touching rendition of "Farther Along"; that night, the distraught and drunken musician reportedly informed Phil Kaufman of his final wish: to be cremated in Joshua Tree. Despite the almost insurmountable setback, Parsons, Harris, and the other musicians decided to continue with plans for a fall tour.
In the summer of 1973 Parsons' Topanga Canyon home burned to the ground, the result of a stray cigarette. Nearly all of his possessions were destroyed with the exception of a guitar and a prized Jaguar automobile. The fire proved to be the last straw in the relationship between Burrell and Parsons, who moved into a spare room in Kaufman's house. In the late 1960s, Parsons became enamored with Joshua Tree National Monument. Alone or with friends, he would disappear in the desert for days, searching for UFOs while under the influence of psilocybin or LSD. After splitting from Burrell, Parsons would frequently spend his weekends in the area with Margaret Fisher and Phil Kaufman. Before his tour was scheduled to commence in October 1973, Parsons decided to go on one more excursion. Accompanying him were Fisher, personal assistant Michael Martin, and Dale McElory, Martin's girlfriend. Less than two days after arriving, Parsons died September 19, 1973 in Joshua Tree, California at the age of 26 from an overdose, purportedly of morphine and alcohol. According to Fisher in the 2005 biography Grievous Angel: An Intimate Biography of Gram Parsons, the amount of morphine consumed by Parsons would not be lethal to an addict and that he had likely overestimated his tolerance considering his past experience with opiates. Fisher and McElroy were returned to Los Angeles by Kaufman, who dispersed the remnants of Parsons' stash in the desert.
In a story that has taken on legendary stature, Parsons' body disappeared from the Los Angeles International Airport, where it was being readied to be shipped to Louisiana for burial. Maintaining his alleged promise, Kaufman and a friend managed to steal Parsons' body from the airport and, in a borrowed hearse, drove Parsons' body to Joshua Tree where they attempted to cremate it, by pouring five gallons of gasoline into the open coffin, and throwing a lit match inside. The two were arrested several days later and fined $700 for burning the coffin, since stealing a body was not a crime. The burned remains were eventually returned to Parsons' stepfather and interred in New Orleans.
A petition was begun in May 2007 in an attempt to induct Gram Parsons into the Country Music Hall of Fame, based on his contribution to the evolution of country music. Backed by Parsons' daughter Polly, among many other friends and admirers, it is targeting the Country Music Association and the Country Music Hall of Fame, which will be presented with a complete list of signers on the 35th anniversary of Parsons' death in 2008.
Damien Rice (born December 7, 1973) is an Irish folk rock singer, famous for his two albums O and 9. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, to George and Maureen Rice and was raised in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland.
Rice's songs have been featured several times on popular films and television shows. "The Blower's Daughter" and "Cold Water" featured prominently in the 2004 film Closer. "Cold Water" was also featured in the 2003 film I am David, the HBO film The Girl in the Café, and on the NBC dramas ER and The Black Donnellys. "Cannonball" also featured in The Black Donnellys and the 2004 film In Good Company. "Delicate" was featured on the ABC dramas Alias, Lost, and the Fox drama House. "Older Chests" was featured on the NBC drama Crossing Jordan and in CBS science-fiction drama Jericho. His song "9 Crimes" was featured during the episode "From a Whisper to a Scream" on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy. "Grey Room" was featured on One Tree Hill, in an episode of Criminal Minds, and on an episode of House. Most recently, "The Blower's Daughter" could be heard in the Fox criminal drama Bones and segments of his single 9 Crimes were featured in the major motion picture Shrek the Third.
