Erin Mckeown

Erin McKeown (1977, Boston USA) recorded and released her debut album in 1998. By that time, still studying Ethnomusicology, she started touring around New England (USA) to promote her debut. From the beginning on, Erin McKeown has been a singer-songwriter using mostly guitar and banjo to play. As the years went by, another five studio albums were the result of McKeown's hard work: Distillation (2000), Grand (2003), We Will Become Like Birds (2005) and Sing You Sinners (2006, USA: 2007) and Hundreds of Lions (2010). The songs on these albums vary between (orchestral) folk, jazz, rock and swing. One of the high points she's had until now is "Queen of Quiet," (Distillation) which is quite a folk hit. She also released an EP featuring live performances on KCRW Radio in 2006. Throughout the years, Erin McKeown has done a lot of touring, visiting places all over the world. She has joined in with artists such as Ani DiFranco, Josh Ritter, The Indigo Girls, Martin Sexton, Andrew Bird, and many others. In 2007, she's been touring all over the US promoting her 2006/2007 standards album Sing You Sinners. Her 2007-2008 touring brought us listeners another live album: Lafayette. This new live album tries to capture the energy of McKeown's performances. The performed songs are not only from her more recent work, they are also derived from her earlier albums. With "Fast As I Can" McKeown also plays Monday Morning Cold; the record she used to promote during her student days. By 2009 McKeown starts recording her latest, self released album "Hundreds of Lions", which is released september 2009. To raise funds for doing so, she organises Cabin Fever, a series of live broadcasted shows with several guests which are held at locations in and around McKeowns home. The shows are viewed by several 'hundreds of people'. The songs on the album have been recorded at a farmhouse studio. They are characterised by McKeown as songs with a touch of 'cathedral spire atmosphere' and 'traces of carnival-noir pop'. McKeown is touring North America and Western Europe throughout 2010.