Radio Waves: Radio Presenter Spotlight – Megan O’Neill

Megan O'Neill - The Album Zone

as heard on CMR NASHVILLE

Megan O'Neill presents the Album Zone Show on CMR Nashville "Europe's #1 Country Music Radio Station"

Broadcast: Every Monday at 2pm (14:00), Wednesday at 3 pm (15:00) and 11pm (23:00) with a repeats on Tuesday & Thursday at 7am (07:00) UK Times.

Listen live using Windows Media Player, Winamp, Real Player

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As a singer-songwriter and recording artist Megan provides listeners with an interesting and insightful view into some of the albums that have influenced her over the years both in the Country, Americana & Rock/Pop markets.

Her presentation is delightful, fun and very easy on the ear. We LOVE IT!

Find out more about Megan and listen to sample shows below. 

MEGAN O'NEILL

Hailing from County Kildare, Ireland, Megan O’Neill is described as “one of the most exciting new entrants to the world of country pop music”.

Megan's music is described as “a fresh mix of modern country and pop, with a fusion of distinctly Irish elements making for a very unique sound”.

Megan O'Neill
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Megan credits her mother as being one of her biggest influences as a singer. “Music has been in our family for generations. My mother played to me and sang to me when I was a child”. Her mother also played her a lot of traditional Irish music like Mary Black, The Corrs, and American country music, like Trisha Yearwood, Dolly Parton — “and all the old classic

A psychology graduate of University College Dublin, a previous UCD Choral Scholar and long time musician, Megan is no stranger to the world of performing arts and has been working hard to hone her craft since becoming a professional musician / writer / performer.

A long-time musician and song-writer, Megan has previously lived in Nashville. Currently based in London, Megan has written internationally with many notable American writers such as Marc Beeson, Billy Austin, John Edwards, Brian Maher, Erik Halbig, Bruce Bouton, Mark Narmore and countless others.

In 2014, she was signed by Irish management company Milestone Management, who also worked with Irish pop duo Heathers.

Megan had one of her songs >> Don’t You selected for hit ABC TV show Nashville.

Originally from Co. Kildare, Ireland Megan O’Neill is one of the UK’s most exciting Americana artists. A long-time musician and song-writer, Megan has previously lived in Nashville but now resides full time in London.

In 2015 Blathnaid caught up with Megan to chat about music inspiration and upcoming gigs and she >> performed “I Wish I Could Love You More” 

2015 marked an exciting year for Megan, as work currently continued in the studio in advance of upcoming releases.

She released her 5-track debut EP ‘COMING HOME’ in May 2015, reaching #1 in Irish country charts & was awarded ‘UK EP of the Year’ by public vote through W21Music.

Published on April 2, 2015 the >> official video "I Wish I Could Love You More" released (37,056 views)

Published on July 21, 2015 she released a >> music video for "Coming Home" (9.7K+ views; co-written with Dan Clark)

In Dec 2015, the Kildare singer revealed how love and pain had inspired her writing, and told of "lonely" times in Music City:

Nashville was a beautiful experience. I learned so much but I definitely had a lot of lonely moments over there.” Perversely, Megan got songs out of her pain in Texas. (Read more Interview by Bary Egan Independent.ie )

The Megan & The Common Threads band grew from the solo project of front-woman O’Neill. For about 18 months (2013-2015) Megan had been playing under her own name 'Megan O'Neill' with two trusty guitarists Dan Clark (Lead Guitar / Vocals), Tom Smith (Rhythm Guitar / Vocals) as an acoustic trio. After 18-months they decided to expand the sound so recruited in November 2015 for bass, drums and fiddle.

On Sept 9, 2016 Megan was part of a 4 song project, through Decca Records, with songs written by The Shires' Ben Earle.

The single 'Can't Put A Price On That' showcased O'Neill's powerful and strong vocals telling a beautiful story behind which lies a powerful message.

A Pledge Music crowd funded campaign (announced June 23, 2016) was successfully funded (72 pledgers contributing 165% of an undisclosed goal target) as they set out to launch a debut EP asking fans to join them in the making, promotion and overall release as the Common Threads.

They released the 6-track EP STORIES TO TELL on Feb 24, 2017 which was recorded at Mark Knopfler’s British Grove Studios with the legendary Guy Fletcher (Dire Straits, Roxy Music, Mark Knopfler) producing. Megan And The Common Threads were said to “weave a unique tapestry of country, blues, folk, funk & rock’n’roll with their distinctive Celt-icana sound”.

Available Music

(1 May 2015) Megan O'Neill - Coming Home (EP; Blue Bear Records)

5 Tracks/ Time: 16:42 Amazon UK | UK iTunes

(9 Sep 2016) Megan O'Neill - Can't Put a Price on That (Single) UK iTunes

(24 Feb 2017) Megan & the Common Threads - Stories to Tell (Megan & the Common Threads)

6 Tracks/ Time: 22:40 Country/ Folk Ranked #23973 in Amazon Digital Music Country Amazon UK | UK iTunes

Notable Appearances:

A special Oscars Week appearance in Los Angeles in Santa Monica at the 2015 Oscar Wilde Awards on personal invitation of director JJ Abrams. J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions! The event has become a key event in the Hollywood calendar attended by many influential movie and TV executives.

Country To Country

(C2C2015) Sat 7th March 11:35-12:05 Big Entrance Stage

(C2C2016) Sat 12th March 2017 (11:15-12:00) Town Square Stage & Sun 13th March 2017 (16:00-16:45) Brooklyn Bowl

C2C Setlist: 1. Now That You're Mine 2. Don't You 3. You've Got a Way 4. Stories to Tell 5. London City 6.Devil & the Deep

7. We're Gone

Under The Apple Tree sessions (WhisperingBobTV is the channel curated by Bob Harris OBE) Published on May 26, 2015 Megan >> performed 'Emmylou' (First Aid Kit cover; 1,400 views)

Nashville Meets London 2016

Canary Wharf Country Music Festival curated by BBC Radio 2 Country presenter Baylen Leonard.

Sunday 14 August 2016: 3.15-4.15pm Megan O’Neill

Americana Music Awards UK (London; Feb 2017) Megan was selected as one of the top 8 Americana songwriter’s in the UK

Live radio appearances and performances: BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio London, 2fm, Dublin City FM, BBC Radio Wales, Amazing Radio, Chris Country and more.

Quotes

"Current favourites" - Paul Sexton & Baylen Leonard, BBC Radio 2

"The Irish Carrie Underwood" - Irish Times

"Really, really lovely...gorgeous voice" - Gabby Roslin, BBC London

"Style and panache" - Americana UK

CONNECT with Megan & the Common Threads:

Lady Antebullum – 747 (Capitol Nashville) Amazon UK

Released: September 30, 2014

Billboard Country Airplay; Certified Platinum 1 Million units on Sept 23, 2014), "Long Stretch of Love" (released Feb 6, 2015; #16 Billboard Country Airplay)

747, Lady Antebellum's sixth studio release arrived in the No.2 slot on the Billboard 200 & No.1 on Billboard Top Country Albums. It sold 73,944 copies in its first week. The album had sold 285,900 copies as of September 2015.

Lady Antebellum failed to register their fourth straight Top 10 album in the UK, when 747 (failing to fly as high as its predecessors) made a debut at No.12 selling 5,998 sales copies (chart week Oct 18, 2014).

Tracks played: "Freestyle" (released; Oct 20, 2014, #16 Billboard Country Airplay), "Bartender" (released May 19, 2014; #1). Listen Back:

The Shires – BRAVE (Decca UK) Amazon UK

Released: March 2, 2015

Tracks played: "Nashville Grey Skies", "State Lines", "Friday Night", "All Over Again".

The Shires BRAVE was the first British Country album to achieve a Top 10 on Official UK Top 100 Album Chart when it made a debut at No.10 (9,516 sales; chart week March 14, 2015), then #23 (4,241 sales); then #48 (1,900 sales), then #78 (1,000 sales),

The Shires "Brave" Official UK Top 100 Album Chart run (beginning week March 14, 2015):

10-23-48-78-95-158-136-88-30-37-37-17-25-32-45-48-60-74-78-99-90-72-24-13-17-28-51-66-48-77-101-16-25-41-38-42-45-38-52-64-81-71-91-71-73-113-110-95-134-192-OUT-153

After a 52-week chart frame run BRAVE (DECCA NASHVILLE) re-entered the top 200 at #153 (43 Top 100 chart frames) with a 52-week estimated tally of 110,000 copies for the already GOLD certified album.

To put that into perspective BRAVE sold more copies in 17 chart frames (45,600) in UK than Grammy Winning CMA nominated Kacey Musgraves SAME TRAILER, DIFFERENT PARK (43,500) in 26 months since its UK April 2013 release.

After 24 chart frames BRAVE sold another 3,928 copies with an official cumulative tally of 59,294 copies and then swept past the 60,000 mark which was enough to earn a Silver Award certification which is administered by The BPI. At that point the album had logged 24 weeks at No.1 atop the Official UK Country Album Chart.

On the Official UK Country Album Chart (Week Ending 12 May 2016) after 51 chart frames BRAVE was at #8 and had spent 37 weeks at #1!

Facts Uncovered

Netherlands singer-songwriter Elske de Dewall is the co-writer of the title cut Brave. In London, she worked with Ben Earle and had a whole conversation about her struggle with writing songs, it was almost a kind of therapy. ‘Chasing The Impossible’ originated from that song and was actually about a true reflection of their conversation. BRAVE became the title of her album

Released on May 10, 2012 (Amazon) . Watch her >> music video for "Brave" published on 10 May 2012 

Black and White was co-written by British actress (Twinnie-Lee Moore; best known for her role in the British soap opera Hollyoaks as Porsche McQueen from 2014 until 2015) and UK singer-songwriter Twinnie whilst she was with Universal Publishing. Twinnie started the country duet with Ben Earle and then she left. It then became The Shires!

Broadcast on July 12, 2017 on CMR Nashville

Patsy Cline & Fleetwood Mac

Patsy Cline - Always MCA Records 1980. Amazon UK

A Posthumous studio album promoting some material of Country singer Patsy Cline's work from the 1960s.

Tracks played: "Always" (Irving Berlin; #18 Country chart), "Crazy Arms" (writers: Ralph Mooney & Chuck Seals) , "Your Cheatin' Heart" (Hank Williams)

Fleetwood Mac - 25 Years – The Chain (Rhino) Amazon UK

Release Date: Nov 24, 1992 Warner Bros. 4 CD Boxset (covering the history of the band; 1967 to 1992)

Tracks played: "Dreams" (2nd single from Rumours on March 24, 1977; #1 Billboard Hot 100), "Everywhere" (#4 UK, #14 Billboard Hot 100; Nov 28, 1987 from Tango in the Night (1987),

"The Chain" (from Rumours (1977); used as the theme tune for the BBCs TV coverage of Formula One.)

"Warm Ways"(released as the lead single from the 1975 album Fleetwood Mac), "Landslide" (#51 Billboard Hot 100; taken from 1975 album Fleetwood Mac)

"Albatross" (#1 UK Singles Chart, Nov 22, 1968)

Broadcast on June 28, 2017 on CMR Nashville

Shania Twain, Margo Price & Taylor Swift

Shania Twain - Come On Over (Mercury| Virgin EMI) Amazon UK (Int. version) | Amazon.com

Released November 4, 1997 | Certified 20x Multi-Platinum on Nov 15, 2004 (20 Million units)

No.1 Billboard Top Country Albums chart for 50 non-consecutive weeks.

Tracks played: "That Don't Impress Me Much" (released Dec 15, 1998; #8 Hot Country Songs; #3 UK Singles), "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" (released March 1999; #4 Hot Country Songs; #3 UK Singles), "From This Moment On" (with Bryan White) (released March 14, 1998; #6 Hot Country Songs; #9 UK Singles)

Margo Price - Midwest Farmer's Daughter (Third Man) Amazon UK

Release Date: March 25, 2016

#10 Billboard Top Country Albums (Billboard) with 4,002 copies sold in its opening week, and #189 on the Billboard 200 (4,294 units). As of June 2017 the album had sold 52,600 copies in the United States

It made a debut at #2 on the UK Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20 (chart 29 April 2016 - 05 May 2016)

climbed 3-1 to (chart 27 May 2016 - 02 June 2016)

Tracks played: "Hands of Time", "Hurtin' (On the Bottle)", "About to Find Out"

Taylor Swift - Speak Now (Big Machine) Amazon UK

Released: October 25, 2010

Debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart with first-week sales of 1,047,000 copies

Certified 4x Multi-Platinum on Jan 11, 2012 (4 Million units)

Tracks played: "Mine" (released Aug 4, 2010 #2 Hot Country Songs; #30 UK Singles), "The Story of Us" (released April 19, 2011; #41 Billboard Hot 100; certified Platinum on Aug 25, 2014)

Broadcast on June 7, 2017 on CMR Nashville

Ryan Adams & Avett Brothers

Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker (Bloodshot) Amazon UK

Release Date: Sept 5, 2000 | #140 Billboard 200 peak

Tracks played: "Oh My Sweet Carolina", "Come Pick Me Up" (featured in the film Elizabethtown), "In My Time of Need", "Call Me On Your Way Back Home"

The Avett Brothers - True Sadness (Republic) Amazon UK

Release Date: June 24, 2016

Debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200, with 46,000 equivalent album units, selling 43,180 in its first week (the top selling album in America dated July 16, 2016).

Tracks played: "Ain't No Man", "True Sadness", "No Hard Feelings"

Megan & the Common Threads - Stories to Tell (Megan & the Common Threads) Amazon UK

Tracks played: "Stories to Tell", "Awake in to the Light"

Broadcast on April 26, 2017 on CMR Nashville

Sam Outlaw, Bonnie Raitt & Angaleena Presley

Sam Outlaw - Angeleno (Six Shooter Records) Amazon UK

Release Date: 15 Jan 2016

It made a debut at #8 Official UK Country Album Chart (Week Ending Jan 28, 2016)

and re-entered at #4 in its 7th chart frame (Week Ending 21 April 2016)

Tracks played: "Angeleno", Jesus Take The Wheel (And Drive Me To A Bar), "Keep It Interesting"

Bonnie Raitt - Dig in Deep (Redwing Records) Amazon UK

Release Date: Feb 26, 2016

It made a debut at No.11 on the Billboard 200 (33,000 equivalent album units) & No7 on Top Selling albums with pure sales of 32,095 copies | Consequence Of Sound Review

Tracks played: "Need You Tonight" (cover INXS' #1 hit), "Shakin' Shakin' Shakes", "If You Need Somebody"

Angaleena Presley -  American Middle Class (Slate Creek Records) Amazon UK

Release Date: Oct 14, 2014

It made a debut and peaked at No.29 on Billboard Top Country albums selling around 1,000 copies.

Tracks played: "Ain't No Man", "American Middle Class", "Dry County Blues"

First broadcast on April 20, 2017 on CMR Nashville

Dixie Chicks, The Dunwells & Drake White

Dixie Chicks - Home (Columbia Nashville) Amazon UK

Release Date: Aug 27, 2002

#1 Billboard 200, #1 Billboard To Country Albums

Certified 6x Multi-Platinum on March 18, 2003 (6 Million units)

Tracks played: "Long Time Gone" (released May 17, 2002; #2 Hot Country Songs chart Aug 24, 2002), "Landslide"(#2 Hot Country Songs chart Nov 9, 2002),  "Travelin' Soldier" (released Dec 20, 2002; #1 Hot Country Songs), "Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)"

The Dunwells - Light Up the Sky (Universal Music Group International) Amazon UK

Release Date: 22 Jan 2016 | Tagged Rock

Tracks played: "Communicate", "Hey Now", "Never Too Late"

Drake White - Spark (Dot) Amazon UK

Released: Date: Aug 19, 2016

It debuted at #34 on the Billboard 200 and #4 on Billboard Top Country selling 10,564 copies (chart dated Sept 3, 2016). It has sold 51,400 copies in the US as of June 2017.December 7, 2015

Tracks played: "It Feels Good", "Livin' the Dream" (released Dec 7, 2015; #12 Billboard Country Airplay, #20 Hot Country Songs)