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”.
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Megan O'Neill
CLICK to ENLARGE |
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)
(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
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"
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)
