Eamon McLoughlin

Infobox musical artist |
Name = Eamon McLoughlin

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Img_size=
Img_capt=Eamon McLoughlin in 2007
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Eamon McLoughlin
Alias =
Born =
Died =
Instrument = Vocals, fiddle
Genre = Bluegrass, Country music
Occupation = Singer, Songwriter, Musician
Years_active = 1997-present
Label = Sugar Hill
Associated_acts = The Greencards
URL =

Eamon McLoughlin is an English musician, and a founding member of the American bluegrass band The Greencards. Raised in South London, McLoughlin began to perform country music shows with his family on weekends, influenced by George Jones, George Strait and Ricky Skaggs.cite web | url = http://blog.cmt.com/author/mcloughlin/ | title = Country Music Blog: Eamon McLoughlin | year=2008 | publisher = Country Music Television | accessdate = 2008-06-01] cite web | url = http://www.americanahomeplace.com/news.2005WhatYearforGreencards.htm | title = 2005: What a Year for The Greencards | date = January 8, 2006 | publisher = Americana Homeplace | accessdate = 2008-06-01] Born to Irish parents, McLoughlin's father was head of a London-based country band. At age nine, McLoughlin moved away from piano lessons to play fiddle, and performed with his father's band.cite news | | first = Naila | last = Francis | title = The Greencards' musical meanderings tend to influences from far and wide, with an eye always toward tradition. | date = August 16, 2007 | work = The Intelligencer | location = Doylestown, PA | page = D1, D2 ] McLoughlin had earlier relocated from London to Austin in 1997, after leaving college with a degree in politics.cite web | url = http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14702537 | title = The Greencards: New Folk in Concert | date = September 25, 2007 | publisher = WKSU-FM (Kent State University) | accessdate = 2008-06-01] Trained in London at the Royal Academy of Music before emigrating, McLoughlin also toured with the Austin Lounge Lizards after arriving in the United States.cite web | title=CMT.com: The Greencards biography | publisher=Country Music Television | url =http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/greencards/bio.jhtml | accessdate = 2008-06-14]

McLoughlin met the other founding members of The Greencards, Kym Warner and Carol Young, at a recording session.cite news | url = http://www.middletownjournal.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/04/27/go042707greencards.html | title = Bluegrass chart toppers perform at Southgate House | first = Richard O | last = Jones | date = April 27, 2007 | work = The Middletown Journal | accessdate = 2008-06-01] cite news | url = http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,665193587,00.html | title = Greencards drawn to American roots music | first = Scott | last = Iwasaki | date = June 15, 2007 | work = Deseret Morning News | accessdate = 2008-06-01] Warner was producing an album for the recording artist Bill Atkins, and found they needed a fiddle player, which led to the recruitment of McLoughlin.cite news | url = http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2006/02/24/life/life02.txtl | title = Trio is going places: The Greencards are headed for Club Passim | first = Jay N | last = Miller | date = February 24, 2006 | work = The Patriot Ledger | accessdate = 2008-06-01] Initially the immigrants got to know one another through their mutual love of Monty Python, Benny Hill, and Fawlty Towers.cite news | url = http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/7350028/greencards_meet_bob_dylan | title = Greencards Meet Bob Dylan | first = Dan | last = Leroy | date = May 24, 2005 | work = Rolling Stone | accessdate = 2008-06-01] They began to have jam sessions afterwards, and according to Warner, there was evident chemistry between the trio, which led to their writing songs together. They named themselves The Greencards, for the fact that all three band members carried United States green cards.cite web | url = http://georgegraham.com/reviews/greencrd.html | title = The Greencards: Viridian | date = 2007-02-07 | publisher = The Graham Weekly Album Review | first = George | last = Graham | accessdate = 2008-06-01] They eventually began to perform shows locally in Austin to finance the recording of what would become their debut album, 2003's "Movin' On". In the process, they became one of the most popular musical groups in Austin. Representative of an emerging "newgrass" movement, The Greencards' acoustic sound was said to incorporate eclectic influences from Irish traditional, European gypsy, and Latin American sources.cite news | first= | last=BMNN | title=The Greencards Sign With Sugar Hill - New Album Due Spring 2009 | date=2008-09-05 | publisher=Cybergrass | url =http://www.cybergrass.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=5291 | accessdate = 2008-09-20] cite news | url = http://www.ireland.com/theticket/articles/2006/0707/1146660098050.html | title = Who the hell are? The Greencards. | first = Kevin | last = Courtney | year=2007 | work = The Irish Times | accessdate = 2008-06-01]

Their first performance together as a band was at the Austin Irish pub, Mother Egan's. Given a noon to 3 pm time slot, they surprisingly began to fill the pub with patrons week after week, with fans there calling them the "Bluegrass Bunch". Several months later, The Greencards began performing an additional three to five times per week in Austin, in addition to their Mother Egan's Sunday show. Warner credited the frantic pace of their performance schedule during their Austin formation for their cohesion as a group and for driving them to create more new original music. During their time performing locally in Austin, they toured with various local Texas musicians, including Robert Earl Keen.

According to McLoughlin, the idea of an American bluegrass band composed of two Australians and an Englishman is not as unlikely as it may seem:

"The ironic thing is that we grew up listening to primarily American music and fell in love with American music. I love country music. I grew up with George Jones and Charley Pride and Jim Reeves. All that stuff was playing in the house. That's what I wanted to seek out. That's what I wanted to play. Carol was into Tammy Wynette. Trev Warner is Kym's dad, and he was the first person to bring bluegrass music to Australia."cite web | url = http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/wfaa/stories/DN-greencards_1102gui.ART.State.Edition1.426cc06.html | title = The Greencards | first = Mario | last = Tarradell | date=November 2, 2007 | publisher = WFAA-TV (Dallas-Forth Worth) | accessdate = 2008-06-01]

Eamon McLoughlin is a regular blogger for Country Music Television.cite web | url = http://blog.cmt.com/author/mcloughlin/ | title = Country Music Blog: Eamon McLoughlin | year=2008 | publisher = Country Music Television | accessdate = 2008-06-01] After the 50th Grammy Awards, where The Greencards were nominated, he wrote about the band's experience at the event.cite web | url = http://blog.cmt.com/2008-02-15/grammy-nomination-raises-the-bar/ | title = Grammy Nomination Raises the Bar | first = Eamon | last = McLoughlin | date = 2008-02-15 | publisher = Country Music Television | accessdate = 2008-06-01]

The lyrics on "When I Was in Love With You" were cited as among the most striking on "Viridian", the Greencards's 2007 release, and were based in part by McLoughlin on an 1896 poem, "A Shropshire Lad", by Alfred Edward Housman, the English poet.cite news|author=Naila Francis|title=The Greencards' musical meanderings tend to influences from far and wide, with an eye always toward tradition.|date=August 16, 2007|publisher="The Philadelphia Intelligencer"|accessdate=2008-06-08] The song was described as a "Pogues-like romp."cite news | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/09/AR2005060900707_pf.html | title = The Greencards "Weather and Water" Dualtone | first = Geoffrey | last = Himes | date = June 10, 2005 | work = The Washington Post | accessdate = 2008-06-01]

References

External links

* [http://www.thegreencards.com/ Official site, thegreencards.com]
* [http://www.myspace.com/thegreencards Official MySpace for the Greencards]
* [http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/greencards/artist.jhtml Country Music Television Profile]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/TheGreencards The Greencards collection] at the Internet Archive's live music archive