Eamon McGrath is a Canadian musician and writer from

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...

and currently based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. On his own, his live performances are most often folk-oriented, where McGrath plays songs from his

discography Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry ...

on acoustic instruments. However, with a band the live show takes on a much more high-energy, punk rock influenced vein.

Career

McGrath began recording on his own at his home in Toronto. In late 2008, he signed with White Whale Records. That year, he also began a rigid touring schedule which has continued for over ten years. McGrath and White Whale released the album ''Peace Maker'', which appeared on the !Earshot National Top 50 Chart in October 2010. ''Young Canadians'' was released on April 10, 2012. The record is produced by David Carswell and John Collins of

The Evaporators The Evaporators is a Canadian garage rock band formed in 1986 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Nardwuar, its founding member, is also known for interviewing musicians and celebrities. As of 2007, the band consists of vocalist/keyboardist Nardwuar ...

. In 2012, McGrath performed at

Sackville, New Brunswick Sackville is a town in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. It is home to Mount Allison University, a primarily undergraduate liberal arts university. Historically based on agriculture, shipbuilding, and manufacturing, the economy is now driven ...

's Sappyfest 7 with Chris Thompson,

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and Mark Gaudet of

Eric's Trip Eric's Trip is a Canadian indie rock band from Moncton, New Brunswick. Eric's Trip achieved prominence as the first Canadian band to be signed to Seattle's flagship grunge label Sub Pop in the early 1990s. The band had a minor hit in alternative ...

playing songs from ''Young Canadians''. McGrath also plays guitar in Julie & The Wrong Guys, featuring

and

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members Mike Peters and Jaye Schwarzer. ''Exile'', the follow-up to ''Young Canadians'', was released in the form of three separate digital EPs over the course of nine months, concluding with a full LP in September 2014. ''Exile - Part One ''was released on October 15, 2013, followed by the second instalment in March, 2014 while the full-length conclusion was released digitally and in LP format on September 9, 2014. A Canadian and European tour followed. Alongside

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, McGrath scored music for North Country Cinema's feature film ''

The Valley Below ''The Valley Below'' is a Canadian dramatic film, released in 2014. The feature film debut of filmmaker Kyle Thomas,

'', which premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

in September, 2014. On October 21, 2014, Toronto's New Damage Records released a split 7-inch by Eamon McGrath and Edmonton-based punk band SLATES, where both artists cover each other's material. McGrath's first book, a fictionalized tour memoir entitled ''Berlin-Warszawa Express'', was released in spring 2017 by

ECW Press ECW Press is a Canadian book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canadian literary magazine named ''Essays on Canadian Writing''. They started publishing trade and scholarly book ...

. In the same year, the debut album from Julie Doiron & The Wrong Guys was released on

Dine Alone Records Dine Alone Records is a Canadian and American independent record label, founded in St. Catharines and Toronto by Joel Carriere. The label is now based in Toronto, Nashville and Los Angeles. History Dine Alone was born out of founder Joel Ca ...

. McGrath's sixth full-length record, ''Tantramar'', was released June 1, 2018 on Saved By Vinyl. The follow-up to 'Tantramar', 'Guts', was released on September 6, 2019, on Saved By Vinyl and Uncle M Music. In March 2020, McGrath released the online-only digital full-length ''The Long Hard Road'' coinciding with the outbreak of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic. His second book, ''Here Goes Nothing'', was released on

in September of the same year. McGrath played over 80 shows across Canada in 2021. ‘Bells of Hope’, the follow-up to ‘Guts’, was released on February 25, 2022, followed by subsequent touring. On December 31, 2022, McGrath released 7 albums of new material via his Cassettes Records imprint. The albums were recorded in collaboration remotely with Danny Miles of

July Talk July Talk is a Canadian alternative rock band formed in 2012 in Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of singers Peter Dreimanis and Leah Fay, guitarist Ian Docherty, bassist Josh Warburton, and drummers Danny Miles and Dani Nash. July Talk relea ...

from 2020-2021.

Discography

* ''Wild Dogs'' (Champion City Records, 2008) * ''13 Songs of Whiskey and Light'' (White Whale, 2009) * ''Peace Maker'' (White Whale, 2010) * ''Young Canadians'' (White Whale, 2012) * ''Pegasus'' (Independent, 2013) * ''Exile'' (Aporia, 2014) * ''Tantramar'' (Saved By Vinyl, 2018) * ''Guts'' (Saved By Vinyl, Uncle M Music, 2019) * ''The Long Hard Road'' (Saved By Vinyl, 2020) * ''Range Roads OST'' (Saved By Vinyl, 2022) * ''Bells of Hope'' (Saved By Vinyl, 2022) * ''Death & Taxes'' (Cassettes Records, 2022) * ''Fireworks & Roses'' (Cassettes Records, 2022) * ''Ghosts of the 401'' (Cassettes Records, 2022) * ''In The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death'' (Cassettes Records, 2022) * ''March 22, 2022'' (Cassettes Records, 2022) * ''Liar's Paradise'' (Cassettes Records, 2022) * ''Trout River Conspiracy'' (Cassettes Records, 2022)

Books

* ''Berlin-Warszawa Express'' (ECW Press, 2017) * ''Here Goes Nothing'' (ECW Press, 2020)

References

External links

*
Eamon McGrath on White Whale Records

Eamon McGrath at New Music Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGrath, Eamon Canadian indie rock musicians Canadian punk rock singers Folk punk musicians Living people Musicians from Edmonton Year of birth missing (living people) Musicians from Toronto