Eileen Rose (born January 31, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter who is known for her eclectic

Americana music Americana (also known as American roots music) is an amalgam of American music formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the musical ethos of the United States, specifically those sounds that are emerged from the ...

. She has released five solo studio albums and toured Europe and the US extensively with her band The Holy Wreck. She is also a member of the band The Silver Threads.

Early years

Born Eileen Rose Giadone, in the north

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

suburb of Saugus,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, Rose grew up in a close-knit Italian-Irish American family with five older sisters and three brothers. She started writing songs as a teenager and taught herself to read music and play the guitar. Waitressing to put herself through college, Rose began to study criminal law, but gave it up to begin performing on the local Boston music scene. She released a self-funded folk album and fronted the indie-rock bands Daisy Chain, Medici Slot Machine and then Fledgling.

Career

1991–2003: UK and Rough Trade years

In 1991, Rose moved to the UK, living in north London. With Fledgling, she played on the London club circuit and toured the US east coast. Fledgling signed to Nine Inch Nail's TVT label and released one self-titled album in 1995, before disbanding. The Fledgling song "August" featured on the soundtrack of the Sandra Bullock / Denis Leary movie

Two If by Sea ''Two If by Sea'' (also known in the United Kingdom as ''Stolen Hearts'') is a 1996 American romantic comedy film directed by Bill Bennett (director), Bill Bennett, and starring Sandra Bullock and Denis Leary. The screenplay, written by Leary and ...

. When Fledgling split, Rose moved into an old cottage on a dairy farm in Essex and began to write and demo what she has described as "very personal songs" that would form the core of her first two albums. After a year or two, she decided to try performing them solo and started booking gigs. At a gig at the Weavers Arms, Rose was approached by Larry Love of

Alabama 3 Alabama 3 are a British/English musical group founded in Brixton, London in 1995. They are best known for their track "Woke Up This Morning", which was used for the opening credits of the TV series ''The Sopranos''. In the United States, the ...

, leader of the headlining Larry Love Show Band. He liked her set and offered his band to back her for a few shows. Geoff Travis from the seminal UK record label

Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pun ...

saw them play and offered Rose a solo deal. Rose released two albums and an EP on Rough Trade, both of which were well received by critics. Rose's debut album, ''Shine Like It Does'', was originally released in the UK in October 2000. The record was recorded in Monnow Valley studio, near Monmouth in Wales, and featured three members of

– guitarist Mark Sams, keyboard player Orlando Harrison and Simon "Sir Eddie Real" Edwards on drums. David Bull, the lead guitarist in Fledgling, and Barry Payne, the former bass player for

Wreckless Eric Eric Goulden (born 18 May 1954), known as Wreckless Eric, is an English rock/ new wave singer-songwriter, best known for his 1977 single " Whole Wide World" on Stiff Records. More than two decades after its release, the song was included in ''Mo ...

, also played on it. The album was engineered and co-produced by Jerry Boys (The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Buena Vista Social Club). ''Shine Like It Does'' was re-released in 2001, with a different cover and shrink-wrapped with a new EP. The ''Party Dress EP'' was recorded with

Iain Harvie Iain Wallace Harvie (born 19 May 1962 in Glasgow, Scotland) is the guitarist with the Scottish rock band Del Amitri. Along with lead singer and bassist Justin Currie, Harvie is one of only two members to be present throughout Del Amitri's ...

(of

Del Amitri Del Amitri are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Glasgow in 1980. Between 1985 and 2002, the band released six studio albums. Their 1995 single " Roll to Me" reached number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Five Del Amitri albums have ...

) and Kris Dollimore (Del Amitri,

The Godfathers The Godfathers are an English rock band from London, England, with strong influences from R&B and punk. Career The Godfathers were formed by Peter and Chris Coyne (vocals and bass, respectively) after the demise of The Sid Presley Experienc ...

) in their studio in Rochester, Kent. US label Compass, run by Grammy-winning banjo-player

Alison Brown Alison Brown (born August 7, 1962) is an American banjo player, guitarist, composer, and producer. She has won and has been nominated for several Grammy awards and is often compared to another banjo prodigy, Béla Fleck, for her unique style of ...

, added three of the tracks from that EP to ''Shine Like It Does'' when they released it in the US that April. The song "Shining", which gives ''Shine Like It Does'' its title, featured in the Disney movie The Rookie and is also on the soundtrack album along with Ryan Adams and Steve Earle. "Lie To Me" was featured in an episode of the TV series Felicity. In October 2000 Rose opened for Ryan Adams on his UK tour. She started 2001 with a three-week residency at London's Borderline club, then toured the UK with Eddi Reader. She opened for Ron Sexsmith on his US tour in July 2001, and his tour of Ireland that November. Rose's second album, ''Long Shot Novena'', was released in February 2002 through Rough Trade in the UK and Compass records in the US. It was recorded at Troy Town Studios in Rochester, Kent, with Harvie and Dollimore using guest musicians including Bull, Payne, Harrison and

drummer Mark Price. The

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

Glen Matlock Glen Matlock (born 27 August 1956) is an English musician, best known for being the bass guitarist in the original line-up of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He is credited as a songwriter on 10 of the 12 songs on the Sex Pistols' only alb ...

and

The Ruts The Ruts (later known as Ruts DC) are an English reggae-influenced punk rock band, notable for the 1979 UK top 10 hit single "Babylon's Burning", and an earlier single "In a Rut", which was not a hit but was highly regarded and regularly pla ...

' Seggs both feature on bass. ''Long Shot Novena'' saw Rose experimenting with sequencing and drum programming for the first time. The UK's ''Daily Mirror'' newspaper described the album's sound as "spit 'n' sawdust country filtered through the Velvet Underground". In support of the album, Rose toured the US with Frank Black and Ed Harcourt.

2003–2008: homecoming, ''Come The Storm'' and ''At Our Tables''

In 2003, Rose returned to live in the US. She taught herself to play the piano and went to Martha's Vineyard to write new songs over the winter. The resultant album, ''Come the Storm'' was recorded at the famous

Long View Farm studios Long View Farm Studios was a music recording studio located in North Brookfield, Massachusetts which was founded in 1974 by Gilbert Scott Markle, a professor at Clark University, on his farm property. It was the location of recordings from many w ...

in Massachusetts with local musicians including guitarist Seth Goodman. It was released in the UK on Banana Records in October 2005. In the US,

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...

personally offered to put it out on her own label, Wildflower Records, and it received a 2007 release. Rose released her fourth album, ''At Our Tables'', in Europe through

Evangeline Records Evangeline Records is an independent American record label based in San Francisco, California that promotes and releases music in the indie rock, baroque pop, psychedelic folk, and Americana genres. The label was founded by notable songwriters Bo ...

on March 10, 2008. Recorded in Detroit, it was co-produced by Al Sutton, who has worked with Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock, and Eric Hoegemeyer (Charm Farm, Kid Rock, Uncle Kracker). It was recorded with members of Rose's touring band, The Holy Wreck – guitarists Bull and Goodman, Nicholas Giadone Ward on bass – and members of local bands

Sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...

and

Detroit Cobras Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. Nick Lucassian of Detroit band Shipwreck Union sings a vocal duet with Rose on the track "Will-O'-The-Wisp". The song "$20 Shoes" received over 500,000 views on YouTube when someone paired it up with a Betty Boop cartoon. In the UK,

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

's Bob Harris playlisted "Doesn't Mean A Thing", and invited Rose to record a session for his show. Rose asked guitarist and pedal steel player Rich Gilbert (known for his work with Boston bands Human Sexual Response and The Zulus, and later with

Tanya Donelly Tanya Donelly (born July 14, 1966) is an American Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New England who co-founded Throwing Muses with her step-sister Kristin Hersh. Donelly went on to co-form the alternative rock band ...

and

Frank Black and the Catholics Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies (band), Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Bl ...

), to join her band for the ''At Our Tables'' tour. In September 2008, ''At Our Tables'' was re-released with an additional live CD of tracks off the album which was recorded at Long View Farm studios with the touring Holy Wreck band – Gilbert, Ward, and James Murray on drums. At the same session, the band recorded "''Live At Longview''", a limited edition CD featuring re-worked versions of old songs and demo versions of some new songs, which was self-released and sold at shows.

2009–present: Nashville, ''Luna Turista'' and The Silver Threads

At the end of 2008, Rose relocated to

Nashville, TN Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

and started to work with local musicians including Gilbert and drummer Nate Stalfa, known for his work with Knock Down Society and Caitlin Carey. The three played live together a lot, and previewed songs from Rose's forthcoming album on a European tour in May 2009. Rose recorded her fifth studio album, ''Luna Turista'', with Gilbert and Stalfa and released it under the name of Eileen Rose & The Holy Wreck. The record features Joshua Hedley, who plays fiddle with Justin Townes Earle, on fiddle and vocals, and Aaron Oliva on bass. It was recorded half at the Fry Pharmacy in Nashville, and half in Berlin during the May 2009 tour. Rose and Gilbert produced, and the album was mixed by Rob Clark, who works with Neil Young and produced Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's ''Deja Vu''. It includes nine original Rose compositions and a cover of the country classic "Luckenbach, Texas," which was a hit for Waylon Jennings in 1977. ''Luna Turista'' was released in Europe on Floating World (an offshoot of

Evangeline ''Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie'' is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written in English and published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during t ...

) on October 4, 2009. Rose, Gilbert, Stalfa and Hedley toured Europe in support of the release in October/November, and Rose and Gilbert toured Germany again as a duo in October 2010. A US release for ''Luna Turista'' is planned for 2011. In 2010, Rose was invited to contribute a song for the Joey's Song project. She and Gilbert recorded a version of the old children's song "Oh Johnny Lebeck", which features on the first ''Joey's Song'' CD, which was released in January 2011. When she is not recording or touring her own material, Rose plays on Nashville's Lower Broad, with her

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

honky tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano ( tack piano) ...

covers band, The Silver Threads. Formed by Rose and Gilbert at the end of 2009, other band members include Johnnie Barber, who previously played drums with

Johnny Paycheck Johnny Paycheck (born Donald Eugene Lytle; May 31, 1938 – February 19, 2003) was an American country music singer and Grand Ole Opry member notable for recording the David Allan Coe song "Take This Job and Shove It". He achieved his greates ...

and

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled af ...

, and upright bass players Joe Fick (Travis Mann Band) and Zachary Shedd (Hank Williams III). They cover songs by the likes of Connie Smith, Lynn Anderson, Brenda Lee, Loretta Lynn, Ray Price, Buck Owens and Jeanne Pruet. The Silver Threads have weekly residences at Robert's Western World and Layla's Bluegrass Inn and they self-released their first album, entitled ''The Silver Threads'', in December 2010.

Touring

Throughout her career, Rose has toured extensively with her live band, Eileen Rose & The Holy Wreck. They have headlined tours in the UK, Germany, Italy and The Netherlands. In 2009 they played their first shows in Croatia and Serbia. Rose has also opened for many artists in the US and Europe, including Ryan Adams, Ron Sexsmith, David Gray, The Pernice Brothers, Handsome Family, Eddi Reader, Ani DiFranco, Judy Collins, Jonathan Richmond, Frank Black, The Ramones, Tim Finn, Joe Ely, Radiohead, Butch Walker, Alabama 3, Tanya Donnelly, The Lemonheads, Joe Bonamassa, Cracker, Wayne Hancock and Lonnie Donegan. * Rose performed at the 2009

SxSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

* In June 2009 Rose was invited to play at the opening of the Charlotte Street Blues Bar in London * In July 2009 she performed at the Goud'Acoustic Festival Folk Americana in Goudargues, France * In May 2010 Rose and Gilbert played at the Sarzana Acoustic Guitar Festival with Jackson Browne * In November 2010 Rose was asked to play at the Wood House Concert Series in St. Louis, Missouri.

Discography

Fledgling

* ''Fledgling'' (1995) TVT (US)

Eileen Rose

* ''Shine Like It Does'' (2000)

(UK) * ''Party Dress EP'' (2001)

(UK) * ''Shine Like It Does'' (2001)

Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is as of 2013 a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest m ...

(US) * ''Long Shot Novena'' (2002)

(UK) / Compass Records (US) * ''Come The Storm'' (2005) Banana Recordings (

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

) (UK) / Wildflower Records (US, 2007) * ''At Our Tables'' (March 2008)

(UK) * ''At Our Tables Plus'' (including a bonus live CD) (September 2008)

(UK) * ''Bones W/The Legendary Rich Gilbert'' (2013)

self-released Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pr ...

(US) * 'Be Many Gone (January 2014) Holy Wreckords/Cadiz (US/UK)

Eileen Rose and The Holy Wreck

* ''Live at Longview'' (2008) (self-released) * ''Luna Turista'' (2009) Floating World (UK)

The Silver Threads

* ''The Silver Threads'' (2010) (self-released) * ''Live at Robert's'' (2012) (self-released)

Soundtracks, Compilations, Guest Performances

:Soundtracks * The Fledgling song "August", co-written by Rose and David Bull, was included on the soundtrack of the Sandra Bullock / Denis Leary movie

(1996) * "Shining", from ''Shine Like It Does'' is on the soundtrack album for the Disney movie The Rookie (2002), along with Ryan Adams and Steve Earle. * "Lie To Me", from ''Shine Like It Does'', featured in an episode of the TV show Felicity :Compilations * "Mortar And Stone", a track Rose recorded at the ''Shine Like It Does'' sessions but did not include on the album, can be found on

Truck Records Truck Festival is an annual independent music festival in Oxfordshire, England. It was started in 1998 by the Bennett family (including the brothers Robin and Joe of the band Goldrush), who decided that mainstream festivals such as Glastonbury ...

' ''Down at the Twisted am Lounge'' compilation (2001) * "Rose", from Shine Like It Does, featured on

Uncut Magazine ''Uncut'' is a monthly magazine based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections. A DVD magazine under the ''Uncut'' brand was published quarterly from 2005 to 2006 ...

's CD in February 2001 * "Good Man", from Long Shot Novena, featured on

's CD in April 2002 * "Wheels Going By" appeared on ''Another Country Vol 2'' (2004) (Agenda) (UK) * Rose's previously unreleased version of "Oh Johnny Lebeck" features on the first Joey's Song CD (January 2011) :Guest Performances * Rose sings on "Femtex" on

Therapy A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. As a rule, each therapy has indications and contraindications. There are many different ...

's album

Troublegum ''Troublegum'' is the second major label album by rock band Therapy? It was released on 7 February 1994 via A&M Records. The album features a more punk-oriented style compared to the likes of Stiff Little Fingers and the Undertones rather the ba ...

'' (1994) * Rose provided backing vocals for

's single Wade into The Water, from their 2000 LP, ''La Peste''. She also joined them onstage during their tour. * Rose sings "North Pole Transmission" on

FC Kahuna FC Kahuna (also known as FC/Kahuna) was a British DJ and electronic music production duo, consisting of Jon Nowell and Daniel Ormondroyd. The group released only one album, '' Machine Says Yes'', in the spring of 2002. It had a number of singl ...

's album '' Machine Says Yes'' (City Rockers City Rock, 2002).

References

External links

eileenrose.com

Interviews

Eileen Rose interview, wears the trousers, January 2006 Eileen Rose interview, pennyblackmusic.com (January 2010)Eileen Rose interview, shakenstir.co.uk (January 2010)

Reviews

Eileen Rose press archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, Eileen American women singer-songwriters Living people 1965 births Musicians from Boston People from Saugus, Massachusetts 21st-century American women Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts