Neil McSweeney (born 9 June 1976 in

Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier *Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia *Irvine Island *Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada *Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...

, Scotland) is a British songwriter and musician based in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, England. His acoustic guitar playing style combines

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

influences but it is his voice, likened by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' to a male

Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. Chapman is best known for her hit singles "Fast Car" and "Give Me One Reason". Chapman was signed to Elektra Records by Bob Krasnow in 1987. The following year she released ...

, and his direct and personal lyrics,Spellman, Robert (23 October 2009
"Neil McSweeney: Shoreline"
''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

''. Retrieved 17 June 2013 for which he is most recognised. Neil McSweeney

McSweeney’s debut album, ''Remember To Smile'' was released in 2006 by Sheffield independent label, LM Music. Tracks from the album attracted national radio play from

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. ...

and the digital station

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

. This led to "Postcards" being released as a single by Kids Records, the singles arm of

Warner Music UK Warner Music Group's labels include the following. Flagship labels *Atlantic Records *Elektra Records *Parlophone Records *Warner Records Atlantic Records Group * 1st & 15th Entertainment * All Money In * Artist Partners Group * Asylum Reco ...

subsidiary

14th Floor Records 14 (fourteen) is a natural number following 13 and preceding 15. In relation to the word "four" ( 4), 14 is spelled "fourteen". In mathematics * 14 is a composite number. * 14 is a square pyramidal number. * 14 is a stella octangula number. ...

. Further national radio exposure followed including the track being playlisted by

XFM Radio X is a British National commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. Radio X launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station, a licensed London-wide station in 1997 and nationally in 2015 ...

. Around this time McSweeney also accompanied his friend Stoney on record, on tour and in session for BBC Radio 2’s

Dermot O'Leary Seán Dermot Fintan O'Leary Jr. (born 24 May 1973) is an English broadcaster who currently works for ITV and BBC Radio 2. His radio career began when he worked as a disc jockey at Essex Radio, but he is best known for being the presenter of ''T ...

Maida Vale Studios Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC sound studios, of which five are in regular use, in Delaware Road, Maida Vale, west London. It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1, ...

. Extensive touring in the UK followed before the second album, ''Shoreline'' emerged in 2009. This was self-released and attracted positive reviews in the national press, as well as the attention of fellow Sheffield musician,

Richard Hawley Richard Willis Hawley (born 17 January 1967) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. After his first band Treebound Story (formed while he was still at school) broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longp ...

. Following support sets at

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as a ...

in Sheffield and the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

, McSweeney accompanied Hawley as main support on the European leg of his Truelove’s Gutter tour. During a hiatus from touring in 2011 and 2012, reportedly to spend more time with his young family, McSweeney developed friendships with musicians from the English folk and roots scene. This developed into collaborations which formed the basis for an EP (''The Seventeen EP'') and a third full-length album (''Cargo'') both released in 2013. The album features contributions from Lucy Farrell,

Sam Sweeney Sam Sweeney (born 27 February 1989 in Nottingham) is a multi-instrumental English folk musician. Career Sweeney was introduced to folk music as a child via his parents' record collection and taught himself to play traditional pieces by ear. ...

Brooks Williams Brooks Williams (born November 10, 1958) is an American acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter. His style combines roots, jazz, blues, classical, and folk. He has released albums of contemporary folk music, blues music, and of instrumental g ...

, Matt Boulter, Vera Van Heeringen, Jock Tyldesley, Andy Seward and others.Clegg, Rachael (25 May 2013
“Man for all seasons”
''Sheffield Telegraph''. Retrieved 17 June 2013 In late 2013, McSweeney supported English folk group

Bellowhead Bellowhead is an English contemporary folk band, active from 2004 to 2016, reforming in 2020. The eleven-piece act played traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide range of musical style ...

on their UK tour. He was accompanied by Vera van Heeringen and Sweeney. Van Heeringen and McSweeney subsequently collaborated on an EP (released in October 2015). Other projects include GluePot (with Farrell and Boulter), who released an EP (''Lulu the Bear and other Stories'') in 2015, and Holler, with

Fay Hield Fay Hield is a traditional English folk singer and a Senior Lecturer in Ethnomusicology at the University of Sheffield. Career '' Looking Glass'', released September 2010, was Hield's debut solo album. The material consists mainly of traditio ...

and

Jon Boden Jon Boden (born 17 March 1977) is a singer, composer and musician, best known as lead singer and main arranger of Bellowhead. His first instrument is the fiddle and he is a proponent of "English traditional fiddle style" and also of "fiddle si ...

. In 2016, McSweeney co-founded Hudson Records with his friend, record producer Andy Bell. In September that year, he also joined the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

's Department of Music, where he teaches Music Management and Popular Music Studies. Hudson Records released McSweeney's fourth album, ''A Coat Worth Wearing'', in March 2017.

Discography

*''Remember To Smile'' (album) # "Sunrise" # "Postcards" # "Walleye Jean" # "Broken Truth" # "Smile" # "Flowers" # "London Road" # "Long Way Round" # "Heartlands" # "Let The Side Down" *"Postcards" (7" single) # "Postcards" # "My Design" *''Shoreline'' (album) # "Glencoe" # "Standing Still" # "Wonder In The Making" # "Side To The Sun" # "Time" # "Rope To Hang" # "The Break" # "Half A Mind" # "Wasters" # "Everybody Tells Me I'm Wrong" *''The Seventeen'' (EP) # "We Are Here" # "In A Dream" # "To Live Is To Fly" (

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

) # "The Seventeen" *''Cargo'' (album) # "Bulldozer" # "Be Your Own Dog" # "Happiness" # "San Miniato" # "New Year’s Day" # "Sapling Bough" # "Snow Blind" # "Into The Sound" # "Slowly Sets The Sun" # "Cargo" # "Stop Digging" *''A Coat Worth Wearing'' (album) # "Old Glory Blues" # "Forlorn Hope" # "Danse Macabre" # "Land of Cockaigne" # "Atlantis" # "Strangers of Maresfield Gardens" # "Waving Not Drowning" # "Night Watchman" # "The Call"

References

External links

Official Website: Neil McSweeney
Performed at the wedding of Steffanie and Daniel Cardona, 14 May 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:McSweeney, Neil 1976 births Living people Musicians from Sheffield English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters