Eamonn McCrystal (born 1 June 1987)Karen Scott, "Eamonn McCrystal – following his destiny," ''

Tyrone Courier The ''Dungannon News and Tyrone Courier'' is a weekly newspaper based in Dungannon, County Tyrone, with an office in Cookstown Northern Ireland. It is published by the Alpha Newspaper Group Alpha Newspaper Group is a media group, primarily inv ...

'', 22 August 2012. is a multi-

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

winning

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

TV producer and pop

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Early life

McCrystal was born to Jim and Ann McCrystal, nursing home owners, in

Cookstown Cookstown (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the fourth-largest town in the county and had a population of 12,546 in the 2021 census. It, along with Magherafelt and Dungannon, is one of the main towns in the Mid-Ulster ...

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

, Northern Ireland.John McGurk
"Cookstown singer Eamonn McCrystal set for stardom in US"
''

Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media, which also publishes the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independent and various other newspapers and magazines in Ireland. Its e ...

'', 4 September 2012.Billy Kennedy, "Rising star Eammon to thrill Cookstown", ''The News Letter'', 10 August 2012. He attended Holy Trinity College in Cookstown, where he learned to play the piano and the flute. In his late teen years, he seriously considered joining the priesthood, but was advised by local

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

Sean Brady to pursue his music career instead. He studied to be a teacher of

Religious Education In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion (although in the United Kingdom the term ''religious instruction'' would refer to the teaching of a particular religion, with ''religious education'' referring to t ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

at St Mary's University College, Belfast before moving to

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to pursue a career in Media.

Career

Early career

McCrystal's debut radio broadcast was at the age of nine, on the George Jones Show on

BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster is a Northern Ireland, Northern Irish national radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. Acc ...

.Jenny Lee
"Crystal clear sounds,"
''

The Irish News ''The Irish News'' is a Compact (newspaper), compact daily newspaper based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's largest-selling morning newspaper and is available throughout Ireland. It is broadly Irish nationalist in its viewp ...

'', 31 August 2012. He released his first album, ''After the Storm'', in 2000, at the age of 13. Over the course of the decade, he independently recorded three more albums, and toured around Ireland with a 15-piece band.

Move to U.S.

In 2009, McCrystal was working as a stage manager at the UTV Country Fest in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, headlined that year by

Randy Travis Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country and gospel music singer and songwriter, as well as a film and television actor. Active since 1979, he has recorded over 20 studio albums and ...

. McCrystal was driving Travis's then-wife and manager Elizabeth Travis to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, and gave her a copy of ''Eamonn McCrystal Live''. After listening to the album, she gave McCrystal a slot as a guest artist on the Randy Travis tour, signed him to a contract with Elizabeth Travis Management, and brought him to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, where he is currently based. In 2011, McCrystal recorded his first US album, ''When in Nashville...'', produced by

Kyle Lehning Kyle Lehning is an American record producer whose work is mainly in the field of country music. He has produced virtually every album released by Randy Travis, who described their partnership "an interesting relationship." The only exceptions are ...

, composed of six covers and six original compositions by outside songwriters. Later that year, McCrystal sang with Randy Travis on "Someone You Never Knew" on his album ''Anniversary Celebration''. In 2012, McCrystal released the single "Under Your Wings," a ballad written by

Walter Afanasieff Walter Afanasieff (born Vladimir Nikitich Afanasyev; February 10, 1958), formerly nicknamed Baby Love in the 1980s, is an American record producer and songwriter. He was a frequent collaborator of Mariah Carey on her first six studio albums. Af ...

. McCrystal's musical director

Brad Ellis Brad Ellis is an American composer, musical director, singer, orchestrator, and jazz pianist. Ellis is perhaps most visible as Brad the mostly quiet pianist for the high school kids on ''Glee'', the Fox television show for which he is part of cr ...

accompanies him on the track. Eamonn McCrystal Belfast 2014

In 2013, McCrystal released ''The Music of Christmas & the Stories Behind the Songs'', an album of Christmas songs produced by Nigel Wright. On 2 September 2014, his album ''A Living Prayer'' was released by Difference Media / UMG. Produced by McCrystal and Casey Wood, it contains traditional hymns and contemporary songs."Celebrating our music,"
''The Irish News'', 28 August 2014. McCrystal and Woods co-produced the 2016 traditional vocal pop album ''And So It Goes'' which included performances by

Rita Wilson Margarita Wilson Hanks (born Margarita Ibrahimoff; October 26, 1956) is an American actress, singer, and producer. Her film appearances include ''Volunteers'' (1985), ''Sleepless in Seattle'' (1993), '' Now and Then'' (1995), '' That Thing You D ...

and Chloe Agnew.

Television, film and radio

In 2008, McCrystal founded SMUC Radio, a radio station at St. Mary's University College in

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

, England, hosted by students and broadcast 24 hours a day. SMUC Radio debuted on 19 February 2009. An

Internet TV Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as films and television series, streamed over the Internet. Standing in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable te ...

station, The Eamonn McCrystal Network, was launched on 10 October 2012. On 6 September 2014, McCrystal hosted the made-for-television concert ''The Music of Northern Ireland'' at the Grand Opera House in

. It was filmed by

BBC Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. BBC Northern Ireland is one of the four BB ...

and aired on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

in North America in March 2015. During the event, McCrystal sung duets with special guest artists including Brian Kennedy,

Rachel Tucker Rachel Kelly Tucker (born 29 May 1981) is a Northern Irish stage actress, best known for her portrayal of Elphaba in the musical '' Wicked''. She also starred in '' Come from Away'' on Broadway, having originated the role in the West End. Rachel ...

Keith Getty Julian Keith Getty (born 16 December 1974) is a Northern Irish businessman, Christian singer and songwriter, best known for writing the song " In Christ Alone" in 2001 with veteran songwriter and worship leader Stuart Townend. Getty and his ...

and

Kristyn Getty Kristyn Elizabeth Rebekah Getty ( Lennox, born 22 May 1980 in Belfast) is a Northern Irish Christian music, Christian singer and songwriter. With her husband, Keith Getty, she has co-written a number of popular modern hymns. Career Keith & Kri ...

."’We want to show everyone Ulster is a place of cool music’,"
''

The News Letter The ''News Letter'' is one of Northern Ireland's main daily newspapers, published from Monday to Saturday. It is the world's oldest English-language general daily newspaper still in publication, having first been printed in September 1737. The ...

'', 4 September 2014. It won four 2015

NATAS The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), also known as the National Television Academy until 2007, is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of television ...

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

, with McCrystal winning for best On-Camera Talent/Performer, and as a co-producer for best Overall Arts/Entertainment program. Eamonn is seen regularly on

Television with his concerts "The Music of Northern Ireland" (PBS) and "The Music of Christmas" (BBC/PBS) and also on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in the UK, most notably

BBC Children In Need ''BBC Children in Need'' is the BBC's UK charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the country. Established in 1980, the organisation has raised over £1 billion by 2023 through its fundraising efforts. Th ...

Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns, worship songs and inspirational performances in churches of varying denominations from around the UK alongside interviews and stories reflecting how Ch ...

McCrystal made an appearance in the 2014 film '' Big Stone Gap'', directed by

Adriana Trigiani Adriana Trigiani is an American best-selling author of eighteen books, playwright, television writer/producer, film director/screenwriter/producer, and entrepreneur based in New York City. Trigiani has published a novel a year since 2000. E ...

and starring

Ashley Judd Ashley Tyler Ciminella, known professionally as Ashley Judd (born April 19, 1968), is an American actress and activist. She grew up in a family of performing artists, the daughter of country music singer Naomi Judd and the half-sister of country ...

Patrick Wilson Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in ''The Full Monty (musical), The Full Mont ...

and

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ...

. He also appeared in the 2016 film ''

God's Not Dead 2 ''God's Not Dead 2'' (also known as ''God's Not Dead 2: He's Surely Alive'') is a 2016 American Christian drama film, directed by Harold Cronk, and starring Melissa Joan Hart, Jesse Metcalfe, David A. R. White, Hayley Orrantia and Sadie R ...

'', and guest-starred in the sitcom ''Hitting The Breaks''. On 13 December 2018, "The Music of Christmas with Eamonn McCrystal" was released on Amazon Prime Video. In February 2020 Eamonn co-created, produced and directed an 8-part vegan cooking show "New Day New Chef" with

Jane Velez-Mitchell Jane Velez-Mitchell is a television and social media journalist and author with specialties in vegan lifestyles, animal rights, addiction, and social justice. She is a New York Times bestselling author, former CNN Headline News (HLN) host, an ...

which debuted on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

and later aired on

. In June 2020 a stand-alone 6-part version of the show titled, "New Day New Chef : Support and Feed Edition" aired on

and featured

Maggie Baird Maggie May Baird (born March 29, 1959) is an American actress. She grew up in Colorado performing music, and studied theater and dance at the University of Utah, before moving to New York City, where she performed on Broadway. She made her tele ...

Billie Eilish Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single "Ocean Eyes (song), Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her broth ...

and

Finneas Finneas Baird O'Connell (born July 30, 1997), also known mononymously by his first name (sometimes stylized in all caps), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, he has written and pro ...

. A third and final season of the original "New Day New Chef" series was released in October 2020. In October 2020 Eamonn and his production company "Inspired." signed with

The Gersh Agency Gersh (also known as The Gersh Agency) is an international entertainment and sports agency headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, New York City, and Madrid, with offices and representatives in 14 countries. Established in 1949 by Phil Gers ...

for representation.

Production and showrunning

McCrystal has established himself as a

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

and showrunner. He is the owner of "Inspired," a production company based in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. Through this company, McCrystal has created and produced a variety of Television show, television shows across different genres: * "Hitmakers with David Foster" - A music-focused series featuring Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winning music producer David Foster. * "The Library" - A documentary series featuring Newsreel, newsreels narrated by John Lithgow and Beau Bridges. * "At Home with The Jenners" - A Reality television, reality/cooking show offering an inside look at the lives of Cayley and Brandon Jenner. * "New Day New Chef" - A plant-based Veganism, vegan cooking show promoting healthy, Sustainable diet, sustainable eating hosted by

. * "Party Rock Farmhouse" - A cooking show featuring LMFAO's Redfoo and his partner Jazzy. * "Pig Little Lies" - A unique reality series centered around Vietnamese Pot-bellied, pot bellied pigs.

Performances

McCrystal has performed with

and Kristin Chenoweth,

, Brian Kennedy,

and Chloe Agnew, he makes regular guest appearances on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, and is often backed by a 12-piece orchestra. In December 2016, McCrystal toured the United States (15 cities in 18 days) with Chloe Agnew, notable venues included: Grammy Museum at L.A. Live, The Grammy Museum at LA Live and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Kennedy Center, Washington DC. Eamonn performs regularly on

Television with his concerts "The Music of Northern Ireland" (PBS) and "The Music of Christmas" (BBC/PBS) and also on the

in the UK, most notably

and live music performances on BBC Radio.

Discography

Albums

* ''After the Storm'' (2000) * ''The Search'' (2006) * ''Rest for Your Soul'' (2007) * ''Eamonn McCrystal Live'' (2009) * ''When in Nashville...'' (2011) * ''The Music of Christmas & the Stories Behind the Songs'' (2013) * ''A Living Prayer'' (2014) * ''The Music of Northern Ireland'' (CD & DVD, 2015) * ''Where Does The Time Go?'' (2015) * ''And So It Goes'' (2016)

Singles

* "If It's Gonna Rain" (2010) * "Under Your Wings" (2012) * "Blue Christmas" (2013) * "Auld Lang Syne" (2013) * "Pray For Peace" (2016) feat.

and Chloë Agnew * "You Haven't Seen The Last of Me" (2018) * "Love Will Wait" (2020)

Collaborations

* "Someone You Never Knew" – with

(from ''Anniversary Celebration'', 2011) * "Pray For Peace" (2016) feat.

and Chloë Agnew (from ''And So It Goes'' 2016) * "We've Got Tonight" – with Chloë Agnew (from ''And So It Goes'' 2016)

References

External links

Official website

The Eamonn McCrystal Network
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCrystal, Eamonn 1987 births Living people Pop singers from Northern Ireland Musicians from Northern Ireland Musicians from County Tyrone Tenors from Northern Ireland Male singers from Northern Ireland Male songwriters from Northern Ireland Male singer-songwriters from Northern Ireland Television presenters from Northern Ireland People from Cookstown Emmy Award winners