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 Scotland *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotlan ...

, Scotland) is a British songwriter and musician based in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, 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 horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

influences but it is his voice, likened by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' to a male

Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, widely known for her hit singles " Fast Car" (1988) and " Give Me One Reason" (1995). She was signed to Elektra Records by Bob Krasnow in 1987. The following year she rel ...

, 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 (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

''. 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 List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

and the digital station

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

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

Warner Music UK Warner Music Group (WMG) owns, has a joint share, or is associated with the record labels listed here. Flagship labels *Atlantic Records *Elektra Records *Parlophone Records *Warner Records Atlantic Music Group * 1st & 15th Entertainment * A ...

subsidiary

14th Floor Records 14th Floor Records is a British subsidiary record label of Warner Music UK, founded in 2002 by part owner Christian Tattersfield. The label has released albums by artists including: Biffy Clyro, Damien Rice, David Gray, Longview, Mark Joseph ...

. 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. The station launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station named Q102, before being renamed Xfm in 1992. The station b ...

. Around this time McSweeney also accompanied his friend

Stoney Stoney may refer to: Places * Stoney, Kansas, an unincorporated community in the United States * Stoney Creek (disambiguation) * Stoney Pond, a man-made lake located by Bucks Corners, New York * Stoney (lunar crater) * Stoney (Martian crater) ...

on record, on tour and in session for BBC Radio 2’s

Dermot O'Leary Seán Dermot O'Leary (born 24 May 1973) is a British-Irish broadcaster. He presented the television talent show ''The X Factor'' on ITV from 2007 until its final series in 2018, with the exception of 2015. Since 2021, O'Leary has presented ITV' ...

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 Long ...

. Following support sets at

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1692 to 1693. Miller wrote ...

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, England. 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 G ...

, 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 ...

, Matt Boulter, Vera Van Heeringen, Jock Tyldesley, Andy Seward and others. 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 sty ...

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 Holler may refer to: Places * Holler, Germany, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate * Holler, Luxembourg, a village in Weiswampach People * Höller, a German surname * Holler (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media * Field holler, a song f ...

, with

Fay Hield Fay Hield (born 4 February 1978) is a traditional English folk singer and a Professor of Music at the University of Sheffield. Career '' Looking Glass'', released September 2010, was Hield's debut solo album. The material consists mainly of tr ...

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 Hudson Records is a British independent record label specialising in folk and acoustic music. Created in 2016 by producer and engineer Andy Bell with Neil McSweeney, it has released records by Karine Polwart, Jon Boden, Sam Sweeney, The Furrow C ...

with his friend, record producer Andy Bell. In September that year, he also joined the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

's Department of Music, where he teaches Music Management, Popular Music Studies, and songwriting. 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