Fionn Regan
Encyclopedia
Fionn Regan is an Irish
singer-songwriter
and artist from Bray
, County Wicklow, who came to prominence in 2006 with the release of his Mercury
-nominated debut album, The End of History
. In 2010, Regan released his second album, The Shadow of an Empire.
Regan cites Bob Dylan
and Neil Young
as influences.
" a 7", and two EPs
titled Hotel Room
, Reservoir
, which were released on a small indie
label, Anvil Records http://www.anvilrecordingco.com/. He also self-released a 'tour only' EP called Campaign Button
. Following these releases, in 2006, Regan signed to former Cocteau Twin
Simon Raymonde's
independent record label, Bella Union
, in the UK, resulting in Regan's debut album The End of History
being released on 7 August 2006 to major critical acclaim. A leader of the new 'brit' folk movement, The Guardian saying "Folk has a new Pied Piper"
Following his UK success, Regan was subsequently signed by the American label Lost Highway Records. The End of History was released in the U.S. on July 10, 2007.
The End of History was produced by Regan himself (mixing the album with Simon Raymonde). Mojo
magazine gave the album four stars in a review that dubbed the disc "a debut that oozes rare confidence, startling maturity and originality". The album received a slew of 4 and 5 star reviews from publications including The Times
and The Guardian
Regan has toured worldwide and played many festivals around the world including the Glastonbury Festival
, XPoNential Music Festival in Camden
, New Jersey, Electric Picnic
(Ireland), Summercase
and Benicassim (Spain), Bestival
(Isle of Wight
) ACL
(Austin
, Texas) Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (San Francisco). and Laneways Festival Australia
Fionn was invited to perform with Lucinda Williams on her 2007 tour. Williams saying at the Irving Plaza NY concert that Fionn is “his generation’s answer to Bob Dylan”
Fionn was photographed by Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair magazines prestigious music portfolio
Regan was nominated for two Meteor Music Awards
(Best Male and Best Newcomer) in 2006 and The End of History was nominated for Irish Album of the Year at the Choice Music Prize
. and was one of the twelve shortlisted albums for the 2007 Mercury Music Prize Album of the year.
Fionn Regan was nominated for the 2008 Shortlist Prize, the U.S. equivalent of the Mercury Prize
In July 2008 Regan had the honour of being invited to perform as part of a live concert film "Liam Clancy: Live The Bitter End NYC" A very special Liam Clancy concert, where Fionn shared the stage with Liam Clancy, Tom Paxton, Shane McGowan and the incredible Odetta (this was the last filmed performance of the late Odetta)
The single "Be Good or Be Gone" has been used in the television dramas Grey's Anatomy
, Nearly Famous
, and Skins
. His song "Put A Penny In The Slot" has been offered as an iTunes
Free Download of the Week.
In 2008 Regan recorded a follow-up album to The End of History with producer Ethan Johns (son of the legendary 60's producer Glyn Johns) for the Lost Highway label, who refused to release it. The album remains unreleased and Regan has referred to this album as "The Red Tapes"
The following year (2009) Regan retreated to Co. Wicklow Ireland to record what would become The Shadow of an Empire without any record label involement or intrusion. Jeff Barrett of Heavenly Records
was one of the first to hear the completed album and quickly signed him up
Regan released his second studio album, The Shadow of an Empire, to critical acclaim on February 8, 2010 Achieving Mojo**** Uncut**** Q**** Sun***** Hotpress**** Financial Times**** The Telegraph**** The Guardian **** The Independent**** Mail on Sunday****
The welsh actor Rhys Ifans has a tattoo of Regans' lyrics "Be good or be gone"
Ellie Goulding and Andrea Corr have been quoted in the press saying they are fans of Regans music
In 2009 Regan was invited to speak and made an honorary member of the Trinity College Literary Society the chairman saying “In his music, Mr. Regan has done more than many artists to erode the boundaries between music and literature, with his lyrics always possessing the most beautiful poetry"
In 2010 Regan gave a special performance in Dylan Thomas’ boathouse in Laugharne, Wales
Regans song “Put a Penny in the Slot” was selected to be included on a special compilation album created by IASCA and FMC in partnership with Culture Ireland to present the gift of music from Ireland to dignitaries HRH The Queen and President Obama and their international press corps travelling with them during their individual visits to Ireland in 2011.
The album "100 Acres of Sycamore" was released worldwide in August 2011.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and artist from Bray
Bray
Bray is a town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is a busy urban centre and seaside resort, with a population of 31,901 making it the fourth largest in Ireland as of the 2006 census...
, County Wicklow, who came to prominence in 2006 with the release of his Mercury
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize and currently known as the Barclaycard Mercury Prize for sponsorship reasons, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established by the British Phonographic Industry and British...
-nominated debut album, The End of History
The End of History (album)
The End of History is the debut album from Irish singer-songwriter Fionn Regan, released in 2006. The album was nominated for the 2007 Mercury Prize, and was also named Best Irish Album of 2006 by the Irish Independent.- Track listing :...
. In 2010, Regan released his second album, The Shadow of an Empire.
Regan cites Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
as influences.
Overview
Regan's early releases included the single, "Little Miss DrunkLittle Miss Drunk
Little Miss Drunk is the 2002 debut single by Irish singer/songwriter Fionn Regan.It was released as a limited edition by Anvil Records on July 22, 2002 in two formats: CD and 7" vinyl....
" a 7", and two EPs
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
titled Hotel Room
Hotel Room EP
Hotel Room is a 5-track CD EP of songs by the Irish singer/songwriter Fionn Regan. The secret track at the end of "Old Folks" is called "Jebedi Was A Soldier From Outer Space" which was written and performed by Fionn Regan and was recorded by Fionn's father, Michael O'Toole, on Peggy's tape...
, Reservoir
Reservoir EP
Reservoir is a four song CD EP by Irish singer/songwriter Fionn Regan. It was released 20 January 2003 on Anvil Records.- Track listing :# "Reservoir" – 4:44# "Red Lane" – 3:50# "Noah " – 3:12# "After the Fall" – 3:40...
, which were released on a small indie
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
label, Anvil Records http://www.anvilrecordingco.com/. He also self-released a 'tour only' EP called Campaign Button
Campaign Button
Campaign Button is a 4-track CD EP of songs by the Irish singer/songwriter Fionn Regan.- Track listing :#"Campaign Button" – 3:09#"Medicine Chest" – 3:26#"The Ballad of the Toad Eaters" – 3:05#"Ice Cap Lullaby" – 1:24...
. Following these releases, in 2006, Regan signed to former Cocteau Twin
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...
Simon Raymonde's
Simon Raymonde
Simon Philip Raymonde is an English musician and record producer. He is the son of the late arranger and composer, Ivor Raymonde.-Career:...
independent record label, Bella Union
Bella Union
Bella Union is an independent record label that was started up by Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie in 1997.After releasing records with 4AD for a large part of their career, Cocteau Twins decided to take a step towards independence and started up the Bella Union record label, through which they...
, in the UK, resulting in Regan's debut album The End of History
The End of History (album)
The End of History is the debut album from Irish singer-songwriter Fionn Regan, released in 2006. The album was nominated for the 2007 Mercury Prize, and was also named Best Irish Album of 2006 by the Irish Independent.- Track listing :...
being released on 7 August 2006 to major critical acclaim. A leader of the new 'brit' folk movement, The Guardian saying "Folk has a new Pied Piper"
Following his UK success, Regan was subsequently signed by the American label Lost Highway Records. The End of History was released in the U.S. on July 10, 2007.
The End of History was produced by Regan himself (mixing the album with Simon Raymonde). Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
magazine gave the album four stars in a review that dubbed the disc "a debut that oozes rare confidence, startling maturity and originality". The album received a slew of 4 and 5 star reviews from publications including The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
and The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
Regan has toured worldwide and played many festivals around the world including the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
, XPoNential Music Festival in Camden
Camden, New Jersey
The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...
, New Jersey, Electric Picnic
Electric Picnic
The 2005 festival took place on Saturday 3 September and Sunday 4 September. It is best remembered for Arcade Fire's performance which came before their subsequent mainstream success...
(Ireland), Summercase
Summercase
Summercase was a two-day music festival held simultaneously in Barcelona and Madrid. The schedules were the same but reverted. The line up mainly consists of indie rock, electronic music and indie pop. Hence, the festival tries to blend indie pop, rock music and dance music into one...
and Benicassim (Spain), Bestival
Bestival
Bestival is a four-day music festival held at the Robin Hill country park on the Isle of Wight, England. It has been held annually in late summer since 2004. The event is organized by DJ and record producer Rob da Bank and is an off-shoot of his Sunday Best record label and club nights. The initial...
(Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
) ACL
Austin City Limits Music Festival
The Austin City Limits Music Festival is an annual three-day American music festival that takes place in Austin, Texas at the city's central public park, Zilker Park...
(Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, Texas) Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (San Francisco). and Laneways Festival Australia
Fionn was invited to perform with Lucinda Williams on her 2007 tour. Williams saying at the Irving Plaza NY concert that Fionn is “his generation’s answer to Bob Dylan”
Fionn was photographed by Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair magazines prestigious music portfolio
Regan was nominated for two Meteor Music Awards
Meteor Music Awards
The Meteor Ireland Music Awards are a group of music awards in Ireland...
(Best Male and Best Newcomer) in 2006 and The End of History was nominated for Irish Album of the Year at the Choice Music Prize
Choice Music Prize
-Establishment:It was established by journalist Jim Carroll and manager Dave Reid in 2005. as an alternative to the industry-dominated Meteor Music Awards. The Choice Music Prize is modelled after the Mercury Prize which is awarded each year to the best album from the United Kingdom or Ireland...
. and was one of the twelve shortlisted albums for the 2007 Mercury Music Prize Album of the year.
Fionn Regan was nominated for the 2008 Shortlist Prize, the U.S. equivalent of the Mercury Prize
In July 2008 Regan had the honour of being invited to perform as part of a live concert film "Liam Clancy: Live The Bitter End NYC" A very special Liam Clancy concert, where Fionn shared the stage with Liam Clancy, Tom Paxton, Shane McGowan and the incredible Odetta (this was the last filmed performance of the late Odetta)
The single "Be Good or Be Gone" has been used in the television dramas Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
, Nearly Famous
Nearly Famous
Nearly Famous is a television drama mini-series about a group of British teenagers at a top London school of the performing arts. It is shown in the UK and Ireland on E4. The show has been compared to other teen drama series such as The OC and Skins. The show debuted on E4 on 8 November 2007 and...
, and Skins
Skins (TV series)
Skins is a BAFTA award-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of college. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness , adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death...
. His song "Put A Penny In The Slot" has been offered as an iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
Free Download of the Week.
In 2008 Regan recorded a follow-up album to The End of History with producer Ethan Johns (son of the legendary 60's producer Glyn Johns) for the Lost Highway label, who refused to release it. The album remains unreleased and Regan has referred to this album as "The Red Tapes"
The following year (2009) Regan retreated to Co. Wicklow Ireland to record what would become The Shadow of an Empire without any record label involement or intrusion. Jeff Barrett of Heavenly Records
Heavenly Records
Heavenly Records, aka Heavenly Recordings, is a London-based record label, distributed by EMI. Founded by Jeff Barrett, a former press officer for Creation Records and many successful indie bands of the time including Happy Mondays, Heavenly Recordings' first releases were 7" and 12" singles for...
was one of the first to hear the completed album and quickly signed him up
Regan released his second studio album, The Shadow of an Empire, to critical acclaim on February 8, 2010 Achieving Mojo**** Uncut**** Q**** Sun***** Hotpress**** Financial Times**** The Telegraph**** The Guardian **** The Independent**** Mail on Sunday****
The welsh actor Rhys Ifans has a tattoo of Regans' lyrics "Be good or be gone"
Ellie Goulding and Andrea Corr have been quoted in the press saying they are fans of Regans music
In 2009 Regan was invited to speak and made an honorary member of the Trinity College Literary Society the chairman saying “In his music, Mr. Regan has done more than many artists to erode the boundaries between music and literature, with his lyrics always possessing the most beautiful poetry"
In 2010 Regan gave a special performance in Dylan Thomas’ boathouse in Laugharne, Wales
Regans song “Put a Penny in the Slot” was selected to be included on a special compilation album created by IASCA and FMC in partnership with Culture Ireland to present the gift of music from Ireland to dignitaries HRH The Queen and President Obama and their international press corps travelling with them during their individual visits to Ireland in 2011.
The album "100 Acres of Sycamore" was released worldwide in August 2011.
Albums
- The End of HistoryThe End of History (album)The End of History is the debut album from Irish singer-songwriter Fionn Regan, released in 2006. The album was nominated for the 2007 Mercury Prize, and was also named Best Irish Album of 2006 by the Irish Independent.- Track listing :...
(2006) - The Shadow of an Empire (2010)
- 100 Acres of Sycamore (2011)
EPs
- Slow WallSlow WallSlow Wall is a 3 track EP by Fionn Regan was released under the name Bilbo....
(EP) (6 October 2000) (under the name BilboBilboBilbo can refer to:*Bilbo Baggins, protagonist of The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien.*Bilbo, the Basque name for Bilbao, the major city in the Basque Country of northern Spain...
) - ReservoirReservoir EPReservoir is a four song CD EP by Irish singer/songwriter Fionn Regan. It was released 20 January 2003 on Anvil Records.- Track listing :# "Reservoir" – 4:44# "Red Lane" – 3:50# "Noah " – 3:12# "After the Fall" – 3:40...
(EP) (10 February 2003) - Hotel RoomHotel Room EPHotel Room is a 5-track CD EP of songs by the Irish singer/songwriter Fionn Regan. The secret track at the end of "Old Folks" is called "Jebedi Was A Soldier From Outer Space" which was written and performed by Fionn Regan and was recorded by Fionn's father, Michael O'Toole, on Peggy's tape...
(EP) (15 March 2004) - Campaign ButtonCampaign ButtonCampaign Button is a 4-track CD EP of songs by the Irish singer/songwriter Fionn Regan.- Track listing :#"Campaign Button" – 3:09#"Medicine Chest" – 3:26#"The Ballad of the Toad Eaters" – 3:05#"Ice Cap Lullaby" – 1:24...
(EP) (2005) - Home Recording Sampler
Singles
- "Little Miss DrunkLittle Miss DrunkLittle Miss Drunk is the 2002 debut single by Irish singer/songwriter Fionn Regan.It was released as a limited edition by Anvil Records on July 22, 2002 in two formats: CD and 7" vinyl....
" (22 July 2002) - "Be Good or Be GoneBe Good or Be Gone"Be Good or Be Gone" is a single released by Fionn Regan on February 5, 2006. The phrase "Be good or be gone" is also a motto for McSorley's Old Ale House in New York City....
" (5 February 2006) - "Protection Racket" (November 2009)
- "For A Nightingale" (July 2011)
Compilation appearances
- "Getting BetterGetting Better"Getting Better" is a song written mainly by Paul McCartney, with lyrical contributions from John Lennon . It was recorded by The Beatles for the 1967 album Sgt...
" (Mojo Presents Sgt. Pepper...With A Little Help From His Friends, Mojo, 2007) - "Put a Penny in the Slot" (Acoustic 07Acoustic 07Acoustic 07 is a 2-disc compilation album, released under V2 Records in the United Kingdom on March 12, 2007. The collection is the seventh of V2 Records' popular Acoustic series.-Track listing:Disc 1#"Lovestain", performed by José González...
, V2 RecordsV2 RecordsV2 Records is a record label that is owned by Universal Music Group as of October 2007. The label was founded in 1996 by Richard Branson, five years after he sold Virgin Records to EMI....
, 2007)