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James Blunt |
Seemingly appearing from nowhere,
James Blunt has risen from obscurity to a Brits win
with almost indecent haste yet there is more to Blunt’s background than meets
the eye.
Despite first learning to pay the guitar at the age of 14, Blunt would succumb
to almost 1000 years of family tradition by joining the armed forces. Upon
graduating from Bristol University, Blunt served with the elite Household
Cavalry before eventually being posted in Kosovo as part of the U.N.’s
peacekeeping force.
Upon returning to the UK, Blunt served in the Life Guard by day and performed
gigs by night and it was during this period that he wrote the bulk of the
Back to Beldam album. After the leaving the army,
Blunt was signed by
Elton John’s management company before being snapped
up by writer/producer
Linda Perry after a successful appearance at the SXSW
festival
Upon its release in October 2004,
Back To Bedlam garnered rave reviews and the album
subsequently went on to become the biggest selling album of 2005.
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James Blunt now or subscribe to
Wippit.
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Loreena McKennitt
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Canada's
Loreena McKennitt is very much an artist of her
environment. Raised by a nurse and a livestock trader, the young McKennitt was
already proficient at classical piano by the time she was drawn to traditional
music in the folk clubs of Winnipeg.
Whilst honing her skills as a songwriter in Stratford, Ontario, she stumbled
across the book "How To Make And Sell Your Own Recording"’ and proceeded to
form her own label, Quinlan Road. After self-releasing her first two albums,
"Elemental" and "To
Drive The Cold Winter Away", in 1987, McKennitt secured
the services of a number of independent record distributors who contributed to
the breakthrough of her third album,
"Parallel Dreams"’ in 1989 which sold in excess of
40,000 copies.
Attracting the attentions of Warners Canada, her next album,
"The Visit", shifted over 600,000 copies, a feat
matched by its 1994 follow-up,
"The Mask and Mirror".
1998 saw McKennitt face both triumph and tragedy. Scoring a U.S. hit with
"The Mummers’ Dance", the parent album
"The Book of Secrets"’ sold over 4
million copies though sadly this success was overshadowed by the tragic death
of her fiancé Ronald Rees.
After an extended period of mourning, McKennitt returned to public view when
she headlined a jubilee concert of Queen Elizabeth in 2002 and at time of
writing, McKennitt is working on her seventh studio album.
Download
Loreena McKennitt now or
subscribe to Wippit. . :
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