Uncommon Ground ^ Erin McKeown

Erin McKeown
From elegant pop to balls-out rock, sweet electronics to witty swing..

Erin McKeown has packed a ton of music into her young career. With four studio albums, two EPs, and numerous soundtracks and compilations to her credit, the 28-year-old songwriter and multi-instrumentalist hasn't stopped for a breather in the last 10 years. Along the way she has averaged 200 shows a year and garnered the praise of fans and critics alike. McKeown's newest release is Live on KCRW, a 6-song EP featuring her TRiO performing songs from her most recent studio album, We Will Become Like Birds (Nettwerk, 2005).

McKeown is poised to release her fifth studio album, Sing You Sinners, on Nettwerk in early 2007. The new album will feature a collection of songs from the forgotten corners of Tin Pan Alley and Broadway, with Erin backed by a dynamic trio of jazz-and-verve inspired musicians.

"Airborne metaphors carry the songwriter Erin McKeown all the way through her fourth album, We Will Become Like Birds (Nettwerk). Her clear mezzo-soprano sounds perpetually optimistic, and so do the syncopated electric guitar parts she picks and plucks through the
sparsely arranged but fully realized songs." – John Pareles, New York Times

"Her operative mood is effortless grace." – LA Weekly

"Her playing is so muscular, her arrangements so well conceived that she succeeds brilliantly. As with all truly great guitarists, the wonder is less in her chops than her choices." – Boston Globe

"In several distinctive ways – voice, dynamic subtlety, and sheer songwriting ability – Erin McKeown is in a class of her own." – Sunday Times (UK)