She shoots, she scores
Cork singer-songwriter NICOLE MAGUIRE is rapidly making a name for herself with her full-on pop-rock songs, swoonful voice and dogged determination. On the release of her debut album Fight The Score she talks to Jackie Hayden.
Jackie Hayden, 18 Mar 2009
Apart from having a terrific voice and writing immensely satisfying songs, Nicole Maguire has one other important character trait: persistence. How else might a girl from Cork prompt Sam Feldman, the American-based music biz mogul with management links to Bon Jovi, Avril Lavigne and Norah Jones, to pay attention to her music – even send her a personal e-mail? Maguire takes up the story: “I just kept annoying him. I sent him an e-mail nearly every day until his PA, Kathy, called and told me that he was going to listen to my tracks and mail me personally with his thoughts. He said I had a voice that was ‘simply beautiful’. He loved my songs. I then rang him and asked if he’d be interested in managing me. He laughed and told me he had enough on his plate! But that’s me – leaping in at the deep end!”
She also managed to wangle herself on to a Nanci Griffith tour.
“I heard through my manager that Nanci wanted an Irish female to go on the road with her,” Nicole explains. “I have a full-time job, so I legged it into work, and begged my bosses for time off. They were great – especially considering they hadn’t seen me live at that point. They couldn’t have been more co-operative, and it was great to get onto a guaranteed sold-out tour.”
Given that the lead single, ‘I’m Gonna Be’, from her debut album Fight The Score is full-on pop with echoes of Garbage, some might have wondered whether Maguire was quite the right fit for Griffith. She nods her head.
“Nanci’s not really the same market – but when it suits me I can sing and play my guitar and concentrate on the gentler songs from the album, like ‘Free’, ‘Time’ and ‘I Remember’”
While on tour with Griffith, she got to visit the spiritual home of country music: “When Nanci’s guitarist and percussionist aren’t touring, they produce records in Nashville.”
Not that the Tennessee city is all stetson hats and Shania Twain soundalikes.
“We think Nashville is only about country music, but it also has the biggest network of songwriters in the States, and the two lads invited me to work with their songwriters. Now, Nanci wants me to hook up with two of her people, Irene Kelley and Elizabeth Cook.”
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