ROSCREA, CO. TIPPERARY

DATES

OVERVIEW Born in Roscrea, Coughlan moved to Cork when he was eleven years old. Music was an integral part of family life and Eoins brother Ciaran is an acclaimed pianist with traditional outfit North Cregg. Eoin began playing guitar at thirteen, paying for his guitar strings by copping off from school, throwing a jumper over the uniform and playing in the UCC campus bar. With a keen passion for English and writing, inspired and encouraged by his English teacher at Colaiste Spioraid Naoimh, Eoin began writing poetry and prose. He adapted his writing to music and began putting together original compositions from age fourteen. Having produced the likes of Philip King, John Spillane, Kieran Kennedy and Louis De Paor, the Cork school was a hotbed of creativity and lunchtime gigs were the norm, allowing young bands and singer songwriters the opportunity to test their wares on a highly critical audience of peers. In his final year at secondary school, Coughlan was awarded a scholarship to UCC. Instead of doing the sensible thing – rock stars don’t go to college – Coughlan defected to Ireland’s most southerly island, Cape Clear, for a life of contemplation and all night sessions with the local Gaeltacht population and the lairy foreign characters escaping mainland life. He lasted a year before deciding that he needed some bright lights and took up a place on a journalism course in Dublin. This lead to the offer of a job with Gaelinn, where he worked as project manager and PRO on events such as Slogadh. As is the lot of every self respecting singer songwriter, Coughlan had also taken to busking and hanging out in the bastion of singer songwriters, The International. Here he shared stories, pints and tunes with his new found cohorts, Paddy Casey, Damien Dempsey, Mundy etc.. Paddy moved in with Eoin and his mate Conor O’Tuama, with Gemma Hayes throwing her duvet into the mix shortly afterwards. Eoin contributed one full wage to the household, which arrived in his hand on Thursday evenings and was all but spent by closing time Friday night. Though relations throughout the household were strictly platonic, Eoin suffer from chronic sleepwalking and housemates would invariably wake up with Eoin climbing into bed beside them in the middle of the night (that was Eoin’s excuse anyway…). With the live music scene going through a huge resurgence and things beginning to happen on the recording front for many of his friends, Coughlan left Gael Linn to focus on his music and songwriting. Living off the earnings of gigs and busking wasn’t all it was cracked up to be and when he was offered a job as stage manager with Aisling Gael Theatre Company in Belfast, Eoin decided that the change of scene would be good and headed northwards and was involved in many cross border initiatives including an award winning Irish language production of Accidental Death of an Anarchist. In the summer of 1996, just 21 years old, Eoin received a call from Cork promoter Pat Conway, who was managing the hugely successful Cork trad band Nomos. The band - Niall Vallely, Frank Torpey, Gerry McKee, Vince Milne – had just booked in a US tour but lead singer John Spillane had decided to pursue a solo career. Eoin was invited to join as lead vocalist and songwriter and just three months later found himself on his second ever flight, heading across the Atlantic. On arrival at LAX there was a throng of fans and parked up limos in waiting. Coughlan couldn’t believe it! He hadn’t even sung a note with the band yet and stardom had already arrived. It was only when Dame Judi Dench passed him on the tarmac that he realised he’d have to put in a few more years on the road before the red carpet would be rolled out for him… This six-week tour of the US was an incredible learning experience for the young Corkman. When your first US show is performing outdoors underneath the stars to thousands of people at the Redway Festival in the Redwood Forest, it doesn’t really get much better. Nomos were considered world musicians on the US tour circuit and gave performances at a myriad of festivals across the country, playing alongside the likes of Emmylou Harris, Billy Bragg, Nancy Griffiths, Baaba Mall… On the evening before they were due to head home from the first tour, Coughlan and Belfast man Gerry McKee spent the evening in a dodgy bar on Rhode Island consuming multiple orders of Long Island Iced Teas (‘they tasted like lemonade, how were we to know?’) On the stagger back to the hotel, nature called and vaulting over a wall into what looked like a derelict lot, seemed a really good idea at the time. Moments later, in a scene reminiscent of a Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster, five squad cars, sirens wailing, lights flashing came screaming around the corner. The boys had relieved themselves in the parking lot of the local precinct and had been caught on camera inside the building. With talk of an IRA ‘act of defiance’, their passports were removed, the Irish and British embassies called, and after much plamasing and cajoling a near diplomatic incident was averted! Many far flung tours followed including another three stints in the US, shows in Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, Azerbaijan, Brazil and all across Europe. At the Edmonton Festival in Canada, Coughlan met one of his life long heroes Arlo Guthrie. Coughlan and the band were performing after Guthrie and were running late. As they reached backstage, Guthrie was coming off and Eoin literally ran into the folk legend. Gripping Coughlan's arm, Arlo said ‘Hey caught you last night, this audience is gonna love you’. In 2000 Nomos split to pursue new challenges. Coughlan decided it was time to write his own album, wanting to re-establish himself as a contemporary musician. However recording an album takes money and so alongside working on building sites, Eoin began giving workshops in drumming and songwriting, teaching traditional music in schools and working on music based projects in disadvantaged areas. As a fluent Irish speaker, the opportunities were good in the area of education. He even presented a programme on salmon farming on TG4! One of his most rewarding experiences was producing an album with residents at the Coolmine Therapeutic Centre. In 2003, Coughlan became musician in residence for Limerick County and began tutoring in traditional Irish music and composition at UL. It was in Limerick that he met with Mick Dolan, legendary owner of Dolans Warehouse and a promoter who is widely respected for his support of emerging Irish bands and musicians. Mick, and his booker Sean Harrold, were fans of Eoins music and helped him with support slots wherever they could. The relationship blossomed and when Coughlan decided to record his debut album, Mick came on board to manage, founding Dock Road Records in order to release the album. Produced by Dave Odlum, (ex Frames guitarist, producer for Josh Ritter, Gemma Hayes, The Frames etc..) Blood In Vein was recorded in Black Box Studios in France over a series of sessions throughout 2005 and 2006. During this time, Eoin also completed a Masters in Traditional Irish Music Performance at the University of Limerick. Having toured with Paddy Casey, Mundy, Gemma Hayes, Damien Dempsey, Juliet Turner and supported Gomez, Bryan Ferry and Ocean Colour Scene, Coughlan hits the Irish tour trail with his first full headline solo tour in March: 2007 - Release of 'Cutting Down Laws' single [16 February] - Release of 'Blood In Vein' album [02 March] - Release of 'Blue' single [08 June]