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Anne
McCue's career has covered punk, Lilith Fair, Australian awards
and Vietnam. She has released her fourth solo album, Koala
Motel to critical acclaim and has recently co-produced
two albums by other artists - Stephen Rowe and Leila Florentino.
She has appeared as guest guitarist/vocalist on albums by
Michelle Shocked and Gina Villalobos. Her two most recent
albums, including Roll (Messenger Records)
was recorded at Dusty Wakeman's Mad Dog Studios in Burbank,
California. McCue and Wakeman co-produced the album. Going
in with the philosophy of some of Anne's favourite three piece
bands she played the guitars, Dusty played bass with Dave
Raven on the drums. The three jammed on the material, some
of which McCue was still writing at the time. Guests on the
album are Carl Byron (keyboards and accordion), Eric Gardner
(drums on "Machine Gun" and "Tiny Little Song"and
Mike Stinson (drums on "I Want You Back"). The album
has received critical acclaim from such publications as Billboard,
Entertainment Weekly and XM Satellite Radio (Top 5 Album of
the Year) and was picked by Bob Harris of the BBC as his favourite
album of 2004.
After
Anne graduated from Sydney's University of Technology with a degree
in Film Production and Film Studies she moved to Melbourne with
little more than a $60 guitar she "borrowed" from her
brother, a large blue suitcase, and a plan to write a novel. Finding
the writer's life a little isolating, she answered an ad in the
paper which read "Wanted: Wild Women For Rock'n'Roll Band"
and joined a pop rock band as lead guitarist, touring
the country and topping the independent charts for weeks at a time.
On the side, she studied music theory and began honing her own song
writing style. After four years and an ARIA nomination (the Australian
Grammys) for the band, Anne pursued her solo career which took her, rather surprisingly
to Vietnam.
Offered
the chance to play music in Ho Chi Minh City Anne found it, "an
unbelievable experience and it really changed my life. It also gave
me the chance to hone my lead guitar playing." Anne rode a
1965 Vesper and toted her guitar around on the bike 'just like the
locals'. After playing in all kinds of bands almost every night
it was time to return to Melbourne where she frequented the blues
jams.
She
continued recording her original songs but took the opportunity
to become a member of a group which was soon signed
to the biggest record label in the world giving Anne the opportunity to tour
the U.S. and Canada as part of the "Lilith Fair." This
experience brought her on stage with many of the greats such as
The Pretenders, Emmylou Harris and Sarah McLachlan and took her
to Los Angeles. The band proved to be creatively frustrating for Anne, so she left
the group to pursue her interrupted solo career.
Eventually she completed her debut album "Amazing
Ordinary Things". Anne co-produced all the tracks except
"Angel Inside" which was produced by Larry Klein (Joni
Mitchell). The CD is named after a painting by Jules C. McCue,
Anne's sister, whose artwork is found throughout the packaging
and Anne has co-written several songs with her brother Mark. He's
the one she "borrowed" the guitar from.
McCue
also released a live recording from her tour in 2002 with Lucinda
Williams entitled "Ballad Of An Outlaw Woman"
and is currently editing the DVD which chronicles her time on
that tour. |