Gemma Hayes

Gemma Hayes

Gemma Hayes is a singer-songwriter born on August 11 1977 in Ballyporeen, Tipperary, Ireland.

Early life

One of eight children, Hayes was surrounded by music from an early age whether it was coming from stereos in her siblings' bedrooms or being played by her father, a keyboardist in a local band. By the time she left for boarding school in County Limerick, Hayes was already proficient at piano and found that the music she'd used to counter the boredom of living in a small town now offered her escape from the strict regime of her new home. Although she enrolled at University in Dublin, Hayes soon left to concentrate on music, working part-time in a laundrette during the day and playing the city's circuit at night.

Music career

Hayes signed to Source Records in 2001 and issued the folksy 4.35am EP and the more band-oriented Work to a Calm EP before releasing her debut album, Night on my Side, in 2002. The album was nominated for that year's Mercury Music Prize but lost out to Ms. Dynamite's A Little Deeper.

After touring Night on my Side Hayes took two years out from the music business; "All I do know is that I didn't want to listen to music at all. I stopped listening to the radio. It was like I'd overdosed on music" [1].

In late 2005 Hayes returned with her second album, The Roads Don't Love You, and picked up the Best Irish Female Artist award at the 2006 Meteor Ireland Music Awards shortly before completing a small tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Hayes co-wrote the song "Hazy" with Adam Duritz for the Counting Crows' live album, New Amsterdam [2]. Duritz then likely references her in the song "Washington Square," from the March 2008 Counting Crows release, Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings - in the context of talking about his travelings (specifically, "wander[ing] the highways, from Dublin to Berkley"), the song's speaker says that he's "heard the songbirds of Ballyporeen."

On of August 14 2006 Gemma announced via her MySpace profile that she had begun work on her third album in Black Box Studios in France to be produced by her former guitarist David Odlum.

Gemma Hayes is currently on the Ceol 2007 album released March 2nd 2007 in the Republic of Ireland singing "Rith Mé Go Crích" an Irish language version of "Ran For Miles" which originally appeared on Night On My Side. Other Irish artists who appear include Bell X1 and Paddy Casey.

She was also featured in a duet with Norwegian singer Magnet on a Bob Dylan cover, "Lay Lady Lay" in the 2005 feature film Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

Her song 'Two Step' was featured in a season 2 episode of the hit tv show Grey's Anatomy.

Gemma Hayes' third album Hollow of Morning is released in May 2nd, 2008.

Discography

Albums/EPs

• 4.35am EP (2001)
• Work to a Calm EP (2001)
• Night on My Side (2002) #52 UK
• The Roads Don't Love You (2005)
• The Hollow of Morning (2008)

Singles

• "Hanging Around" (2002) #62 UK
• "Let a Good Thing Go" (2002) #54 UK
• "Back of My Hand" (2002)
• "Happy Sad" (2005)
• "Undercover" (2006) #60 UK

Tour 2008

Republic of Ireland

• April 23 Cork - Cyprus Avenue
• April 24 Limerick - Dolans Warehouse
• April 25 Castlebar - Royal Theatre (Ruby Room)
• April 27 Galway - Roisin Dubh
• April 29 Dublin - Academy

Northern Ireland

• April 28 Belfast - Spring & Airbrake

Great Britain

• May 01 Lonon - Hoxton Bar & Grill
• May 02 Manchester - Academy
• May 03 Glasgow - Oran Mor
• May 04 Nottingham - Bodega

See also

• The Cake Sale

External links

• Official site
• Fan Site
• Gemma Hayes at Irish Music Central
• Gemma Hayes at Internet Movie Database
• Concert photos by Laurent Orseau