| Damien Rice |
Folk
Irish singer/songwriter Damien Rice spent his childhood fishing and daydreaming in the countryside of Celbridge, County Kildare. Painting and writing songs inspired him as a young man, motivating Rice to put a band together. The heavy, indie-rock sounds of Juniper were signed to Polygram in 1997 and "The World Is Dead" and "Weathermen" did moderately well on Irish radio. When it came time to recording a full-length album, contractual rules from the label prevented Juniper from doing so, so Rice split. He headed for the hills of Tuscany in 1999 and lived his life as a wanderer around Europe. Rice returned to Dublin within a year to focus on music once again, scrounging up enough money to record a demo. Rice sent it to producer/film composer David Arnold (Bjork, Nina Persson, Paul Oakenfold), and lucky for him, Arnold loved it. Arnold set Rice up in his very own mobile studio to make a record. His first single, "The Blower's Daughter'," was an instant top 20 hit when it appeared in fall 2001. Shared gigs with McAlmont & Butler and folkie Kathryn Williams followed in summer 2002 when Rice released O in the UK. MacKenzie Wilson
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