Anthony McCann

I live in Artigarvan, Co. Tyrone. I’ve promised myself to pick up the guitar a little more often this year - sometimes it’s hard to remember that I love writing songs when the pressures of work and life push the songs aside. I’ve recently returned to writing unaccompanied styles of song, as they offer very different challenges and perhaps reward wordplay more. Also, they can be sung anywhere, anytime, which is a bonus. Bio-wise, I’ve been writing songs since I was about 19. Local songwriters Colm Sands, Kieran Goss, and Tommy Sands lived nearby, so I looked to them for the possibility of writing songs as something I could do too. Early aspirations to become a fulltime songwriter (in my early 20s) got sidelined for an academic career. Just this year (2008) I have started performing again, and only last week (4 April) I made my home debut in Warrenpoint (where I grew up), singing a couple of songs at a concert organised by St. Peter’s Brass Band (I’ve played with the band since I was 13, and still do). I’m hoping this year will see me out and about more, and I might even get around to finding a few musicians to record with. We’ll see :)