Introducing… Callaghan

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Callaghan

Callaghan: the prodigal songwriter returns…

This British singer-songwriter is already well known in the US… now it’s time to look at conquering her native land

Name: Callaghan

Age: 32

Location: From Lincolnshire, but based in Nashville

Style: Adult pop with country leanings

Look out for: The single Best Year, which is out now, and her forthcoming sophomore album A History Of Now, which is out in April


For an artist to feature in one of our Introducing… pieces when they’re already on their second album is quite unusual, but then so is Callaghan’s story so far. A History Of Now will be her first album release in her native UK, but its predecessor, 2012’s Life In Full Colour, has already seen five-figure sales in the US.

The key to this somewhat back-to-front career progression is successful Americana artist Shawn Mullins (best known in the UK for his 1998 hit Lullaby). “I’d been in London for seven or eight years, working with different producers, but I hadn’t found the right sound,” says Callaghan. “And then I was on MySpace one day and I thought, I’m such a fan of Shaun’s work, I’m just going to send him some of my music and see what he thinks.”

What Mr Mullins thought, it transpired, was that Callaghan should fly out to Atlanta and record with him, which she did in 2010. She’s been living and working in the US ever since, relocating to Nashville two years ago. She’d rather avoid being put in a box marked ‘country’, though. “I grew up listening to some country artists, as well as a lot of Irish folk music,” she says, “but my sound leans more to adult pop. I’m not singing about growing up on a farm or driving a Chevy and going out drinking with my boys on a Friday night, and also production-wise it’s definitely got a more modern, pop approach.”

Love Songwriting

Classically trained on the flute from the age of five, and writing her own material on the piano since the age of 14 – her first composition In Your Arms Again won her a slot on a TV talent show hosted by Ronan Keating – Callaghan is no newcomer to the world of music. But somehow we still get the feeling she’s just getting started…


You can watch the video to Best Year below, and you can catch Callaghan playing at The Islington, London on 4 March, and all across the UK in April. For full tour dates and more information, visit her website or find her on Facebook and Twitter.




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