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All Music Guide:
Born in Sydney, Australia, into a family of singers, Anne McCue's fate was sealed from the word "go." Despite everything from the Beatles to Nat King Cole filling the air of her childhood, McCue attended the University of Technology in Sydney, earning a degree in film production and studies. With diploma in hand, she began freelancing as a theater and film reviewer for local newspapers. A move to Melbourne launched her musical career as she joined the hard rock band Girl Monstar. They topped Australia's indie charts and were nominated for two ARIAs (the Grammy equivalent). Four years later, McCue departed the band to focus on her own work. To up the ante, she accepted an offer to play in Vietnam for three months. Those months became 12 with performances almost every night. Once home in Melbourne, McCue finished recording her first solo project, a six-song disc titled Laughing. Australian alternative radio embraced the work, helping the single "Always" receive widespread airplay and a slot in the independent film This Space Between Us. McCue decided to join another band in 1997, Eden a.k.a., only to find herself touring the U.S. and Canada as part of Lilith Fair for two years in a row before signing a deal with Columbia Records.
The turn of the century saw McCue's exit from Eden a.k.a. and the relaunching of her solo career. She was quickly snapped up by Relentless Records and dove into the making of Amazing Ordinary Things. With material drawn from Laughing alongside newer compositions, McCue guided her artistic vision into reality with a little help from Larry Klein where necessary. The disc was released in Canada and the U.S. in early 2001. In addition to performing all over the world, standing next to the likes of Emmylou Harris, Joan Armatrading, and more, the tune "More Than This" was featured on Dawson's Creek garnering some great exposure for McCue. She followed up Things with the 2004 release of Roll, and her third solo effort, Koala Motel, appeared two years later.
Wikipedia:
Anne McCue is an alternative country singer-songwriter, guitarist & producer from Australia.
Early life and education
McCue grew up in Campbelltown, an area southwest of Sydney, Australia and graduated from the University of Technology, Sydney with a degree in Film Production and Film Studies. She is a Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist, Multi-Instrumentalist, Producer, Engineer and Video Director.
Music career
McCue's first band was based in Sydney and was called Vertigo after the Alfred Hitchcock film.
In 1988, McCue moved to Melbourne, Australia and took guitar lessons from Bruce Clarke. Answering an ad in the local press, she joined all-female rock band Girl Monstar as lead guitarist (1988–1993). The band had two Number One hits on the Australian Independent Charts and eventually received an ARIA nomination for best independent act.
Following her stint with Girl Monstar, she played acoustically around Melbourne, later performing in Vietnam for a year before returning to Melbourne to record her Laughing EP (1996). She then joined Australian female trio Eden AKA, who signed to Columbia Records in the USA. They released a self-titled album and performed in Canada and the USA at the Lilith Fair in 1998 and 1999.
After signing with L.A. based manager, Mike Gormley, McCue's first solo album, Amazing Ordinary Things, was released in 1999 in Canada and Japan, and she toured with a number of well-known musicians, including a U.S. tour with Lucinda Williams, who would often introduce McCue as "my new favorite artist... and an amazing guitarist". Williams later included McCue on her Starbucks' 'Artist's Choice' compilation alongside Paul Westerberg, John Coltraine, Ryan Adams, patti Griffin and Leonard Cohen.
McCue's success on the Lucinda Williams tour prompted the release of a live album, Live: Ballad of an Outlaw Woman, recorded at The Fillmore in San Francisco, California, and her first Messenger Records release, Roll.
Roll also received numerous critical accollades, with Los Angeles Weekly stating that the Australian performer had more "all-American authenticity than a dozen Martina McBrides" and Entertainment Weekly drawing comparisons to Lucinda Williams and Canadian alt-country singer Kathleen Edwards. Bob Harris from the BBC went as far as to call it his album of the year, and she toured internationally to promote the album.
McCue released her album Koala Motel on Messenger Records in 2006. She completed an international tour to promote the album. She relocated from Los Angeles to Nashville. In August 2007, McCue was invited by Deborah Conway to take part in the Broad Festival project, which toured major Australian cities including performing at the Sydney Opera House. With McCue and Conway were Sally Seltmann, Jade Macrae and Abbe May – they performed their own and each other's songs.
Her song "Stupid" (ROLL) is included in the Time Life Collection, "4 Decades Of Folk Rock." She was voted Folk Artist Of 2008 by the Roots Music Association. McCue recorded and produced her next album herself at her Flying Machine Studio. It was East of Electric, released August 2008. The first single from her next album, Broken Promise Land, 'Don't Go To Texas' was made available on iTunes and released in November, 2009. The new album 'Broken Promise Land' was released on May 18, 2010.
McCue produced and recorded two albums for other artists in 2009 - Tracey Bunn's "By The Wayside" and Denise DeSimone's "Pray Peace".
She also directed the videos for Amelia White's "Even Angels" and Tracey Bunn's "Shut Up And Let Me Breathe".
McCue was a finalist in the 8th Annual Independent Music Awards for Folk/Singer-Songwriter Album.
The DVD "Live In Nashville" was released on Flying Machine in 2011. In 2011 McCue released two cover version singles, Leonard Cohen's 'Bird On A Wire' and The Divinyls' 'Pleasure And Pain'. She formed the band 'Yeah No Yeah' with Simon Kerr and they released their first single and video, 'Happy Alone'.