| Chris O'Neill |
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A Message From Gary Allen
Chris O Neill was an early standout and personal favorite in my Sonicbids International Competition. I like his songs, his playing
and he has a twisted, humorous personality that I for one can surely appreciate. It takes that attitude to be in this crazy
business and not climb a building with an automatic weapon, somedays.
The songs are engaging and interesting and I bet you would find some Rob Thomas music in his collection. I flashed back to
seeing Rob live at Red Rocks, the first time I heard Chris, and that's a good thing. Chris has a great voice and his songwriting
is most noteworthy. The melodies keep you interested and they are not predictable which is refreshing. He succesfully takes
the less traveled road where obvious transitions and musical resolutions don't exist.
Chris will have no problem being taken serious unless he wears the giant sombrero and painted on Groucho moustache I saw
in his Facebook. The new EP, Entr’acte, is from the heart, captures the essence of what Chris is all about and I would ride this
record as far as it will let you. I am excited to see where these songs take him and when he is a rock star he probably won't
know it or care much. I don't think this EP would be a tough sell to modern day radio. More artists of Chris's caliber could save
the industry from the downturn the concert and record business has experienced this summer.
Congratulations and don't ever worry about being the hippest guy in the room, be the happiest. All I ask for is a friendly
handshake and a free drink when you give up your day job, if you haven't already. I lived 30 years out of a suitcase, you're
next, and pass the beer nuts!
Gary Allen (The Charlie Daniels Band/JJ Cale/Stonewall Jackson)
****************************************************************************************
Chris O’Neill – Three Words | Runner Up | Expose Yourself Song Contest
“Galloping guitar melds into a soaring ’80′s flavored chorus followed by a classic time transcendent refrain full of angst and
pain that swells into a genre-defying delicious masterpiece. I want to hear this song in an outdoor amphitheater on the perfect
summer evening through a huge P.A. I want to hear 5,000 open hearted people sing along as guitar and vocals consume
me. Great love song that never surrenders its masculinity…”by Florence Lamb
Three Words by Chris O’Neill another favorite on all the review panelist lists.
Chris O’Neill from Australia, and is putting out really good music be sure to pick up his new CD when it drops next month.
Recorded entirely within his home in the Eastern Suburbs of Victoria and mixed via email correspondence by L.A. based
engineer Andy Ellis, the 5 track CD titled ‘Entr’acte’ is a collection of brief glimpses into Chris’s encounters with life and the
people in it. Entr’acte will be released mid June 2010, followed by a tour of the east coast. You won’t want to miss Chris watch
for it!!!
****************************************************************************************
Fresh Face: Chris O’Neill
It’s Sunday session at Pure Pop Records – a little indie record store in Melbourne’s music hub, St Kilda. In the outside beer
garden the likely types sip their beverages and chatter, easing into the evening.
Carrying everything that will accompany him on stage, 21-year-old singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Chris O’Neill
manages his way inside the store. Weaving through tight space – piano, guitars and mic stand find their way to a spare spot by
the back door. “Will that be ok there?” I ask. “I hope so!”
Having just completed his first solo tour up the east coast on the back of a successful EP launch, the young muso is humbled
by the experience. “We basically packed out the place, only just shy of capacity,” he says of the launch show. “A couple of
days later I was interstate playing to no one again. It was good to be brought down to that level, to do some ground work and
meet new people.”
Before our meet the EP titled “Entr’acte’ had appeared in my mail box. Discovered was a hidden talent whose melodic tone and
intimate story telling I pictured melting hearts, of the female variety in particular. It doesn’t take long to see a glimpse of this in
real life with a few ladies smiling as they observed.
In between songs he tells a story or two of how they came about – music for those who have asked to be sung about and
people and experiences that have simply impacted in some way or another.
Back on the couch surrounded by records and a few people browsing, he tells of his journey to here. An involvement with
music, it seems, was meant to be. “A short time before I was born my mum was at a couple of live gigs and every time there
was a different style of music playing I’d be wriggling around in there as well.”
With a father in the music scene, the youngster started writing and learning to play instruments naturally. Classically trained in
piano, O’Neill took it upon himself, to the dismay of his teachers, to interpret parts to make the music his own. Today, if you
check out his MySpace, you will see he can play piano pieces blindfolded. Downplaying he comments, “It’s a big musical wank!”
Firstly aspiring to be a physio therapist, knowing the financial struggles of a professional musician, it took a short work
experience stint to prove that wasn’t the right path to pursue. The instinct to make music found it’s own way.
“I initially had no intention of going down this road,” he explains. “I’ve studied in Film Story (as well as Music). That was going to
be my steady job. But a couple of big things have changed for me and my perspective of what I want to do. I can actually do
music as a career.”
With positive feedback from people in the industry and now a management team behind him, O’Neill continues to develop his
craft as a story teller, musician and live performer while keeping perspective…and the day job.
Back in high school he travelled internationally with the “World Tour” group and won two “Kool Schools” awards. Now at just 21,
he has stepped out as a solo act and continued to impress in international song writing competitions. Live, he has supported
legendary musicians Mark Seymour (Hunters and Collectors) and Ian Moss (Cold Chisel).
“(Playing with Ian Moss) was one of the most intimidating gigs I’ve done. Just because of who I was playing with. But I’m feeling
more comfortable with just myself (on stage). Just relying on myself and that’s it.”
With these songs on the debut EP he presents himself. So how do you describe that to potential listeners? “I hate this
question,” he says with a polite smile.
“What I sing about tends to be what I pick up from personal experience. If I’ve seen or experienced something, I can write about
it with a better emotional connection. That being said, it varies from trying to get inside someone else’s head and whatever I’m
feeling at the time. In terms of style and what the EP sounds like, I like to think it’s pretty easy going for the most part.”
With this short release being just the first ‘act’, “You read that part. Cool.”…no doubt he is setting himself for a good show in
music. “The idea of this EP is that it is the ‘TA-DA!’”
****************************************************************************************
A Message From Gary Allen
Chris O Neill was an early standout and personal favorite in my Sonicbids International Competition. I like his songs, his playing
and he has a twisted, humorous personality that I for one can surely appreciate. It takes that attitude to be in this crazy
business and not climb a building with an automatic weapon, somedays.
The songs are engaging and interesting and I bet you would find some Rob Thomas music in his collection. I flashed back to
seeing Rob live at Red Rocks, the first time I heard Chris, and that's a good thing. Chris has a great voice and his songwriting
is most noteworthy. The melodies keep you interested and they are not predictable which is refreshing. He succesfully takes
the less traveled road where obvious transitions and musical resolutions don't exist.
Chris will have no problem being taken serious unless he wears the giant sombrero and painted on Groucho moustache I saw
in his Facebook. The new EP, Entr’acte, is from the heart, captures the essence of what Chris is all about and I would ride this
record as far as it will let you. I am excited to see where these songs take him and when he is a rock star he probably won't
know it or care much. I don't think this EP would be a tough sell to modern day radio. More artists of Chris's caliber could save
the industry from the downturn the concert and record business has experienced this summer.
Congratulations and don't ever worry about being the hippest guy in the room, be the happiest. All I ask for is a friendly
handshake and a free drink when you give up your day job, if you haven't already. I lived 30 years out of a suitcase, you're
next, and pass the beer nuts!
Gary Allen (The Charlie Daniels Band/JJ Cale/Stonewall Jackson)
****************************************************************************************
Chris O’Neill – Three Words | Runner Up | Expose Yourself Song Contest
“Galloping guitar melds into a soaring ’80′s flavored chorus followed by a classic time transcendent refrain full of angst and
pain that swells into a genre-defying delicious masterpiece. I want to hear this song in an outdoor amphitheater on the perfect
summer evening through a huge P.A. I want to hear 5,000 open hearted people sing along as guitar and vocals consume
me. Great love song that never surrenders its masculinity…”by Florence Lamb
Three Words by Chris O’Neill another favorite on all the review panelist lists.
Chris O’Neill from Australia, and is putting out really good music be sure to pick up his new CD when it drops next month.
Recorded entirely within his home in the Eastern Suburbs of Victoria and mixed via email correspondence by L.A. based
engineer Andy Ellis, the 5 track CD titled ‘Entr’acte’ is a collection of brief glimpses into Chris’s encounters with life and the
people in it. Entr’acte will be released mid June 2010, followed by a tour of the east coast. You won’t want to miss Chris watch
for it!!!
****************************************************************************************
Fresh Face: Chris O’Neill
It’s Sunday session at Pure Pop Records – a little indie record store in Melbourne’s music hub, St Kilda. In the outside beer
garden the likely types sip their beverages and chatter, easing into the evening.
Carrying everything that will accompany him on stage, 21-year-old singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Chris O’Neill
manages his way inside the store. Weaving through tight space – piano, guitars and mic stand find their way to a spare spot by
the back door. “Will that be ok there?” I ask. “I hope so!”
Having just completed his first solo tour up the east coast on the back of a successful EP launch, the young muso is humbled
by the experience. “We basically packed out the place, only just shy of capacity,” he says of the launch show. “A couple of
days later I was interstate playing to no one again. It was good to be brought down to that level, to do some ground work and
meet new people.”
Before our meet the EP titled “Entr’acte’ had appeared in my mail box. Discovered was a hidden talent whose melodic tone and
intimate story telling I pictured melting hearts, of the female variety in particular. It doesn’t take long to see a glimpse of this in
real life with a few ladies smiling as they observed.
In between songs he tells a story or two of how they came about – music for those who have asked to be sung about and
people and experiences that have simply impacted in some way or another.
Back on the couch surrounded by records and a few people browsing, he tells of his journey to here. An involvement with
music, it seems, was meant to be. “A short time before I was born my mum was at a couple of live gigs and every time there
was a different style of music playing I’d be wriggling around in there as well.”
With a father in the music scene, the youngster started writing and learning to play instruments naturally. Classically trained in
piano, O’Neill took it upon himself, to the dismay of his teachers, to interpret parts to make the music his own. Today, if you
check out his MySpace, you will see he can play piano pieces blindfolded. Downplaying he comments, “It’s a big musical wank!”
Firstly aspiring to be a physio therapist, knowing the financial struggles of a professional musician, it took a short work
experience stint to prove that wasn’t the right path to pursue. The instinct to make music found it’s own way.
“I initially had no intention of going down this road,” he explains. “I’ve studied in Film Story (as well as Music). That was going to
be my steady job. But a couple of big things have changed for me and my perspective of what I want to do. I can actually do
music as a career.”
With positive feedback from people in the industry and now a management team behind him, O’Neill continues to develop his
craft as a story teller, musician and live performer while keeping perspective…and the day job.
Back in high school he travelled internationally with the “World Tour” group and won two “Kool Schools” awards. Now at just 21,
he has stepped out as a solo act and continued to impress in international song writing competitions. Live, he has supported
legendary musicians Mark Seymour (Hunters and Collectors) and Ian Moss (Cold Chisel).
“(Playing with Ian Moss) was one of the most intimidating gigs I’ve done. Just because of who I was playing with. But I’m feeling
more comfortable with just myself (on stage). Just relying on myself and that’s it.”
With these songs on the debut EP he presents himself. So how do you describe that to potential listeners? “I hate this
question,” he says with a polite smile.
“What I sing about tends to be what I pick up from personal experience. If I’ve seen or experienced something, I can write about
it with a better emotional connection. That being said, it varies from trying to get inside someone else’s head and whatever I’m
feeling at the time. In terms of style and what the EP sounds like, I like to think it’s pretty easy going for the most part.”
With this short release being just the first ‘act’, “You read that part. Cool.”…no doubt he is setting himself for a good show in
music. “The idea of this EP is that it is the ‘TA-DA!’”
****************************************************************************************
| Chris O'Neill Links: FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/pages/Chris-ONeill/358914099055?ref=ts MYSPACE: http://www.myspace.com/chrisoneillsolo **************************************************************************************** |
| Chris O'Neill - Papercuts |
| Tennessee Concerts Song Contest |
| RED FLAG! WE ARE NOT AFFILIATED WITH NASHVILLE DRUMMER GARY ALLEN OR HIS PROMOTIONS |
