Gene Watson's Peers: Kieran Kane
Gene Watson's peers within the country music
industry believe in the sheer talent of this unassuming man from east Texas,
so much so that Gene is regarded by many of them as 'the singer's singer' -
and rightly so!
All of Gene's Peers who were contacted in 2006 were most
gracious with their time & words. It is here, within this special part of
gene-watson.com, that you have an opportunity to read a quote from
Kieran Kane, which he submitted to
this site on Wednesday 31 May 2006.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you'
to
Kieran Kane who has made a special
contribution to a unique part of this online 'celebration of a Lone Star
Hero'.
Kieran Kane
This quote was submitted on Wednesday 31 May 2006
'I think of Gene Watson as one of the greatest country
singers of all time & honestly can't think of a single singer popular on the
radio today who could deliver a song with the strength or subtlety that he
possesses.
And I mean it. He is truly amazing & his choice of songs killer. It's sad to
think that many of those songs would not find a home on the modern so-called
country music stations'.
Thank you,
Kieran Kane, for your support of Gene Watson.
About Kieran Kane...
Kieran Kane was born
on 7 October 1949 in the Queens borough of New York City & grew up
in Mount Vernon where he heard plenty of country music on jukeboxes.
It was
his brother who turned him onto bluegrass music when he was thirteen years
old. After high school, Kieran spent a couple of years at Boston University &
Suffolk University, but he gave up his education in order to concentrate on
making music.
Eventually, Kane shifted his focus to bluegrass, before relocating to Los
Angeles, California in 1971 where he found work as a session guitarist and
songwriter.
Kieran eventually met Deborah Allen & Rafe VanHoy who persuaded him to
try his luck in Nashville, where he arrived in 1979. It didn't take
Kieran long to find success in Music City, where he signed a song-writing
deal with the Tree Publishing Company. He also signed to a recording contract with Elektra
Records; although several singles were released for the label, an album was
never released & Kieran soon left the label over creative disputes.
Kieran Kane's
talents as a consummate songwriter were soon evident;
Johnny Duncan had a
hit with 'Play another slow song' (No.17 in 1980); Kieran also played a prominent mandolin fill on the intro to
Hank Williams Junior's No.1 hit 'Texas women' (No.1 for 1 week in March/April 1981).
It was also in 1981 that Kieran Kane saw the release of his self-titled
debut album; 'Kieran Kane' was released by Elektra Records & included two
Top 20 hits: 'You're the best' & 'It's who you love'. However, creative differences forced him to relinquish
his contract so Kieran then decided to concentrate on his song-writing.
An Alabama album cut, 'Gonna have a party', gained significant radio airplay
in 1982, while Janie Fricke had a No.1 hit with
Kieran Kane's 'Don't worry 'bout me baby' in the same year
(No.1 for 1 week in July 1982).
John Conlee enjoyed a No.1 hit (on MCA Records) with
Kieran's 'As long as I'm rockin' with you' (No.1 for 1 week in May 1984).
It was while Kieran Kane was at the Tree Publishing Company that he met fellow artist
Jamie O'Hara & together they formed The O'Kanes in 1985.
Together they saw
the release (on Columbia Records) of three successful & critically acclaimed albums; 'The O'Kanes'
was released in 1986,
'Tired of the Running' was released in 1988, while 'Imagine That'
was released in 1989.
The O'Kanes scored seven Top Ten singles between 1986 & 1990 including 'Oh
Darlin' (why don't you care for me no more)', 'Can't stop my heart from
loving you' (No.1 for 1 week in ), 'Daddies need to grow up too' (1987),
'Just lovin' you' (1987), 'One true love' (1988) & 'Blue love' (1988).
The O'Kanes disbanded in 1989.
In 1993, Kieran Kane returned to his career as a solo performer; he signed
to Atlantic Records that year, releasing the 'Find My Way Home' album.
Due to
poor sales of this album, Kieran was soon dropped from Atlantic's roster.
Two years later in 1995, Kane, along with fellow singer/songwriters Kevin Welch,
Tammy Rogers & Harry Stinson) launched the Nashville-based independent
record label Dead Reckoning & saw the release of his highly acclaimed
'Dead Rekoning' album the same year.
Kieran Kane is also a talented visual artist & his paintings are renowned
the world over, examples of which can be viewed on his
visual arts website.
Singer/songwriter Jamie O'Hara was born on 8 August 1950, in Toledo, Ohio.
Originally a college football star, a knee injury forced him to look for
career opportunities outside of the NFL. Jamie picked up a guitar &
eventually began to sing & play his songs at shows throughout the Midwest.
Other performers took notice & O'Hara began to establish himself as a
songwriter. In 1975, he signed a publishing contract with Nashville's
Tree Records.
In 1985, O'Hara & another Tree songwriter named Kieran Kane collaborated on
the song 'Bluegrass blues', which the Judds would eventually record.
That meeting led the duo to begin writing & performing together as the
O'Kanes.
They secured a deal with Columbia Records & went on to release three highly
acclaimed country albums between 1987 & 1990. After the O'Kanes broke
up, Jamie O'Hara returned to his duties as a songwriter.
He also found time, however, to release his solo debut. 'Rise Above
It' was released on RCA Records in 1994; O'Hara wrote the entire album
himself. While 'Rise About It' was a success, its follow-up didn't
appear until 2001, when O'Hara released the richly textured 'Beautiful
Obsession' on Valley Records.
Visit Kieran
Kane's Official Site
Visit Kieran Kane's Official Artist Site