Irish blues rock legend Eamonn McCormack has a new single and lyric video out, and this Living Hell turned out so sinister that if it was a hurting creature, it would bleed black. Dealing with the criminogenic nature of drug prohibition and institutionalized war mongery, the song’s musical direction could make it sail on the darkest depths of post metal with ease.

Opening a new record with a slow hand and lines such as “Oh is there a dark shadow on their soul / Blood dripping from their hands yeah / Oh the devils work in this living hell” puts Eamonn in a good position to becoming the enfant terrible of heavy blues rock. It’s just his way of facepalming his marketing guys and the industry’s “best practices”: “I don’t want silly fun sports with strings, I want my music to reflect life,” the guitar whiz clarifies. “And in our lives – in this world – you start slow and get going. As awareness solidifies and consciousness grows, you speed it up, eventually working your way towards happiness. Whether you’ve just been born or you just woke up in the morning, that’s how it is!” 

With his brand new record Eamonn McCormack, which is set to release worldwide on February 3rd, 2023 and is ready for pre-order now, Eamonn introduces the listener to a supercharged, heavy rocking portrayal of the traveling blues rock artist’s life. Everything on Eamonn McCormack is interconnected: the places he’s seen, the people he’s met and jammed with, the miles he’s covered, and the experience he brought home to friends and family, time and time again.

The result is an album that feels like a handful of rich, fertile soil, composed of the best this planet has to offer. You can’t expose yourself to it without getting dirty, depending on your own definition of dirt: The blues on Eamonn McCormack’s eighth album is certainly not clean.
Neither is the rock, nor the indie folk that Eamonn throws at it. And how could it be, anyway – being found, carried and shaped far off the beaten track that too many norm-abiding, standardizing copycats have already paved and cleaned? This warm, road-dusty record isn’t meant to be seen as a blues tourist’s postcard but as the recollection of a traveler in many respects, a true explorer.

The stories that Eamonn has brought back home over the years are being told in a down-to-earth fashion, interwoven with the gritty mud of delta blues, lush southern American rock, Celtic Irish spirit, Hendrix-infused funk and even the eclectic layering of a quiet, post metal atmosphere, when it’s time to let go.

Eamonn McCormack on tour:

January
20 – Hardenberg – Louis’s Blues Tavern (Solo Concert) NL
21 – Dinteloord – De Boonefooi (Solo concert) NL
22 – Spijkenisse – Murry’s Music Club (Solo Concert) NL

February
24 – Amsterdam – tbc NL
25 – Aalten – Tico Tico NL
26 – Weert – De Bosuil NL

March
02 – Eppstein – Wunderbar Weith Welt D
03 – Cologne – Yard Club D
04 – Offenbach / Frankfurt – KjK D
11 – Hengelo – Metropool NL
12 – Drachten – Induna NL
16 – Straubing – Raven Music Club D
17 – Freudenburg – Ducsaal Musik Club D
18 – Fürth – Kofferfabrik D
24 – Hannover – tbc D
25 – Berlin – tbc D
28 – Bremen – Meisenfrei D – TICKETS
30 – Lubeck – Riders Cafe D

April
1 – Göteborg – KoM Musik Club SE
13 – Ljubljana – Prulcek Club SL
14 – Zagreb – Booze & Blues Club HA
15 – Udine – tbc IT
16 – Strasbourg – tbc F
19 – Verviers – Spirit of B
21 – Oberhausen – Festival D
27 – Vienna – Reigen Club A
28 – Bratislava – Muzeum Obchodu SLK
29 – Budapest – Musikum H
30 – Brno Czech Republic – Jazz & Blues Club tbc CZ

May
6 – Apeldoorn – Blues Cafe NL

June
10 – Dinxperlo – Charity concert NL

September
22 – Dresden – Tante Ju D
23 – Prague – Jazzdock, tbc CZ

Eamonn’s blues is known to be unapologetic about his shitting on conventions, and it doesn’t whine as often as blues seems to be expected to do, hell no! Instead, it snarls with gnashing teeth like Clint Eastwood, pointing thick-skinned fingers at shit that never disappoints in pissing the man off. Be it the corrupt gun biz from weapons of mass destruction to the guns in the hands of teens on the streets and child soldiers (Living Hell) or the insufferable fear of humanity wiping itself out with the push of a button (Angel of Love).  
In Letter to my Son he sits down to warn the boy from falling prey to the temptation of greed, disrespect and hatred. Instead, he encourages his son to make mistakes but learn from them, paving any potential ripples caused with an imprest of generosity and unconditional love. The starkly contrasting story of Geronimo deals with the plight of the Apache native American tribes, illustrating why not enough such letters could be addressed to kids by their passionate parents.
At the other end of the spectrum, the joy of living life to the fullest takes the stage in the dance floor stomper Rock’n’Roll Boogie Shoes, while a funky chunk of self-irony grants a glimpse at Eamonn’s humorous side and his smartphone addiction with Social Media Blues. Eamonn and his young rhythm department have been called a modern-day power trio numerous times, and songs like these – along with an ecstatic stage presence – could very well be the reason why this is true for the millions of people who visited their explosive shows, uniting hard rocking bikers, blues fans and folk fanatics all under one roof.
And despite all the fame he’s earned breaking the blues charts: Eamonn McCormack will never consider himself too good for kneeling down in awe to salute people that he can’t help but admire unconditionally for their life’s work. His Hats off to Lemmy and Lady Lindy, an ode to the great aviator and pioneer Amelia Earhart, are just two of the raw shoutouts he loves to do as tokens of respect or gratitude.

“We were a blues band really. Although we played it at a thousand miles an hour, it was recognizable as blues – at least to us it was; probably it wasn’t to anybody else.” Lemmy couldn’t have been more right and more wrong at the same time when he reflected on the early Motörhead years in his autobiography. Mr. Kilmister does have fans and admirers in the blues scene; he always had.

Irish blues machine Eamonn McCormack loves Lemmy for both the sharp singing, straight speaking kind of guy he was and the radical new ways he and Motörhead have paved for future blues rock. McCormack, who toured, played and recorded with legends extensively throughout his life, now underlines this once and for all with his own salute Hats off to Lemmy. The new video single gives testament to a big motörheart beating in this chest of blues.

“December is around the corner,” McCormack explains, “the month God gave us Lemmy and – sadly – the month he took him from us. And isn’t it also the month that makes us look inward more, thinking of friends and family, and of the people who will never get to know how thankful we are for what they did? Lemmy was and will remain the most authentic hard rocker of all time. The man revolutionized blues, rock and metal – all while living this persona 24/7, no act. No way I’d ever leave without setting this record straight first: He was the man, a blueser and a rocker. Salute from the blues side of things!”

The single will be released on December 9th on all plattforms and is available now as a music video on YouTube.

Consequently, the video is a fun, tongue-in-cheek love letter to Lemmy and to the Motörhead touch on blues, playing with references while pushing the boundaries of blues rock towards an uplifting, heavily impelling sound in the spirit of and as a tribute to Motörhead’s high-energy signature. Fun fact for fans: The Irish six-string maniac recorded Hats off to Lemmy blasting his guitar through an old Marshall 4×12 – which had already been hauled by former Motörhead guitarist Brian “Robbo” Robertson for a full tour with Eamonn.

About Eamonn McCormack

Eamonn McCormack was born in the center of Dublin, the capital city of Ireland, and raised in a North side suburb. He started out on the acoustic guitar at six years of age. Prompted by the acoustic performance of his school classmate Gerry Leonard (David Bowie, Suzanne Vega), his earliest influences included Slade, Cat Stevens, Neil Young and Rory Gallagher. By twelve he was singing along with his guitar and performing at church folk masses.
Soon, finding the church music somewhat restricting, the young teenager acquired his first electric guitar (a Guild Starfire), progressed to lead guitar and joined a local garage cover band prior to playing his first paid gig. By now influences extended to Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Thin Lizzy and Dutch group Focus. At sixteen, Eamonn performed live on a national Irish radio show. Around this time he also won a major high school competition, performing his own material.

After a short stint playing in various bands throughout Ireland, Eamonn headed off to the USA where he performed extensively. He joined a band in California that was an offshoot from Canned Heat – and JJ Cale once showed up to jam with them. There he broadened his musical horizons, gained vital stage experience and absorbed fresh American music and cultural influences. All this blended together nicely with his strong Irish heritage.
Returning to Ireland after four years traveling and performing in the States, Eamonn’s unique style and sound already began to show, setting him apart from the usual blues rock at that time. He consequently solidified this signature by putting it to the test in an extensive streak of live performances under the stage name Samuel Eddy, establishing himself across Europe. Samuel Eddy and his band were rewarded for their efforts as they garnered the reputation of major European music festival favorites.
Eamonn aka Samuel Eddy signed with Universe Productions/Virgin Records and later SPV Records worldwide. Three critically acclaimed studio albums, which all sold phenomenally well, confirmed that an exciting young up-and-coming world class guitarist was emerging out of Ireland.

The following two decades saw a young Eamonn play, tour, and record with many of his earliest guitar influences, such as Rory Gallagher, Johnny Winter, Jan Akkerman (ex. Focus), Pat Travers, George Thorogood & The Destroyers, Walter Trout, Brian “Robbo” Robertson (Thin Lizzy, Motöread) and Nils Lofgren. Another highlight of this period was Eamonn and his band’s unforgettable performance at the Parkpop Festival in the Netherlands to an audience of around half a million people, sharing the bill with Robert Plant and more. Eamonn also got to play the prestigious WDR Rockpalast in Germany on the bill with Lynyrd Skynyrd & The Band, which was televised and broadcasted right across Europe.
On his own label, Eamonn decided to release a best of type of album, mainly consisting of remastered Samuel Eddy tracks and eight newer unreleased songs engineered in Dublin by Paul Thomas (U2, Phil Lynott), before finishing a great year successfully with a blinding show opening for the legendary ZZ Top in Amsterdam. At this time he also decided to drop his old stage name and revert to his real name Eamonn McCormack. His best of album Kindred Spirits, featuring older tracks with special guests Rory Gallagher, Jan Akkerman, Herman Brood and Keith Donald, garnered great recognition.

Following the success of Kindred Spirits, Eamonn decided to take a break from the road, travel the world, write some new material and jam with various artists in the US, Mexico and Hong Kong before returning to the studio – this time in Germany – to record his fifth album Heal My Faith for In-Akustik. The album was very well-received and put him firmly back on the road as a full-time recording/touring artist. 
Eamonn followed up with a double album recorded and produced in the UK by Grammy-nominated producer Chris Tsangarides (Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy). His band now consisted of Jonathan Noyce (Jethro Tull, Gary Moore) on bass and Darrin Mooney (Gary Moore, Primal Scream) on drums. The album Like There’s No Tomorrow literally achieved five star reviews across the board: One disc full on electric and the other acoustic-based, it once again proved Eamonn’s talent as a competent acoustic writer and performer and showcased his other skills on harmonica and mandolin.

More touring and mind-blowing festival appearances followed, leading to a new management and a new label coming on board. To top it all off, Eamonn got invited to perform once more on WDR Rockpalast in Germany, this time alongside Kenny Wayne Shepherd. After this explosive show, Eamonn and his young band headed straight into the studio along with German star-producer Arne Wiegand and recorded his seventh album Storyteller with eleven versatile original tracks, featuring Edgar Karg on bass guitar and Max Jung-Poppe on drums and percussion.

Storyteller was released in Europe and the UK in May 2020, where it reached No.1 on the Blues Charts in over half a dozen countries. A later release in the United States followed in 2021 to great response.
What’s next? A self-titled new album has been recorded in June 2022: Eamonn McCormack will be released on February 3rd, 2023.