Callaghan’s Acoustic Show w/ Matthew Kahler – Live in Concert – Friday, May 25, 2012 | Best of Atlanta Concerts | Atlanta Concert, Tickets & Performing Arts Resource

Callaghan

At some point in the early stages of an artist’s career, there’s inevitably that defining moment—an ultimate test of one’s fortitude and willingness to gamble on a dream—that either sends said artist back to their day job, dejected, or provides the final mental push needed to become something greater…something glorious. For UK-born singer-songwriter Callaghan, that all-or-nothing proposition was manifested at 35,000 feet, in a flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

Scheduled to record her full-length debut with artist/producer Shawn Mullins in Atlanta during the summer of 2010, Callaghan left her London digs and boarded a plane headed for the American South, toting suitcases and a heap of songs. The elation and sheer exuberance of the experience drives “Best Year,” the opening track on her forthcoming album Life In Full Colour.

“When I got on that plane from London to come over to Atlanta, I didn’t know what to expect, how long the album would take or what kind of reception my music would get,” she reflects. “There have been all kinds of challenges, but the whole experience has been beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I could not have asked for more; 2011 was such a fantastic year. I’m just going to keep singing that song every single year, because next year’s going to be even better.”

Born in Boston, Lincolnshire to a musical family, Callaghan was classically trained on flute from age 6, then gravitated toward singing and playing piano. By 14 she was writing songs, and started trekking to London to record with various producers. At 18 Callaghan relocated to London permanently to live with her sister (whose flat was so tiny, the singer slept under the kitchen table), while recording a number of independent EPs and playing all over the city, at spots like the Bedford, Regal Room, Royal National Theatre, and 100 Club. A long-time Mullins fan, Callaghan contacted him in 2009 through MySpace while seeking a producer, and he agreed to a rare collaboration. An initial recording trip to Atlanta yielded three songs, prompting her life-changing relocation there in 2010 to finish the full-length.

When:    Friday, May 25, 2012 – 8:00PM
Where:           Eddies Attic – 515-B North McDonough Street – Decatur, GA
Tickets:         $15 Adv. / $18 Door