Rebecca grew up in the Irish seaside town of Tramore, Co. Waterford. Night time radio was her lifeline all through her formative years. She initially harboured hopes of being a writer but that soon gave way to her addiction to music. By the time she moved to Dublin at the age of 18, she had cultivated an obsession with songwriting.
She then ventured from music studies in Trinity College through gospel choirs, free improvisation and folk ensembles to find herself at her current juncture. She has collaborated with renowned composers such as Roger Doyle and Trevor Knight, theatre director Selina Cartmell, and numerous underground bands such as Giraffe Running and Red Rocket. She has also soaked up as much of Dublin's jazz and alternative scenes as possible along the way, and is an active member of the Irish music collective The Living Room Project.
In December 2006, Rebecca independently released an ep entitled At Sea which introduced her dark, lyrical songs to the world and won her recognition from radio presenters and listeners alike. The radio hero of her teenage years, John Kelly, even invited her to play live on his show The JK Ensemble for a week-long feature on her music.
Constantly writing and exploring new territory with her fellow musicians, Rebecca's debut album came into being as a result of a low-key gig performed in a friend's living room. The songs bristled with energy and Rebecca knew this was how she wanted to record them - in a live setting. When all the musicians happened to be in New York for a time in January 2007, she corralled them in a studio for two days, and Chameleon Blues was born.
Rebecca lists Tom Waits and avant-rock doyenne Annette Peacock as musical touchstones. She also names John Martyn's Solid Air and the sensual Wong Kar-Wai film In the Mood for Love as influences on Chameleon Blues. In her words, it is an album to be taken "song by song - it is episodic, but there is a common thread - desire. I really wanted there to be a freedom, an unabashed feeling to the music."
So does Rebecca have a target audience in mind?
"Yes and no. Let's just say that these songs are for anyone who has ever woken up in the middle of the night with their heart racing..."
words by Tom Lyons
She then ventured from music studies in Trinity College through gospel choirs, free improvisation and folk ensembles to find herself at her current juncture. She has collaborated with renowned composers such as Roger Doyle and Trevor Knight, theatre director Selina Cartmell, and numerous underground bands such as Giraffe Running and Red Rocket. She has also soaked up as much of Dublin's jazz and alternative scenes as possible along the way, and is an active member of the Irish music collective The Living Room Project.
In December 2006, Rebecca independently released an ep entitled At Sea which introduced her dark, lyrical songs to the world and won her recognition from radio presenters and listeners alike. The radio hero of her teenage years, John Kelly, even invited her to play live on his show The JK Ensemble for a week-long feature on her music.
Constantly writing and exploring new territory with her fellow musicians, Rebecca's debut album came into being as a result of a low-key gig performed in a friend's living room. The songs bristled with energy and Rebecca knew this was how she wanted to record them - in a live setting. When all the musicians happened to be in New York for a time in January 2007, she corralled them in a studio for two days, and Chameleon Blues was born.
Rebecca lists Tom Waits and avant-rock doyenne Annette Peacock as musical touchstones. She also names John Martyn's Solid Air and the sensual Wong Kar-Wai film In the Mood for Love as influences on Chameleon Blues. In her words, it is an album to be taken "song by song - it is episodic, but there is a common thread - desire. I really wanted there to be a freedom, an unabashed feeling to the music."
So does Rebecca have a target audience in mind?
"Yes and no. Let's just say that these songs are for anyone who has ever woken up in the middle of the night with their heart racing..."
words by Tom Lyons