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Megan Reilly Bio

"Singer/songwriter Megan Reilly has the voice of an angel. The Memphis native sheds the folkie-pop sweetness of her 2003 debut, "The Arc of Tessa," for an elegant affair of sad songs. The amber tones of "Let Your Ghost Go" look at loss with a hint of optimism. It's as lovely as Loretta Lynn's best, and a flawless match to peers such as Cat Power and Edith Frost. Covering some of rock's finest songwriters like Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott, Van Morrison, and Bob Dylan takes guts, and Reilly obviously has the grace and goods to do it."-MacKenzie Wilson All Music Guide "Under the Radar in 2006" End of Year Pick

"Reilly's got the sensitive, poetic thing down, but it's the unexpected toughness that makes Let Your Ghost Go a keeper. The song "Tropic of Cancer" is an agitated folk-rocker, split open by a wailed curse. Then it drifts away on a bed of guitar feedback and clarinet, a respite after the violence."-Greg Kot, Chicago Tribune

Megan Reilly hails from Memphis, Tennesee, where at age sixteen, she had already started writing and singing and playing songs on her guitar. There’s that dark, mysterious quality to life in Memphis, its rich and tragic history, and it’s clear that it found its way into Megan’s songs from the very start.

At twenty-three, Reilly moved to New York City, and the teenage dreams and demons that fueled her earliest work had grown into more complicated ghosts. Reilly’s songs had grown, and when she sang them alone on a stage, accompanying herself on guitar, people listened closely and were intrigued. Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth was among Reilly’s early fans and supporters and he helped guide Megan through the New York music scene, which included an important introduction to guitarist Tim Foljahn (Two Dollar Guitar, Cat Power). Foljahn was deeply drawn to Megan’s haunting voice and the feel of her music. The two began playing together and soon, they rounded out a full band of tremendous players -- Steve Goulding (The Mekons) on drums, Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu) on bass, and Eric Morrison (Home) on piano. These were busy, talented people -- all seasoned players with many other projects – and yet they all committed to Megan’s music, attracted to the idea of gathering their unique talents around this equally unique voice.

The group recorded Megan’s first full-length release, Arc of Tessa, which the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette declared “to one day be remembered as the unheralded gem of alternative-country 2003, a haunting collection of aching ballads.” With the release of Arc of Tessa, praise came from Time Out New York, who included Reilly in their “Class of ’03 Annual Honor Roll of Up-and-Coming Musicians,” Maxim, who called the disc a “jaw-dropping debut,” and No Depression who cheered it to be “melancholy folk-pop of the highest order” and “drop-dead gorgeous.” Harp Magazine also included Megan on their annual list of best emerging songwriters.

The last year of Reilly’s life has largely been spent working on her second release on Carrot Top Records, Let Your Ghost Go. Produced by Sue Garner, mixed by John McEntire (Tortoise), and featuring her all-star band, the songs were recorded at various New York City studios --The Magic Shop, Mule Yard, Brooklyn Recording, and Studio G -- with the idea of bringing together a complete yet diverse palate of sounds.

Reilly describes Let Your Ghost Go as a dedication to a handful of people no longer in this world. People who touched her intimately and deeply like her beloved grandmother, those who profoundly grazed her life like a Memphis acquaintance who died in a late night car accident, and those whose music and persona inspired and helped to form her artistic identity – Thin Lizzy's Philip Lynott. The songs explore notions of memory and loss. In writing and recording Let Your Ghost Go, Megan bumped up against the kind of demons that all sensitive souls carry with them. “Something was holding me back,” explains Reilly, “something inside me. This vague combination of feeling overwhelmed and inspired and excited and scared all at once. I felt paralyzed for awhile there, trying to dig into my subconscious to find these things I needed to exorcize by writing songs, like the loss of my grandmother, for example, and how much I utterly miss her."

In Megan’s words, "Sue Garner made it all come together." Garner encouraged Reilly to simplify musically and focus on the singing. Sue said, "It's about that voice." Together they worked to embrace a sparseness while still taking full advantage of the band's abilities. Reilly says, "Sue understood what I wanted to do, and we clicked in the best possible way-- without even trying."

During her live performances, Reilly is most often accompanied by her band but sometimes returns to her roots, singing alone on a stage with her guitar, a most versatile player. She has shared the stage with an eclectic group of artists including Neko Case, Laura Cantrell, Graham Parker, The Polyphonic Spree, Cat Power, M. Ward, The Grifters and Fugazi. She has the voice, too, that lends itself to collaboration, and has recorded songs for Tony Maimone's concept-rock collective Book of Knots -- alongside the likes of Tom Waits and Jon Langford. Reilly also performed with Sue Garner at MoMA on Garner's live musical score of an animated film by prize-winning filmmaker, Emily Hubley.
Megan Reilly is something of an enigma -- obsessed with death and yet playful as a kitten. Complicated songwriter and college drop-out. Influenced equally by Loretta Lynn and Thin Lizzy. Grounded artist and searching soul. Let Your Ghost Go captures Megan’s enigmatic qualities and turns them into something utterly clear. Let Your Ghost Go is a work of pure musical expression and on it, Megan Reilly will tell you, with certainty, and with graceful and powerful beauty, who she really is. Bio also available as PDF.

Let Your Ghost Go CD saki038
--Second album from NY via Memphis singer/songwriter maintains the sense of understated elegance that was apparent on her debut Arc of Tessa but leaps light years ahead in melody, musicianship and

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craftsmanship, outstripping normal expectations for sophomore albums. Her band of aces, Tony Maimone (bass-Pere Ubu, Gary Lucas), Steven Goulding (drums-Mekons, Graham Parker & the Rumour, Waco Brothers, Archer Prewitt, Laura Cantrell), Tim Foljahn (guitar, lap steel, mandolin-Two Dollar Guitar, Cat Power) & Eric Morrison (piano, rhodes-Leels, Home) are augmented by amazing guest performances by Ted Reichman (Marc Ribot, Emigre, Tzadik) on accordion, James Mastro (Ian Hunter, Health & Happiness Show) on guitar, & Jean Cook (Ida, Assif Tsahar) on violin and the perfectly chosen Sue Garner & John McEntire behind the boards. Megan struggles with ghosts, both personal & distant, over 10 country tinged tracks. The album is sprinkled with two ideal covers, including Dylan's "The Wedding Song" that she was born to sing. "Jaw-dropping."-Maxim. UPC#789397003824

Arc of Tessa CD saki034
--One of Harp's "Top Nine Emerging Songwriters": "There's nothing astonishing in her background to suggest she would be destined for the greatness of ner debut album, Arc of Tessa...Incredible musical potential." New York by way of Memphis singer/songwriter who has managed to corral a fantastic backing band including Tim Foljahn (guitar, lap steel, mandolin-Two Dollar Guitar, Cat Power), Steven Goulding (drums-Mekons, Graham Parker & the Rumour, Waco

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Brothers, Archer Prewitt), Tony Maimone (bass-Pere Ubu, Gary Lucas) & Eric Morrison (piano, rhodes-Leels, Home) and help on the album from Chris Lee (Smells Like). Picture postcards of physical or emotional time underpinned by roots tinged music executed w/soulful & subtle perfection by masters. Megan's voice radiates languid southern indolence but can also bite just as quickly and strongly. As close to perfect as any record we have released. Hints of Opal, Patsy Cline, Cowboy Junkies, Lucinda Williams, and Mazzy Star. UPC#789397003428

Listen to Real Audio

From Let Your Ghost Go (saki038)
On a Plane
Night Time

From Arc of Tessa (saki034)
Girl
With You
He Is

Megan Reilly Downloads
Megan Reilly's releases are also available for download at Fina Music, Other Music Digital here, or at the iTunes Music Store here.

See Megan's Tour Dates

L I N K S

Nice New York Press show preview from November 2007.

Mike Wolf at Time Out NY picked Megan's 11/29 show at the Lakeside Lounge. The lucky ones who showed up to pack the music room were treated to a set that was nearly transcendent in its beauty.

“Are there more of us than you?” Megan Reilly asked from the three-inch-high Lakeside Lounge “stage” on a recent Wednesday. There were six people watching the nonchalantly elegant country-pop singer and her five cohorts, so it was a fair fight. “Doesn’t matter,” she concluded, smiling believably.
Many play music for fame, financial gain or to get laid. Others play simply because they’re musicians—the perks are nice but not necessary. Reilly & Co. fall into the latter category. Though Let Your Ghost Go (Carrot Top), Reilly’s slow-burning album from this past February, is just her second, she’s been singing and writing for years. She left Memphis for NYC in the mid-’90s, bringing along slow-moving ways and a distinctly Tennessean country-noir vibe. Fame or not, top-shelf players around town have been drawn to her since she arrived, and her potent band now includes drummer Steve Goulding (Mekons), bassist Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu), veteran guitarist and producer James Mastro, keyboardist Eric Morrison (Home) and his multi-instrumentalist wife, Jenny Morrison. Mastro’s finesse is particularly key: His soft, reverbed twang suggests both the heart of Texas and the blue sea, both deep.
In the tiny Lakeside, Reilly’s vocals are restrained. But she can do the Walls of Jericho thing easily, without sacrificing any of the ache embedded in her nuanced voice. You can sense that power when she backs away from the microphone to sing “Tropic of Cancer,” which you’ll surely hear tonight. It might not matter to her if only six people come, but it should to the rest of us.—Mike Wolf