Tara Blaise

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Tara Blaise
Birth name Tara Egan-Langley
Born London, England
Origin Ireland
Genre(s) Pop folk
Occupation(s) Singer
Actress
Voice type(s) Alto[1]
Years active 1990s — present
Label(s) Spokes Records
DRO/Atlantic (2006)
Associated acts Kaydee
John Hughes
Website http://www.tarablaise.com

Tara Blaise is a female pop folk rock singer from Ireland. The eldest of six children, she was born in London but at the age of three moved with her parents to Ireland and grew up in the rambling hills of Aughrim County Wicklow.

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[edit] Early career

The daughter of an architect and a speech and drama teacher, Tara was introduced to the world of drama and music at a young age, studying Speech and Drama up to grade eight in the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

Tara Blaise's singing career began at 16 when she formed a band called Les Legumes with some school friends, but it was her stint as a backing singer with Dublin band The Wilde Oscars that first brought her to the attention of the Irish music scene.

After The Wilde Oscars came Igloo. Having made a name for themselves on the Irish live circuit, they entered the studio and produced a couple of well-received singles. Subsequently, when much-vaunted band Kaydee sought her out after their singer quit, she agreed to join. The Kaydee album on EMI was re-recorded to feature Tara's vocals and released to very positive reviews. However, despite regular touring including a Midem showcase and a London live club residency, Kaydee never quite hit the big time.

[edit] Solo career

[edit] Wild Ocean

Having just decided to go solo, Tara received a call from a friend who hooked her up with John Hughes, (manager of The Corrs, Musical Director of Alan Parker's film of The Commitments, and former musician with Minor Detail).

John Hughes was in the middle of his own instrumental album (Wild Ocean released in October 2004 by 14th Floor Records/Warner UK), and he was looking for a vocalist/lyricist. They collaborated on one track, "Dancing In the Wind", and the association worked so well that they recorded another, "Come Away". Concurrently, Tara took the time to complete a course in Drama at Dublin's Gaiety School of Acting, finishing in time to add vocals to "Deo", the first single from the Wild Ocean album. Tara also appears in the video for Deo, shot in County Antrim, including The Giant's Causeway.

[edit] Dancing on Tables Barefoot

John Hughes offered her an album deal on his own Spokes label, and sent her to Los Angeles to work with Corrs producer Olle Romo, resulting in her debut album Dancing On Tables Barefoot. The first Tara Blaise solo single was "Fool for Love", featuring only Tara's voice and a string quartet. Both "Fool for Love" and follow up "Paperback Cliché" were playlisted by BBC Radio 2 in the UK and Tara covered much ground with a tour of UK regional radio stations, perform with Corrs’ guitarist Anthony Drennan.

"Paperback Cliché" was a huge radio hit in Ireland, gaining more than 400 plays, and listed at No 2 in the Irish artist airplay Chart, behind U2. The album Dancing on Tables Barefoot was released in the summer of 2005, and described by Hot Press as “a warm and honest record, lit by a genuine sense of personal adventure, and delivered with feelng and panache in equal measure.” The Sunday Times said ‘Pretty much everything here could be a single..’

Live shows in the summer of 2005 included The Isle of Wight Festival (where a video was shot for third single "The Three Degrees"), T in the Park, the Richmond Festival, Yorks, The Secret Garden, V Festivals in Chelmsford & Staffs and in Ireland the Oxegen Festival (Naas, County Kildare). She headlined London's Bush Hall in September 2005, and had her first headlining Irish tour, culminating in a Dublin show at the Sugar Club in November.

A slightly different version of Dancing On Tables Barefoot was released in Spain in February 2006 on the DRO/Atlantic label, part of the Warner Music Group. Their first single was "The Three Degrees", which reached number 9 in the Spanish airplay Chart. Tara and guitarist Anthony Drennan made various appearances in Spain to promote the album in early March, returning in late June / early July.

In April 2006, Tara Blaise appeared as 'Beth' in the stage production of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, alongside Justin Hayward, Russell Watson, Chris Thompson and others. The production toured the UK & Ireland from April 13 to 30, 2006, and prior to that Tara opened the show at a special concert in Trafalgar Square on March 12 to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

In July 2006 Tara toured Spain in support of the second single "Paperback Cliché", playing a special acoustic concert in Santiago de Compostela, plus live instore appearances in FNAC,(Madrid) and Discos Castello (Barcelona). Accompanied by Irish guitarists Anthony Drennan and Conor Brady, these appearances prefaced future acoustic shows to be announced.

[edit] Great Escape

In March and April 2007 Tara opened for Michael Ball on his 23 date tour of the UK. Tara released a single called "Fall at the Start" in June 2007. Blaise featured on a comedy show by Will Smith and Roger Drew on BBC Radio 4 on 15th August 2007. "Fall at the Start" is also featured on Blaise's second album Great Escape, which was released in May 2008. A single titled "Breathe" was released in March and the forthcoming single, "Make You", is produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Blaise is also to be featured in an advertising campaign for the Dublin Make-up brand Face2[2].

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Year Title Notes
2005 Dancing on Tables Barefoot Reissued in 2006
2008 Great Escape

[edit] Singles

Year Title Album Charts
2004 "Fool for Love" Dancing on Tables Barefoot
2005 "Paperback Cliché" Dancing on Tables Barefoot #2 Irish airplay
2005 "The Three Degrees" Dancing on Tables Barefoot
2005 "The Three Degrees (Remix)" Dancing on Tables Barefoot #9 Spain
2006 "Unbearable Lightness" Dancing on Tables Barefoot
2006 "Paperback Cliché (Remix)" Dancing on Tables Barefoot #50 Spain
2006 "21 Years" Dancing on Tables Barefoot
2007 "Fall at the Start" Great Escape
2008 "Breathe" Great Escape
2008 "Make You" Great Escape

[edit] Collaborations

Year Title Artist Notes
1997 "Great Motivator" Igloo As Tara Egan-Langley
1998 Stop! I'm Doing it Again Kaydee As Tara Egan-Langley
1998 Wild Ocean John Hughes Tara Blaise is featured vocalist on two tracks

[edit] References

  1. ^ Tara Blaise resume. IMDb. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  2. ^ Face2. Lili Forberg Photography (2008-04-09). Retrieved on 2008-04-18.

[edit] External links

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