I've been a singer songwriter for more years than I care to remember. I was born in Glasgow Scotland and moved to England when I was nine, so although a Scot by birth I grew up with more of an English accent. Fast forward, I've lived in Canada for more of my adult life than I did in the UK, emigrating here with my wife Linda when we were in our 20's. Music has always been a passion of mine and I remember when I was a child sitting next to my mum in our front room and listening to her playing the piano and singing her favourite songs. She seemed to be blissfully in a world of her own and those times left a long lasting impression that has stayed with me ever since. 

 I consider myself an eclectic writer, creatively going where the wind takes me, so to speak, and I think that reflects in the albums I've recorded up until now. I started out like a lot of young guys did playing in cover bands and having fun and a few pints along the way, but somewhere down that road I felt the need to become more creative and write my own songs, and so began the journey. After a number of years of honing my craft, so to speak which included living in Los Angeles for a time where I did manage to compose for a few movies that didn't really light up the world. I also did the rounds pitching songs to publishers and trying for a Major label deal without any representation, which I soon found out was a  fools errand, but being rather green I was completely oblivious to that fact. 

So after about a year or so of getting nowhere I decided to return to Canada  and record my first album which I did by myself, because at heart I'm really a bit of a loner I guess. It's funny because the first album I released  saw two of the songs on it "Wish It Would End" and "Taxi" cab receive national radio play across Canada; funny because I'd recorded that album at home in my studio and had to rent some equipment for the project, and somewhere in the middle of the recording of it we had a flood that left my studio, which was in the basement, under about an inch or two of water. Having only a certain amount of time on the rental of the gear I was using I had to push on with the project, and those two songs receiving radio play were recorded with me wearing rubber boots to keep my feet dry. Not quite the rock star image! 

The second album released was Universal Sign and the drums were played by Kevin Egan. That also saw the title track "Universal Sign" receive some radio play across Canada, but the politics of radio were changing especially for an independent artist such as myself, and the doors of opportunity were slowly closing. I guess not being on a major label had it's drawbacks, as anyone in the business can attest to. 

"Somewhere Over Mars" was my next album and I'd recorded and mixed it ready for release  as Eddie Carrigan, but at the same time I was in the process of putting a band together that I was naming Karigan, (a spin on my surname). So I called the album "Somewhere Over Mars" by Karigan, instead of  yours truly. Of course the band is no more and I'm left with a name I won't use again, brilliant move on my part. 

"What distinguishes Somewhere Over Mars and in fact Carrigan's talent is a deftness for lacing memorable hooks and choruses in among the layers of production polish. There are specific highlights that could be noted but to no particular end. The truth is that every one of the ten tunes have subtly infectious choruses that make themselves quite comfortable in the nooks and crannies of anyone's cerebellum."                                      Album Reviewer for Artscape Magazine     

One other  project, the album "Thoughts" would see me explore that avenue again "Thoughts" by Proper Snobs, which again was yours truly, although this time the drums were played by a decent chap called Rob Richards, who also played on some of the tracks on the album Servants Of A Plan, otherwise just yours truly again. I guess upon reflection not going with my own name on those projects were more trouble than they were worth as it only confused things in the long run. 

After "Somewhere Over Mars" I released "The Mission Bell" album and once again returned to Eddie Carrigan, yeah I know bloody confusing. 

   "The Mission Bell is a solid outing for Carrigan, one that deserves to be held up next to the biggest names in the genre.   The songs are craftily penned, creatively arranged and powerfully performed by a topnotch artist, everything that a record  needs to be successful in a day and age when listeners are flooded with new music on a daily basis. Only time will tell if Carrigan will receive the international acclaim which he deserves, but regardless of where his life's journey leads him, this album is a testament to the talent and hard work that permeates Carrigan's musical output." 

"There is also a strong message in Carrigan's music, in the same sense as Bruce Cockburn, Sting and Leonard Cohen bring meaning to their songs through lyrical storytelling"* 
          *Matthew Warnock (Editor In Chief for Guitar International Magazine)    Rating: 5/5 Stars

  "Thoughts".    Album  project released under the name Proper Snobs. 

"Melodically, Thoughts is a very easy album to get into.  Proper Snobs have a knack for big, epic hooks and melodies that jump right out at the listener, and that approach yields memorable results on gems like “Gates of Dawn,” “Dark Streets,” “Drown” and the title track.  The fact that Carrigan is such an expressive frontman certainly doesn’t hurt.  Carrigan (who produced Thoughts) brings a great deal of feeling to the material, all of which he wrote himself."

          Review by Alex Henderson         4 Stars out of 5 

(Alex Henderson is a veteran journalist/music critic whose work has appeared in Billboard, Spin, The L.A. Weekly, Creem, HITS, Jazziz, JazzTimes, CD Review, Skin Two, Black Radio Exclusive, Thrash Metal and a long list of other well known publications.)

"The depth of his talent is revealed right away on the opening title track which sounds like one of the best songs Arcade Fire never recorded" 
            " Heath Andrews " (Music Critic)    4.5 Stars out of 5  

My latest album release is "Servants Of A Plan" and I'm now working on my next project, although with changing times I'll probably release those songs one at a time and eventually as an album. 

So there you have it, a condensed version of my musical journey up until now. When I first started out I had the same aspirations as many young guys, of fame and success and playing in huge venues and arenas and although I have always believed that my music had the capability of holding it's own in those places had it been given the right amount of promotion and marketing,  there lies the rub. You see at heart I've always been a bit of a recluse, preferring to keep myself to myself and that is not a recipe for success, especially in a business like this one. Don't get me wrong, I made an effort to a degree from posing as a journalist to reach the Vice president of Capitol records, and even being told a particular song I played him was a "little too commercial" (you see what happens without representation). 

 Having said that, one should persevere no matter what, and that was just not something I was comfortable doing at the time. Yet I've continued still doing what I do, even if there were breaks in between. So something has kept pushing me to this point. I gave it quite a bit of thought before writing this, as I'm laying it out for all to see and that in itself is a huge step forward for a private person like myself.  I've come to a point in my life where either I quit, do it for my own satisfaction or make a real effort to at least build a fan base that would appreciate my music. 

I've decided to take the latter course, I just feel I owe it to myself and those around me who have always believed in me to make a stronger effort. It's going to take putting myself out there because no one can do it for me, not really, I guess in the end we're all the sum of our own destiny.