I first heard about Annie Eve from my friend Mike who met her by chance on vacation. He told me that on the last day of his vacation, while everyone was coming to the harsh reality that they would have to split, Annie started making up songs on the spot, shocking everyone with a music ability that no one knew she had. Yes, but behind a humble demeanor, is a wonderful voice just bursting with potential and excitement. While 
listening to one of Annie’s songs on her Myspace, I scrolled down and read some of the comments. One listener wrote, “a breath of fresh air in a genre that has started to sound the same.” This could not be a more spot on compliment. Annie does just that. In her Youtube videos, she strums away on her acoustic while sitting on her kitchen floor as a computer picks up a rough recording of her youthful folk. It is the fact that she is sitting in her house that makes the music so raw and refreshing. She is a tremendous, young talent that is starting to tour and her music proves that she is ready to make a name for herself and add her soulful voice and folky guitar riffs to a watered-down folk genre.
Annie Eve hails from North London. She started playing music when she was 13, inspired by her older brother who is also a musician. I had a chance to interview Annie Eve through e-mail (oh the wonders of the technological age). Her enthusiasm shined through her words. Before she even got to answering the interview questions she wrote, “As soon as I picked up the guitar I started to write songs, it really just came naturally. Playing guitar, singing and writing songs all come in a package with me I don’t like doing any of them separately. Music is all I do now, I spend my time writing, recording or playing anywhere and I love it.” In an industry that often gets bogged down by musicians unable to balance fun with the often overriding want to make money, this is just great to hear.
Before we get to the interview, I would like to include a song by Annie that I believe most directly highlights her potential.
“Fish Bowl Shark Tank” is raw, exceptionally catchy, and wonderfully structured. Annie’s youthful vigor and ardent voice seeps through the homemade recording and gives the song a hint of maturity, even though she is clearly a callow musician. Yet, age aside, her emotion is raw and fresh, and her voice is uncultivated, but I mean that as a compliment. This song particularly reminds me a lot of Jaymay, a folk singer-songwriter from New York, and I believe Annie is travelling a similar path in both lyric and music. Take a listen to Jaymay.
What do you all think?
Here is the interview with Annie Eve:
Music Court: Who inspired you to get into music? Are there any bands you can label as major influences?
Annie Eve: My brother Simon first got me wanting to get into music, he showed me a load of music id never heard of, it was like his mission to make sure I didn’t listen to generic pop, I remember him sitting me down and playing a bunch of punk, blues and rock tunes at me (Simon fighting the good fight). The songs of mine I like the most are usually the ones that have been inspired by another band or a song, so I have alot of inspirations. To name a few, I would go with; Joni Mitchell, Led Zeppelin, Rilo Kiley, Bon Iver, Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Kimya Dawson and John Martyn. You might not hear them in my music necessarily but trust me they are in there.
MC: Tell me about your music making process if you can. How long does it take for you to generally write and record a song?
AE: Writing songs comes naturally to me, however writing a song I like, or think is good enough is another issue. After I write a song, Ill show my producer David, and play it at an open mic night, then Ill work on it and change it whenever I play it until I’m happy with it.
MC: Any plans for some upcoming shows?
AE: I’m starting to gig alot more now my EP is almost done, the next one I know of is on the 23rd of May at The Abbey Tavern in Kentish Town. I’ve also just booked a month in America to travel around and play, Ill post what im doing either on my facebook page or Myspace.
MC: Have a favorite band or song?
AE: My favourite band? Wow, I have many, to name a few; Radiohead, Rilo Kiley, Ramones, Led Zeppelin, Kings of Leon, Bon Iver and so so many more.
As one can see, she is starting to travel and play and this will hopefully help her get her name out in the music world. If you would like to learn more about Annie and see if she is coming to a town near you visit her Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/annieeve. Also, you can watch some of her videos over on her Youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/AnnieEveTracks.
The Music Court 
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