Biography
Ireland's Eamonn McCormack stands among the world's most celebrated blues-rock guitarists, vocalists, and composers. His approach fuses the Celtic blues lineage established by Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore with a melodic rock intensity. Proficient in fingerstyle technique, slide blues, and riff-driven hard rock alike, McCormack delivers vocals through a gritty yet precisely articulated baritone. Prior to issuing recordings under his own identity with the widely praised 2008 album Kindred Spirits, he logged the 1990s as both sideman and headliner while releasing three albums credited to Samuel Eddy. After resuming his birth name for performances throughout the opening decade of the twenty-first century, McCormack has operated successfully as bandleader, solo artist, and festival-circuit headliner on multiple continents. Although new studio projects appear only occasionally, he maintains an annual schedule exceeding 230 live dates. In 2021 he delivered the well-received Storyteller, eleven original compositions blending blues, hard rock, boogie, and acoustic material.
Born in Dublin in 1962, McCormack first picked up the guitar at age six after witnessing classmate Gerry Leonard in performance. Leonard would later build an acclaimed career alongside David Bowie and Suzanne Vega. Early influences encompassed Cockney band Slade, Cat Stevens, Neil Young, and fellow Dubliner Rory Gallagher, with whom McCormack would eventually share stages. By twelve he was performing in church services and coaching new pupils alongside his guitar teacher. As a teenager he acquired his first electric instrument and joined a neighborhood cover group while absorbing the styles of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Brian Robertson of Thin Lizzy, and Thijs van Leer, guitarist and guiding force of Dutch progressive outfit Focus. At sixteen McCormack captured first place in a national high-school songwriting contest and performed the winning material on national radio.
Following secondary-school graduation he freelanced as a guitarist, touring Europe with assorted ensembles before relocating to the United States in his early twenties. He held various temporary positions between Boston, New York, and Los Angeles. In California he renewed his acquaintance with Rory Gallagher, and the two formed a close friendship. McCormack soon secured steady work among active session players, logging four years of club and studio dates before returning to Ireland under the Samuel Eddy moniker.
Once back in Dublin he taught guitar and continued composing. Toward the close of the 1980s he assembled a band and resumed road work. Six months in Amsterdam established him as the busiest blues-rock guitarist in Holland and Belgium; during that stretch he performed more than 150 concerts and issued his self-titled debut for Virgin Records, which featured the late Dutch singer-songwriter Herman Brood on piano. McCormack next signed with SPV for 1995's Strangers on the Run. Guests on that album included Gallagher, Jan Akkerman, and session saxophonist Keith Donald. The title-track single reached the European Top 20. After releasing a self-titled live album, Samuel Eddy resumed constant touring until an unexpected development occurred. Following an Amsterdam festival opening slot for ZZ Top, McCormack left the stage and withdrew from public view.
Exhausted after ten years on the road, the guitarist entered an eighteen-month period of total seclusion. He used the time to refine his songwriting and arranging abilities while expanding his instrumental vocabulary. Upon emerging he traveled widely, playing blues with local musicians in Detroit, collaborating with nomadic guitarists in Morocco—where he first met Robert Plant—and jamming in Mexico and Hong Kong, absorbing regional sounds wherever he went.
Two years later McCormack settled again in Dublin, launched an independent label, and took on production work. He began mentoring younger artists, supporting their initial releases both artistically and financially. The guitarist formally ended his absence after receiving an invitation to a French music festival, where his performance earned a five-minute standing ovation from the large audience. He then adopted his own name professionally, assembled a touring band, and recorded the breakthrough Kindred Spirits. Issued by True Talent in 2008, the album featured final recorded appearances by Gallagher along with contributions from Akkerman and Donald. The set charted in Ireland and the Netherlands, securing radio airplay and establishing McCormack as a headline attraction. In 2012 he joined the In-Akustik roster, which remastered and reissued Kindred Spirits while releasing the studio album Heal My Faith. Alongside ten original McCormack compositions performed by a power trio, the record contained covers of Phil Lynott's "A Night in the Life of an Old Blues Singer" and Gallagher's "Shadow Play."
Five years and hundreds of thousands of road miles spent alongside Johnny Winter, Robert Plant, Walter Trout, and others elapsed before McCormack issued the double-length Like There's No Tomorrow on Germany's Sireena label. The collection contained fifteen originals, among them the autobiographical opener "From Town to Town," plus interpretations of Lynott's "One Wish," Gerry Goffin's "It's Not the Spotlight," and a solo acoustic reading of Jimi Hendrix's "Angel." Although the album did not chart, it received enthusiastic international notices and positioned McCormack and his band on major festival stages as well as sold-out club and theater engagements.
Immediately after performing before tens of thousands at Germany's Rockpalast in November 2019, McCormack entered the studio. He emerged with Storyteller, issued by BEM in April 2020, introducing his new trio of bassist Edgar Karg and drummer Max Jung-Poppe. Although pandemic restrictions prevented touring, the album drew some of the strongest reviews of his career across the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, and Asia, and it reached the top position on blues streaming charts. In October he delivered a socially distanced solo acoustic concert at the fifteenth-century Oude Calixtus Church in Groenlo, Netherlands. McCormack continued writing and recording throughout the pandemic; Storyteller received a United States reissue in April 2021. Still unable to tour, he announced completion of Truth Be Told, scheduled for early 2022 release.
Born in Dublin in 1962, McCormack first picked up the guitar at age six after witnessing classmate Gerry Leonard in performance. Leonard would later build an acclaimed career alongside David Bowie and Suzanne Vega. Early influences encompassed Cockney band Slade, Cat Stevens, Neil Young, and fellow Dubliner Rory Gallagher, with whom McCormack would eventually share stages. By twelve he was performing in church services and coaching new pupils alongside his guitar teacher. As a teenager he acquired his first electric instrument and joined a neighborhood cover group while absorbing the styles of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Brian Robertson of Thin Lizzy, and Thijs van Leer, guitarist and guiding force of Dutch progressive outfit Focus. At sixteen McCormack captured first place in a national high-school songwriting contest and performed the winning material on national radio.
Following secondary-school graduation he freelanced as a guitarist, touring Europe with assorted ensembles before relocating to the United States in his early twenties. He held various temporary positions between Boston, New York, and Los Angeles. In California he renewed his acquaintance with Rory Gallagher, and the two formed a close friendship. McCormack soon secured steady work among active session players, logging four years of club and studio dates before returning to Ireland under the Samuel Eddy moniker.
Once back in Dublin he taught guitar and continued composing. Toward the close of the 1980s he assembled a band and resumed road work. Six months in Amsterdam established him as the busiest blues-rock guitarist in Holland and Belgium; during that stretch he performed more than 150 concerts and issued his self-titled debut for Virgin Records, which featured the late Dutch singer-songwriter Herman Brood on piano. McCormack next signed with SPV for 1995's Strangers on the Run. Guests on that album included Gallagher, Jan Akkerman, and session saxophonist Keith Donald. The title-track single reached the European Top 20. After releasing a self-titled live album, Samuel Eddy resumed constant touring until an unexpected development occurred. Following an Amsterdam festival opening slot for ZZ Top, McCormack left the stage and withdrew from public view.
Exhausted after ten years on the road, the guitarist entered an eighteen-month period of total seclusion. He used the time to refine his songwriting and arranging abilities while expanding his instrumental vocabulary. Upon emerging he traveled widely, playing blues with local musicians in Detroit, collaborating with nomadic guitarists in Morocco—where he first met Robert Plant—and jamming in Mexico and Hong Kong, absorbing regional sounds wherever he went.
Two years later McCormack settled again in Dublin, launched an independent label, and took on production work. He began mentoring younger artists, supporting their initial releases both artistically and financially. The guitarist formally ended his absence after receiving an invitation to a French music festival, where his performance earned a five-minute standing ovation from the large audience. He then adopted his own name professionally, assembled a touring band, and recorded the breakthrough Kindred Spirits. Issued by True Talent in 2008, the album featured final recorded appearances by Gallagher along with contributions from Akkerman and Donald. The set charted in Ireland and the Netherlands, securing radio airplay and establishing McCormack as a headline attraction. In 2012 he joined the In-Akustik roster, which remastered and reissued Kindred Spirits while releasing the studio album Heal My Faith. Alongside ten original McCormack compositions performed by a power trio, the record contained covers of Phil Lynott's "A Night in the Life of an Old Blues Singer" and Gallagher's "Shadow Play."
Five years and hundreds of thousands of road miles spent alongside Johnny Winter, Robert Plant, Walter Trout, and others elapsed before McCormack issued the double-length Like There's No Tomorrow on Germany's Sireena label. The collection contained fifteen originals, among them the autobiographical opener "From Town to Town," plus interpretations of Lynott's "One Wish," Gerry Goffin's "It's Not the Spotlight," and a solo acoustic reading of Jimi Hendrix's "Angel." Although the album did not chart, it received enthusiastic international notices and positioned McCormack and his band on major festival stages as well as sold-out club and theater engagements.
Immediately after performing before tens of thousands at Germany's Rockpalast in November 2019, McCormack entered the studio. He emerged with Storyteller, issued by BEM in April 2020, introducing his new trio of bassist Edgar Karg and drummer Max Jung-Poppe. Although pandemic restrictions prevented touring, the album drew some of the strongest reviews of his career across the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, and Asia, and it reached the top position on blues streaming charts. In October he delivered a socially distanced solo acoustic concert at the fifteenth-century Oude Calixtus Church in Groenlo, Netherlands. McCormack continued writing and recording throughout the pandemic; Storyteller received a United States reissue in April 2021. Still unable to tour, he announced completion of Truth Be Told, scheduled for early 2022 release.
Albums
Singles
