Paul Shevlin
The last twelve months have seen 18 year old Paul Shevlin come into the top level of the local music scene from seemingly nowhere. Fuelled by generous radio play and a dynamic live show, his popularity has gained momentum.
His live performance, usually as an energetic three piece, was aptly described by one music journalist as “piano pounding intensity and softly tinkling melancholia”. The highlight of his 2010 live circuit was supporting one of his first musical inspirations, Duke Special, at a very special low key show in Belfast.
His melodic piano led songs have been heavily featured on BBC Radio 1’s Introducing programme and on BBC Radio Ulster’s Across the Line. Paul has also been playlisted and recorded radio sessions for Citybeat, Cool FM, NMG and BBC Radio London and made his television debut in November for BBC Northern Ireland’s BBC2 show Blas Ceoil.
January 2011 brought more exciting developments as Paul became the latest signing on the consistently rewarding local record label, Di Di Mau, who released new single Backfire (Set Them All Alight) on Monday 18 April.
In March 2011, interest from several Major and Independent Record labels culminated in one of them, B- Unique, inviting Paul to work on new material with producer Rick Parkhouse, best known for his work with platinum selling artist Sandi Thom. To come out of these sessions were several demo tracks, and it is hoped some or all will be released late 2011.
PRS tipped Paul in their recent M-Magazine (www.m-magazine.co.uk) and placed Backfire (Set Them All Alight) on their much coveted New Music Podcast on which Marsha at XFM describes Paul is “a bright, and I think, massive star of the future.”
April was dominated by a UK and Irish tour. ‘Backfire’ was well received, achieving radio play across the UK and Ireland. Cool FM and Citybeat, Northern Ireland’s two largest commercial radio stations, officially playlisted the single and Citybeat also listed it as ‘Single of the week’. At a recent radio session to promote the single, Paul played four live tracks on BBC London’s The Late Show after which presenter Jo Good proclaimed “I loved that!” and then went on to use the word “love” no fewer than nine times as she described the merits of what she had just heard.
A second UK and Ireland tour is being booked for the autumn of this year. Paul returns to the recording studio in May to record the next single with a planned release in September and plays a solo show at The Bedford in London on 31 May.
Bandwidth Sessions have also produced a fantastic video which can be viewed at:
http://www.youtube.com/PaulShevlinMusic
www.paulshevlin.com
