Anne McCue is an Australian alternative country singer-songwriter and guitarist currently living in the United States.
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Early life and education
McCue grew up in Campbelltown, an area southwest of Sydney, Australia and graduated from the University of Technology, Sydney with a degree in Film Production and Film Studies.
Music career
McCue's first band was known as Vertigo. In 1988, McCue moved to Melbourne, Australia and took guitar lessons from Bruce Clarke. Answering an ad in the local press, she joined all-female rock band Girl Monstar as lead guitarist (1988-1993). The band eventually received an ARIA nomination for best independent act. Following her stint with Girl Monstar, she played acoustically around Melbourne, later performing in Vietnam for a year before returning to Melbourne to record her Laughing EP (1996). She then joined Australian female trio Eden AKA, who signed to Columbia Records in the USA. They released a self-titled album and performed in Canada and the USA at the Lilith Fair in 1998 and 1999. McCue's first solo album, Amazing Ordinary Things, was released in 1999 in Canada and Japan, and she toured with a number of well-known musicians, including an international tour with Lucinda Williams, who would often introduce McCue as "my new favorite artist... and an amazing guitarist". Williams later included McCue on an 'Artist's Choice' compilation alongside Paul Westerberg and Leonard Cohen. McCue's success on the Lucinda Williams tour prompted the release of a live album, Live: Ballad of an Outlaw Woman, recorded at The Fillmore in San Francisco, California, and her first Messenger Records release, Roll. Roll also received numerous critical accollades, with Los Angeles Weekly stating that the Australian performer had more "all-American authenticity than a dozen Martina McBrides" and Entertainment Weekly drawing comparisons to Lucinda Williams and Canadian alt-country singer Kathleen Edwards. Bob Harris from the BBC went as far as to call it his album of the year, and she toured internationally to promote the album. McCue released her album Koala Motel on Messenger Records in 2006. She is completed an international tour to promote the album. She relocated from Los Angeles to Nashville and in August of 2007, took part in the Broad Festival which toured major Australian cities.
Solo discography
- Laughing EP (CD EP) - self-released - 1996
- Amazing Ordinary Things (CD) - Relentless Records - 2000
- Live: Ballad of an Outlaw Woman (CD) - self-released - 2002
- Roll (CD) - Messenger Records - 2004
- Koala Motel (CD) - Messenger Records - 2006
