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Here are
some reviews Stewart has received recently. More reviews will
be added soon so please come back often.
 Songs
from the Gasstation review - HotPress
“The singer-songwriter
backlash may be painfully overdue ,but hold off a while—long
enough at least, to give the affable Stewart Agnew a go. Agnew
may be working off the same palette as his overexposed peers
,but he seems to have different stories to tell and surprisingly
endearing ways to tell them. The songs are lovingly crafted
and exude a simplicity and frankness that is complemented by
the stripped-down production . Agnews voice is brisk with character
,sounding slightly gin-blossomed, yet to the point On “Sink
Or Swim” , his untarnished falsetto is like that of a drunken
angel, whereas on “Its No Surprise” , he is sentimental yet
controlled. Having cajoled the well-regarded Ron Sexsmith into
appearing on the album, the fruits of this collaboration, “Gypsy
Girl” and “I Give You Hope” , are truly beguiling.
After years
of unplugged overload, you would be forgiven for thinking that
you had heard every possible permutation of heartfelt acoustic
arrangement by now. Agnew gently fans the flames of the acoustic
maverick set, and, as the rest of the listening world seems
to be sitting up and taking notice of our little island of noise
and quiet, his timing may just be perfect.
- Tanya Sweeney
Cluas.com
Review
This Dundalk
singer/songwriter has been lurking in the shadows of the Irish
scene for two years now. Even though he has played alongside
Beth Orton, Ron Sexsmith and Rodrigo y Gabriela, he has managed
to stay out of the spotlight. Whilst touring with Damien Dempsey,
he sold over 500 copies of his EP ‘First Draft’ yet it wasn’t
until the release of his debut LP ‘Tailor Made’ that people
started to take notice of him.
His new
album was recorded in The Gasstation Studio, Toronto (which
is where the album’s title comes from) the studio was recommended
by Ron Sexsmith. Sexsmith actually lends his vocals to both
‘Gypsy Girl’ and ‘I Give You Hope’ and his piano skills glisten
on ‘How Hard We Fall’. Although the spotlight finally falls
on Agnew and shows his progression, not only as a songwriter
but also as a musician as well.
‘Down To
The Wreckage’ opens the album with a hushed softness that is
followed by a pleasing, upbeat ‘Tin Can Morning’. Each song
is bound with a simplicity that allows the reserved instrumentation
to compliment the lyrics. Agnew’s writing is on top form but
his vocal style changes like the Irish weather. To describe
his singing would be to take a slice of Springsteen, a sprinkle
of Young and a dash of Ryan Adams and fuse them together. ‘Lonesome
Road’ and ‘Just A Little More’ both scintillate as higher tempo
tunes while ‘Heartbreaker’ and ‘Sink Or Swim’ flow like harmonious
lullabies. The Sexsmith assisted ‘I Give You Hope’ has a charming
feel to it with a sweet-sounding harmonica. The real standout
track though is ‘Porterhouse Blues’. Its infectious chorus of
‘And I’m sitting on a bus / singing Elvis songs / And I don’t
feel like a fool / ‘Cause everything’s alright / Everything’s
alright / when I’m sitting next to you’, will have you singing
along in no time.
Agnew has
produced an album laudable of being one of the year’s best breakthroughs.
While it is a much more mature record than ‘Tailor Made’, it
still seems that he has more to offer.
The Ticket/Irish
Times Review 6/5/04
He is from Dundalk,which means hes as cool as a bar of plutonium,
but neither location nor distance from Dublin, the so called
capital of the singer/songwriter world, has prevented Stewart
Agnew from giving it his best shot. When the best shot includes
such high quality songwriting as found on "Songs From The Gasstation"-his
second album, launched with an in-store appearance at Dublins
Tower Records tomorrow - you realize the mans aim is indeed
true.
Recorded
in the Canadian studio that gave the album its title, and assisted
by Ron Sexsmiths leading henchmen, Agnew knows his way around
a decent tune, as evidenced on tracks such as Down To The Wreckage,
Its No Surprise, Lonesome Road and Tin Can Morning. Hints of
Springsteen, Dylan and Waits peep through and while its clear
that Agnew is still trying to find his real voice, its fairly
obvious hes not too far away from it
- Tony Clayton-Lea
The Belfast
Telegraph - 07/05/04
LISA FLAVELLE
goes
undercover to track down the hidden heroes of the Irish Music
Scene.
The File
on: STEWART AGNEW
Dundalk,
home of the Corrs, has also produced one of Ireland’s most critically
rated singer-songwriters who’s performed with Ron Sexsmith,
Beth Orton and The 4 of Us.
Stewart
Agnew’s music was recently described by Hot Press as being "brisk
with character, sentimental yet controlled and truly beguiling".
His current promotional single Porterhouse Blues is over
the airwaves like a rash.
The showband
years have a lot to answer for. Talk to younger musicians and
performers on the scene these days and you’ll find that their
parents learned to love music through either performing in bands
or attending dances. Stewart Agnew’s dad Francis was in The
Flamingos and nursed an Elvis obsession. The house was always
full of great music, lively sessions and the early sounds of
rock and roll.
While at
school Stewart played accordion in the local De La Salle Boys
band, taking part in street parades and sometimes going ‘on
the road’. By the 1980’s his brother Andrew was filling the
house with David Bowie and The Beatles. Stewart was being lyrically
inspired by Dylan and Springsteen. Then Andrew arrived home
with Neil Young’s Harvest and Stewart realised he had
to pick up a guitar and start writing.
Stints as
a bass player and singer with local bands White Vinyl and Still
Life led to music becoming the major focus of Stewart’s life.
He set off to Manchester to study music and arts but soon returned
to Dundalk, writing and the acoustic guitar.
Gigs at
The Spirit Store helped Stewart learn his craft and sound engineer
Derek Turner was taken with Stewart’s distinctive style. He
contacted Peer Music, a publishing company who’d been doing
business with The 4 of Us and Kieran Goss. On hearing Stewart’s
demo they agreed to publish songs as the album Tailor Made.
It sold 3000 copies just from word of mouth.
Stewart
still prefers to build sales and reputation through his live
shows. He only cut 500 copies of the First Draft demo
– and they sold out halfway through his tour with Damian Dempsey.
Great support gigs have also helped to target the right audience.
His first real tour was with The 4 of Us. Others with Juliet
Turner, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, and his personal favourite , Beth
Orton, at The Elmwood Hall, have helped Stewart bring his music
to appreciative ears.
Last year
he toured Ireland with Ron Sexsmith who was so impressed with
his talents, he offered his band and studio to Agnew to create
a new album. Recorded in Toronto with renowned Canadian musicians
Tim Bovaconti, Don Kerr and Peter Murray, Songs from The
Gasstation is released today and even features Sexsmith
as guest vocalist.
The Irish Times Live
Review
The Ticket, The Irish Times
Hotpress
The
Irish Times Live Review
"There's
enough of Agnew in the songs that sets him apart from many other
singer/songwriters operating in similar territory. Several songs
are superb: Victoria Square, about time spent in Rostrevor,
is pure and elegant; Lonesome Road is the rustic swing of Ronnie
Lane transported to the Noughties, while the wistful Hopes and
Wishes is probably Agnew's finest song to date." - Tony
Clayton-Lea
The
Ticket, The Irish Times
"A
whiff of the neophyte hangs around Tailor Made, no bad thing
considering the tampering that too many debutants endure at
the hands of unforgiving producers with too much studio technology
within reach. Stewart Agnew, armed with vocal chords suggestive
of an illicit coupling of Lloyd Cole and Scritti Politti, adds
up to some serious falsetto. Then he augments it all with some
fine company, particularly in the person of Clive Barnes, whose
lap slide on This Town Sleeps Tonight is pitch perfect in tenor
and in mood. A curiosity-provoking collection." - Siobhain
Long
Hotpress
"Twenty-four-year-old Agnew from Dundalk has slowly but
surely been making a name for himself on the singer songwriter
circuit for the past couple of years, both on his own and through
some high profile supports with the likes of Beth Orton, Ron
Sexsmith and the Four Of Us.
He has a knack for a sweeping melancholy that would be worth
developing, putting brass and strings to good use on "Easy
River"
Tailor Made is at least coming from an honest, sincere place
- as the success of the Frames, Kitt, Mundy and Turner has proved
again and again - that's not a bad place too start." -
Phil Udell
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