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Returning from a fall tour in the Northeast, Colleen's song Pretty Little Bird is in rotation on Sirius XM radio in Seattle, and a new review from High Plains Morning says "we present a new A-List CD by an up-and-coming young woman in the Alt-County/Americana music scene. Colleen McFarland is on her way to greatness, and her latest album, 'Let It Shine' is proof positive that Colleen will soon be in the same company as Lucy Kaplansky, Nancy Griffith, Eliza Gilkyson, Suzy Bogguss and Patty Griffin." American Rhythm Music Magazine (January 2009) says: "Another fantastic Alt. country gal, Colleen McFarland even throws in a horn section on a track or two. This is her fourth CD, and it’s a keeper. Another great CD for the 2009 music season." Colleen's latest cd Let It Shine: Climbed to 77 on AMA's Americana Airplay Chart Climbed to 5 on Roots Music Report's Folk Top 50 56 Top Album on the Folk DJ Chart for May "Fingers on the Buttons" added into Heavy rotation at KCUB in Texas with 35 reported spins per week A-List Featured Artist of the week at High Plains Public Radio in Texas Debut airplay on nationally syndicated "Women in Music with Laney Goodman" and 'Off the Beat n Track' Colleen McFarland grew up the youngest of nine children in Jennings, Missouri, listening to a variety of music that her parents, and eight siblings played on the radio and family turntable. Performing and writing songs at an early age, Colleen became a professional singer at the age of fifteen, performing in nightclubs across the Midwest. Graduating with honors in music performance from the University of Missouri in St. Louis, Colleen spent some time living in Boston, Massachusetts pursuing songwriting. She then moved to New Jersey and Philadelphia performing her original music at many venues in the Northeast including the Tin Angel, The Point, the Bitter End, and many coffee shops and festivals.
She recorded and co-produced two independent cds in the Northeast which received airplay on many college radio stations, and worked as a voice-over talent and jingle singer, recording commercials for Nike, Fox Television, Polygram Video, and recorded the lead soprano part for Bernard Herrmann's (of Alfred Hitchcock fame) post-mortem Opus 6.
Colleen moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2003 and released her third cd entitled Beautiful Lie, featured in Maverick Magazine's (UK) October issue, The Nashville Scene's Critics Pick August issue, Sing Out! magazine, and the November issue of Performing Songwriter's top DIY picks, and played on many independent and international radio stations including BBC Radio 2 with Bob Harris. During her six years in Nashville, she has performed solo and with her band at several venues including 3rd and Lindsley, the Bluebird Cafe, Borders, the Basement, the French Quarter, Douglas Corner, and the Family Wash. Colleen has sung with the band Soul Food, featuring guitarist/pedal steel player Pete Finney (Patty Loveless, Dixie Chicks), Dave Jacques (John Prine, Patty Griffin, Emmylou Harris), Jen Gundermann (the Jayhawks), Ken Coomer (Wilco), Martin Lynd (Last Train Home), and has also sung with guitarist Reeves Gabrels (David Bowie's Tin Machine) and Audley Freed (Black Crowes) singing blues and soul at East Nashville's favorite hangout, The Family Wash. She also backs up Curt Perkins (Josh Rouse band) as a vocalist at various Nashville venues. Since releasing her third and fourth albums, Colleen has toured England, Norway, France, and Germany and has sold records worldwide. She has shared the stage with Brett James, Tom Ghent, Freedy Johnston, Jeff Black, Kim Richey, Jeffrey Gaines, Lucy Kaplansky, Davis Raines, Frank Black, Entrain and many others.
Colleen licensed two songs from her last cd Beautiful Lie (2006) to Universal Studios for the dvd release of the television series Northern Exposure, and also recently signed a licensing deal with Universal Studios to write for film and television with Grammy nominated writers and producers John Mattick and Rodney Lawson of Crew 22, they also had two songs recently premiere on CBS' t.v. series, Swingtown. Colleen just released her 4th independent cd 'Let It Shine' (2009) to great reviews, featuring performances by Thomm Jutz (Nanci Griffith, Mary Gauthier), Norgwegian singer-songwriter/keyboardist Peter Nova, Lorne Rall (Lucinda Williams, Amazing Rhythm Aces), Pat McInerney (Nanci Griffith, Doc Watson), Mark Fain (Bruce Hornsby, Bonnie Raitt), Rich Malloy (Kim Richey, Garrison Starr), Davie Jacques (John Prine, Emmylou Harris) and many others.