I Can Only Be Me

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Back in 2001, it was the BBC playing Cassidy's version of "Over the Rainbow" that introduced her to British audiences and ignited a media storm on both sides of the Atlantic. EVA CASSIDY'S IMPECCABLE VOICE PAIRED WITH LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA FOR "I CAN ONLY BE ME" ALBUM COMING IN FEBRUARY, 2023". Really don't understand the 45rpm issuing of this, as I find there is no sound stage, literally Eva is center and orchestra is coming directly out of left and right speakers.

Where previous posthumous releases for the American artist, like 1997’s Eva By Heart and 2000’s No Boundaries showcased the raw talent and emotional depth of Cassidy, highlighting her one-of-a-kind voice with a purity and clarity that was both angelic and soulful, 2023’s release with The London Symphony Orchestra provides a previously unheard side of Eva’s work. But as I went deeper into Eva’s life story and catalogue, I came to understand the extent to which she herself had experimented in the studio and had been looking for new ways to record her songs. The latest chapter in an unparalleled posthumous career, I Can Only Be Me is a landmark new collaborative album with the London Symphony Orchestra. While it can be easy to argue that much of what made Cassidy’s work so special and so beloved was the simplicity; tasteful, resourceful (real instruments instead of synths) and never flashy, it’s almost impossible to imagine a world in which the tracks on I Can Only Be Me weren’t “meant to be” coupled with strings. Songbird,” the first track on the new album, will be released by Blix Street Records as a digital single today (November 17) and will be available from iTunes, Spotify and other digital outlets.Of the "Songbird" track, Willis commented: “The wonderful, resonant truth about this song is that Eva is the Songbird, singing naturally from the heart. When singer Eva Cassidy wandered into producer Chris Biondo’s studio in Glenn Dale, Maryland to make extra money by singing on a band’s demo, she began an unprecedented journey that would lead to more than 12 million albums sold worldwide, largely posthumously.

But as I went deeper into Eva’s life story and catalogue, I came to understand the extent to which she herself had experimented in the studio and had been for new ways to record her songs. The Music said that Cassidy was "one of the great singers of our generation" and, rating the album 4/5 stars, added that the release was filled with "beautiful, larger-than-life compositions, deeply rich in texture". Funded in full by Cassidy herself, using cash from her day job in a plant nursery, it was the second release in almost a decade for Eva, and while the pair didn’t know it at the time, it would be the final record that Eva would ever make.

When singer Eva Cassidy wandered into producer Chris Biondo's studio in Glenn Dale, Maryland to make extra money by singing on a band’s demo, she began an unprecedented journey that would lead to more than 12 million albums sold worldwide, largely posthumously.

The wonderful, resonant truth about this song is that Eva is the Songbird, singing naturally from the heart – no ego,” says Christopher Willis. Perhaps her hometown paper, the Washington Post said it best: “The saddest part of the mostly heartwarming story of singer Eva Cassidy is that she had to die to get the renown she deserved.

In the original live recording, the only accompaniment is Eva herself playing the guitar, lightly brushing the strings in a continuous tremolo. Her taste and the breadth of her material have continued to propel interest in her finite recorded work all these years later.