Tricia McTeague – In The Spotlight

Have you ever been in the delightful company of someone who seems to exude the very art of their profession and oozes the charisma from which this self-confidence derives? It certainly applies in the case of an incredibly talented local singer, songwriter, guitarist, percussionist and harmonica player Tricia McTeague. For those of you not familiar with her work I would strongly recommend a visit to her website at: www.triciamcteague.com as it provides an astonishing list of the top artists she has already recorded, collaborated, duetted, supported and toured with during her relatively short career. Suffice it to say, Tricia’s CV and achievements are far too extensive to elaborate on here. She has recently taken some time out from a busy schedule to record several covers and one of her own songs in her home studio. Two breathtaking examples from these sessions follow by way of acoustic versions of Rihanna:

Tricia McTeague – Only Girl In The World (Rihanna)
youtu.be/PHyN6ydoqqs

Tricia McTeague – Man Down (Rihanna)
youtu.be/cnQMVefPxcc 

So, what has Tricia been up to over the course of these past couple of years? Well, she stepped into the platform shoes of Stevie Nicks in the magnificent tribute band ‘The Rumours Of Fleetwood Mac’, featured live on Radio Merseyside and most recently recorded the backing vocals for the X Factor. Yes, Tricia is the singer who ensures those ‘stars in the making’ sound so polished when it comes to their live performances each weekend. In addition, she has continued to play both publicly and privately on the local circuit and beyond. This generally incorporates Liverpool, Lancashire, Cheshire, Wirral and Shropshire, including the likes of the wonderful Knutsford Wine Bar and picturesque Ferry Tavern on the banks of the River Mersey in Penketh. Here are two more fantastic videos of Tricia live in action, featuring the music of Lissie and Christina Perri:

Tricia McTeague – When I’m Alone (Lissie)
youtu.be/m49Xdyti0oc

Tricia McTeague – A Thousand Years (Christina Perri)
youtu.be/BPGLJr8OPEY 

In case you’re wondering how I initially became aware of Tricia’s immense skills, it all began on a cold winter’s evening in a famous Liverpool city centre bar. She was performing live with her husband Steve Zdrenka, himself a fine acoustic guitarist and bass player for the superb local band ‘The Wickermen’. As a duo, Tricia and Steve are called ‘UnPlugged’, this remarkable experience instantly had me transfixed as their majestic and perfectly honed abilities both individually and collectively became very obviously apparent. It was indeed rather humbling as I looked on in disbelief that I was witnessing this concert of supreme quality for merely the cost of a drink when in reality I should have been paying the face value of a theatre ticket, which is undoubtedly where their level of excellence belongs. I was fortunate enough to speak with Tricia post-gig and was totally absorbed by her warm, humorous and most evidently modest personality.  She now treats us to an acoustic taste of Stevie Nicks and a beautiful rendition of a track entitled ‘Letting Go’ from her own magical music repertoire, which clearly demonstrates her amazing versatility as a musician:

Tricia McTeague – Landslide (Fleetwood Mac/Stevie Nicks)
youtu.be/DJhZKOP89_I

Tricia McTeague – Letting Go (original)
youtu.be/ZVK1JWzDJ7w 

What next for Tricia then? In addition to recording some more of these scintillating live videos and playing at her fantastic gigs, she is continuously involved in numerous exciting projects and is also currently working on a follow-up album to her stunning self-penned debut release ‘The Pleasure Is Mine’ which is available for purchase from her website. Having been privileged enough to observe demos and live performances of Tricia’s new material, of which two covers of her singles have already featured on hit albums by Japanese artists, I can assure you that it will definitely be worth the wait!

Mike Partington
April 2012

You can find Tricia online at triciamcteague.com

Read Mike’s review of Tricia’s debut album The Pleasure Is Mine here.

Many thanks to Mike for sending in this piece for the Liverpool Acoustic website. It’s always nice to receive contributions from people who are obviously passionate about new, local music. If you’re reading this and would like to write for the website drop us a line using the details on our contact page.

Tricia McTeague – In The Spotlight