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Liam McGenity is a 20-year-old singer/songwriter from Widnes, Cheshire. At the age of 12 he picked up the guitar for the first time, his mothers’ hackneyed classical guitar and began to learn “Heaven”, by Bryan Adams. After several failed attempts he gave up and decided to focus on other things, causing mischief in school being top of his list.
Four years later Liam began College and after the release of “Hey There Delilah” by the Plain White T’s he was inspired to pick up the guitar again and on a spontaneous trip to Costco, felt obliged to purchase his first guitar; a Yamaha FD01. It did the job. After a month or two, he mastered the song and gained the confidence to play at a couple of house parties with friends. He then began to learn more covers and at the age of 17 formed a band with two friends from high school. The rather unfortunately named “Approachable People” played a few clubs in the surrounding area and quickly became popular with their fellow students. In the summer of 2009, the Approachable People wrote their first song together. “Go Home” was an instant hit with the small fan base already gathered and was a song written about college parties. They then went on to play what would be the bands first and last major gig at the O2 Academy 2 Liverpool with an audience of around 200 people.
One month later the drummer left the band due to musical differences. “The New Era” was born. Along with existing guitarist Ryan Jackson, Liam and Ryan moved away from the up beat, indie rock genre and decided to implement more harmonies and meaningful lyrics into their music. With the existing fan base still in tact, the boys continued driving their music forward and were rewarded by being offered a spot at the home of The Beatles- “The Cavern Club”. They later went on to play other popular music venues around Liverpool such as the “Barfly” and “Mojo” and soon began recording their first demo album. Without any previous experience in production, using Liam’s cousin’s 8-track recorder they created their first 12 track demo CD in 2010 including songs such as “Story of a Wasteland”, “Dancing with the Witches” and “House Party at Lucy’s”. However, later that year “The New Era” was parted after they finished studying at Carmel College and soon to be starting their new lives at university.
In the summer of 2010 Liam decided to work as a solo artist and spent several months writing songs that would later give him the belief that he has the potential to make it as a successful solo artist. On a trip to the Lake District with friends before they all left for university he would stay up until the early hours of the morning sat outside writing songs seamlessly. “Dancing on the Sand” was the most popular from the new assemblage of songs and is one that Liam holds close to his heart and still plays profusely.
Liam started his Business Management degree at Lancaster University in October 2010, which granted him with the opportunity he desired to have his music heard on a larger scale. Short on confidence at the time he tried his hardest to obtain gigs both on campus and off campus and was rewarded by receiving regular slots at the two main music venues on campus- Pendle Bar and Lonsdale Bar. The song writing continued and the change of scenery gave Liam a lot more to write about; from the depressing and confusing start to the happiness of meeting new people and the excitement of what lied ahead.
Planning to spend his second year of university in USA, he formed a temporary trio band called “Bear Attacks in Canada” with two fellow students- Ollie Gaskell and Kitson Broadhurst. Whilst still playing as a solo artist and spending the majority of his time writing new songs pulling influences from The Courteeners, The Kooks, White Lies and Elbow, Bear Attacks went on to play Londsdale and Pendle Extrav; the two end of year festivals at Lancaster University. Just before his departure to the USA he spent time producing in the studio with producer Matt Walch to release his first unofficial single “Reflection”, which can be listened to on http://www.youtube.com/mcgenlfc.
In his music, he aims to “write with true emotion, both lyrically and musically. I steer away from the ambiguous and each song has a clear message. The fact that I’m completely self taught and rely solely on taking inspiration from other incredible musicians means that my lyrics come purely from my heart and head. This is what I love to do and hope that people continue to enjoy my music for the rest of my life.”
In his first semester of his study abroad year at Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, Liam began working on his first EP. Liam and Chris Cunningham produced “The Peaks” at Basecamp Recording and it includes six of Liam’s favourite songs in his unique style. Intelligent, honest, powerful and moving, “The Peaks” is a true masterpiece and is the start of something big for Liam. “The Peaks” is now available worldwide, digital version available on iTunes, AmazonMP3 and many other retailers. For signed hard copies of 'The Peaks' and the release poster, e-mail sales@liammcgenity.com with the subject 'order' for order form (delivery worldwide).
