Kevin Walsh Pays Tribute To Meat Loaf With Cover 'Not A Dry Eye In The House'

Growing up, Cork artist Kevin was a non-verbal autistic child with an eating disorder and intense social anxiety. His solace for that anxiety was the theatrical videos, dramatic performances, and the larger-than-life persona of Meat Loaf himself. This sparked something in the silent boy. It sparked a flame that would lead to communicating, self-teaching himself piano and earning a First Class Honors Degree in Music. Though the journey was wrought with many anxieties, Kevin credits Meat Loaf's "never ever quit" attitude as inspiration for getting through these tough times.

The two would ultimately meet virtually at GalaxyCon 2020 and struck up a rapport. Meat's encouragement and friendship drove Kevin to overcome his anxieties as an artist imposed by autism and the Covid pandemic. What resulted was Embrace the World (Meat was in talks to partake in the supergroup before his passing) and a customer service role at Boots. To quote Kevin's mother Cathy, "It's like two births. You have the child that was and the young man that he is."

Walsh teamed with Canadian-producer Taylor Harris on the track and immediately you can hear what Meat's influence has meant to the young artist; the sense of drama and theatricality in the production, the sense of opera underneath the rock exterior. Joey Clarkson, Luna Olivia Avery and Marie Conniffe soar on a choral-backing vocal line that is equal parts John Williams, Jim Steinman and Queen. Between Kevin's classically trained powerful tenor voice and Harris' succinct attention to detail, they recreate the classic wall-of-sound that made the Meat Loaf original such an epic track while bringing it to a modern audience.

This influence extends further to the touching cinematic music video loosely inspired by A Star Is Born, written and produced by Walsh and filmed by deepRed Productions, whose previous credits include Miracle of Sound, crew for director Bob Gallagher and numerous worldwide award winning videos. It made its Irish premiere as part of Dublin International Short Film and Music Festival. Bow Street Academy graduate Claudia de Luca plays Kevin's erstwhile love, as an X-Factor inspired audition for stardom tragically tears the duo apart. The video also features Timmy Dowd (Disenchanted) and Leila Ecker (Influencer / Miss Universe Cork 2020). Kevin himself also displays the expressive acting chops which landed him supporting roles in musicals like Into the Woods, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and the TV Series The Young Offenders. His career goal is to write a musical movie, and he sees this video as the pilot for that story.

Artist Bio

Emerging onto the music scene in 2022 with the Autism Awareness themed supergroup Embrace the World (featuring the West End's Caroline Kay and fellow neurodivergent nu-folk artist Emma Langford), Kevin Walsh soared straight to #1 on iTunes, #19 on the Irish Homegrown Charts, appeared on the Six O'Clock Show and headlined AsIAm's Same Chance World Autism Conference 2022. Emboldened, he has now decided to strike out on his own as a solo artist.

His upcoming single, Not a Dry Eye in the House, a cover of the Diane Warren-penned Meat Loaf classic, is a prime example of Kevin's influences and talents as a singer and an actor. A classically trained tenor with a rock edge comparable to Josh Groban and Colm Wilkinson and a style informed by years of musical theatre experience.

Kevin looks forward to a number of performances in Winter of 2023 to be followed by his debut EP in 2024, a concept piece further exploring the story found in his latest music video.

More than anything, Kevin wishes to let the world know what Meat Loaf and his music has meant to him. Not a Dry Eye in the House is out now on all online music streaming platforms.

Follow Kevin on social media:
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/Kevin.Walsh.MusicIRE
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/kevinwalsh.music/

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