I am just back from a brilliant night in the Black box, Belfast launch the debut album (When the Time Comes) of the stunningly talented Eilidh Patterson. Eilidh (pronounced “I – Lee”) Patterson is a 25 year old singer/songwriter from Derry, N.Ireland, whose style is influenced by a combination of folk, country, gospel and bluegrass music.

Born into a line of singers, poets and folk musicians, Eilidh’s natural creative talents were nurtured through impromptu fireside ‘sessions’. Formal lessons on piano, violin and flute would follow and, aged fifteen, Eilidh would experience her own musical epiphany.

Her father showed her a few basic chords on the guitar and, bestowed with this knowledge, she determined to make music her life’s vocation.

Her’s is a unique talent, both as writer and singer. Technically accomplished, Eilidh’s early immersion in music and formal training has, in recent years, been further finessed by tuition in the Mecca of country music, Nashville, Tennessee.

Her self-accompaniment on guitar is clean and precise, the music moulded to the mood of each individual song. Lyrically her compositions bring a message as passionate and fresh as the vocal, it is music borne of personal experience, fully alive to this world’s joys and sorrows, beguiling and beautiful, eloping with the listener’s affections.

Check out Eildh’s website.