ANNE McCUE READY TO ROLL WITH NEW ALBUM, HER FIRST FOR MESSENGER RECORDS

Singer/Songwriter/Lead Guitarist Counts Among Her Fans Lucinda Williams, Richard Thompson, Dave Alvin and More

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Anne McCue, the Australian-born singer/songwriter and guitarist, has completed work on Roll (Messenger Records), her first album to be released in the US. The album, set to be released on February 24, 2004, was co-produced by McCue and Dusty Wakeman (Dwight Yoakam, Lucinda Williams). McCue's previous effort, though never released domestically, gleaned much acclaim from the international press and attracted the support of fellow recording artist Lucinda Williams, among others.

An outstanding fact about Roll is that it rocks. McCue lets her lead guitar rip, and may pleasantly surprise those who only know her as a singer and songwriter. For McCue, its simply the frame of mind shes been in lately and a return to her roots. (She launched her music career as lead guitarist in the Australian indie hard rock band Girl Monstar.) The new recording features a trio (McCue, guitar/vocals; Dusty Wakeman, bass; and Dave Raven, drums) and was recorded at Mad Dog Studios in Burbank.

On the strength of the albums predecessor, Amazing Ordinary Things, and her live performances, McCue won the respect of such artists as Lucinda Williams, Richard Thompson, and Dave Alvin, and has toured with these acts and others over the past two years. Dave Alvin calls McCue a one-woman powerhouse." Lucinda Williams cites her as my new favorite artist and an amazing guitarist" and included her on a Starbucks Lucinda Williams: Artist Choice compilation CD that also featured John Coltrane, Leonard Cohen, Paul Westerberg, Ryan Adams and more.

Amazing Ordinary Things, which was recorded partly at Tim Finns Periscope Studio in Australia spawned success down other avenues. McCues song More Than This" was featured on multiple network television shows in the US. The album was just released in Japan where the song Angel Inside" (which was produced by Larry Klein, best known for his work with Joni Mitchell) has found its way to power play on Japanese radio. In addition the video for the song Laughing" is presently receiving MTV Japan play.

According to McCue, With Roll, I got to re-explore my rock roots on several songs. My favorite band setup is a three piece as I love the freedom of being the only chordal and lead instrument. Theres so much room to improvise, jam and generally have a blast, both live and in the studio. When we started making this record we had that back-to-basics philosophy -- keeping it raw without too many overdubs, jamming out the songs and then adding only what was necessary. I wrote the lyrics from the same point of view. I think they are honest and they are definitely autobiographical."

McCue wrote the songs except for Crazy Beautiful Child" which she co-wrote with Garth Brooks collaborator Jenny Yates and Nobodys Sleeping" which she co-wrote with her brother, Mark. With this recording McCue joins those artists such as PJ Harvey, Neko Case and Lucinda who are known for their honest, self-empowered approach to the pop form, despite current trends.

The album also includes a live in the studio nine-minute cover of Jimi Hendrixs Machine Gun" (from his Band of Gypsies album) on which Anne demonstrates her powerful guitar playing.

McCue was born in Sydney, Australia, and graduated from the Sydney University of Technology with an Arts Degree in film production and film studies. She spent eight years as musical director of the Melbourne Maskworks Theatre Company, working on such plays as Molieres Scapin the Scoundrel" and Voltaires Candide." This coincided with her work as lead guitarist for the band Girl Monstar who hit #1 on the Australian alternative charts and was followed up by Eden a.k.a (with whom she toured Canada and the U.S. as part of Lilith Fair).

Four years ago she moved to Los Angeles and embarked on her present solo career.

Anne has signed with Mongrel Music for bookings and the new year will bring extensive tour dates in North America and abroad.

Messenger Records, also home to Chris Whitley, Dan Bern, and Johnny Society is distributed by Ryko Distribution in the US.

More information on Anne McCue may be found at http://www.annemccue.com

                             # # #

For more information on Anne McCue, please contact The Baker/Northrop Media Group:
Cary Baker    (818) 986-5200 x 222    cary@bakernorthrop.com