Gemma Hayes (born 11 August 1977, Ballyporeen, Tipperary, Ireland) is an Irish singer-songwriter. One of eight children, Hayes was surrounded by music from an early age, both from any of her seven siblings' bedrooms & being played by her father, a keyboardist in a local band.
By the time she left for boarding school in County Limerick, Hayes was already proficient at piano and found that the music used to counter the boredom of living in a small village, now offered her escape from the strict regime of her new home. Although she enrolled at University in Dublin, Hayes soon left to concentrate on music, working part-time in a laundrette during the day and playing the city's circuit at night. Hayes signed to the French independent record label, Source Records in 2001, and issued the 4.35am EP and the Work to a Calm EP before releasing her debut album, Night on my Side, in 2002. In 2002 she won Best Female Singer at the Hot Press Awards. The album was nominated for the 2003 Mercury Prize but lost out to Ms. Dynamite's, A Little Deeper. After touring Night on my Side Hayes took two years out from the music industry; "All I do know is that I didn't want to listen to music at all. I stopped listening to the radio. It was like I'd overdosed on music".
In late 2005 Hayes returned with her second album, The Roads Don't Love You, and picked up the Best Irish Female Artist award at the 2006 Meteor Ireland Music Awards, shortly before completing a small tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Shortly after this she left EMI-Virgin. Hayes co-wrote the song "Hazy" with Adam Duritz for the Counting Crows' live album, New Amsterdam. Duritz then referenced her in the song "Washington Square", from the March 2008 Counting Crows release, Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings - in the context of talking about his travelings the highways, from Dublin to Berkley"), the song's speaker says that he has "heard the songbirds of Ballyporeen".
Popular culture
* Her song 'Two Step' was featured in a season 2 episode of the hit TV show Grey's Anatomy.
* She was also featured in a duet with Norwegian singer Magnet on a Bob Dylan cover, "Lay Lady Lay" in the 2005 feature film Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
* Hayes was on the Ceol '07 album, which was released on 2 March 2007, singing "Rith Mé Go Crích", an Irish language version of "Ran For Miles", which originally appeared on Night on my Side. Other Irish artists who appeared included Bell X1 and Paddy Casey.
* She appeared on the cover of the June 2008 edition of State Magazine.
* Her song "4:35am" appeared in the 2006 film, Flicka.
Awards
* 2001 - Best Female Artist - Hot Press Awards
* 2002 - Mercury Prize - Nomination
* 2006 - Best Irish Female Artist - Meteor Ireland Music Awards - Winner
* 2009 - Best Irish Female Artist - Meteor Ireland Music Awards - Nomination
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