You And Me
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- You And Me
- 歌手：Declan Galbraith
- 語種：英语
- 時間：2007年09月
- 公司：百代唱片
This is the story of a boy
with an extraordinary voiceDeclan Galbraith and his family live in England, in the small town of Hoo, near Rochester, Kent. His father, Alec, is of Scottish descent, while his mother Siobhan comes from a large Irish family. She is a twin and one of 14 children in her family. Declan’s grandfather whom he affectionately called ?Poppy Ben’ sang in a band and played several instruments and often took Declan along to the ‘Fleadhs’ (concerts) he was playing in.
“I would sit there for hours watching Poppy Ben and the musicians, and listening to their music“, says Declan. The explosive mix of Scottish and Irish musical traditions inspired Declan and became his early musical influence. He remembers himself already singing at the age of two. He adds, “These are some of my very first memories in life – always singing.“
His talent was publicly acknowledged for the first time when at just 7 years old he insisted on performing spontaneously at the annual Rochester Dickens Festival, a two-day extravaganza where people were invited to dress up in Victorian costumes to celebrate the life and times of the famous author Charles Dickens and his links with their town. Little Declan, dressed up as a chimney sweep, started singing and the crowd went wild. Soon after this he started to enter local talent contests and within a year he had won 15 titles and more than ￡1,000.00. He wisely put most of it into a savings account, but he did spend some of it on computer games, a basketball and a brand new football.
Now, some five years later, Declan has made music and singing his full-time career. Siobhan Galbraith: ”As parents, it has always been the biggest concern to ensure that irrespective of his talent and success, Declan would not lose touch with the real world, and to remain a normal young man. We know he has an extraordinary talent and he has set himself a very high goal.”
As a result of his success in the talent shows, the major recording companies soon heard about Declan and he was signed to his first recording contract in England. His first recording was ‘Walking in the Air’, which was released on a special Christmas Hits album, also featuring Westlife, Elton John and Elvis Presley. Declan loves to sing to live audiences and among some of his most memorable performances are, the Queen’s Jubilee at St Paul’s Cathedral, when he sang ‘Amazing Grace’ accompanied by the St Paul’s Choir and an unforgettable experience when singing in front of more than 22,000 people at an Elton John concert.
Declan says: “So far I have been able to realize my dream of making music and singing. I am now playing guitar and the piano and have also started to write my own songs, which hopefully I will record on future albums. One day I would also like to develop other skills and perhaps do some acting as well."
Declan is determined to keep his feet firmly on the ground and knows that it is important to keep up with all of his schoolwork and education. He finds time to practice his music every day.
His first album with Irish traditional songs and some specially written material became a big success and charted in the U.K. and Ireland. Another big success came during a nationwide tour of Young Voices concerts when breaking the Guinness World Record. It was at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast in December 2002 when he sang live with some 10,000 children and was also simultaneously linked, by radio and satellite, with more than 80,000 children in their schools all over the UK, who accompanied him in achieving the world’s largest choral sing.
Of his new album Declan says: “I like to record songs that are meaningful to me and the audience. I have recorded many different types of songs, such as “Tears in Heaven”, “Love of my Life”, “Nights In White Satin” and “An Angel”, songs that demand vocal performance and interpretation. I love that kind of music "
Declan’s extraordinary talent and reputation came to the attention of media mogul Haim Saban and his music President, Ron Kenan, who signed Declan to Saban Music Group’s new record label. They have chosen Germany to be the very first territory in the world to launch their first produced album, via the Starwatch Music label. Declan has interpreted an impressive list of great songs in his own unique style. ?This album is a collection of some of my favourite classic songs. My greatest thanks go to the amazing songwriters who were responsible for these wonderful works of art and to the original artists who provided their everlasting stamp. I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity of presenting my own personal interpretation.” He adds, “My greatest wish is simply to make music that people enjoy.“
Declan Galbraith是居住在英国肯特郡的爱尔兰男孩。 在许多方面他是一个正常的 10 岁的男孩。 他喜欢电脑游戏，游泳和足球。 他和他的父母和六岁姊妹居住。 他的堂兄弟姊妹Joe是他最好的朋友。 但是 Declan 不只是一个普通的10岁男孩。
Declan Galbraith小的时候,是和他的祖父班度过。 班是音乐家。 他和爱尔兰的民谣乐团演奏传统的爱尔兰音乐。 他们到处在酒吧和俱乐部等地方演唱。Declan 与他的祖父乐团搭配并学习演唱。在他的祖父死之后,他继承了祖父的演唱事业。
有人说这是“在黑暗中穿行的高亢而又凄迷的童声”。你以为呢？我更喜欢在某个周末的清晨，打开窗帘，让阳光直直的射进来，耳边回响起这个声音。对我而言：这是明亮的，轻柔的，感恩的……
如今，Declan Galbraith 的歌声已经红遍英伦,已是英国最畅销的童声歌手之一。他的歌声清彻迷人，高音清亮，极富感染力。如果天使会唱歌，那个天使一定是——Declan Galbraith。
Declan的声音，清亮脱俗，演唱歌曲的范畴也是极广。从流行的Angels之类到Carrickfergus这样传统的爱尔兰歌曲，他都把握得不错。而这个小小童星的心愿却是有一天能够不再翻唱别人的歌曲，能有几首属于“Declan Galbraith”的歌。
除了天使般的声音，Declan小小年纪，已经表现星探们热衷的所谓“明星气质”--一头松软的深色头发，浓密的睫毛，明亮清澈的蓝眼睛，充满童真颇富感染力的笑容，还有满满的自信。更重要的是，他从不怯场，每次上台都异常兴奋；应该说，也有过一次紧张，那是在圣保罗大教堂女王特赦的演出上。为Robbie Williams和Phil Collins制作MTV的John Carver十分有信心的说，“Declan注定要成为一个超级巨星的，不仅是因为他超群的声音，更重要的是他极好的个性，他非常聪明。”
除了他的音乐天赋，以及身后的百万合同，Declan和12岁的其它小男孩没有什么分别。喜欢足球，电脑游戏和游泳，房间里贴满海报，足球，Robbie Williams,Westlife,还有哈里波特。他也曾为签名不够快而苦恼，直到听从父亲的建议，用“Dec”签名才算解决；他也会在采访中忍不住想要从凳子上逃走，当然会事先礼貌的问“我可以很快去踢球吗？”他喜欢的歌手包括Carole King，The Fureys，Christy Moore， Led Zeppelin，Robbie Williams 和Westlife。
Declan一边上学一边参与专辑的推广。他有专门的家教，确保他不会因为缺课而影响学业；他有专门的造型设计师，帮他打点Armani的定购，带他去Toni and Guy\'s做头发，也有专门的声乐导师和经纪人，还有他的歌友会。这对于一个床头还摆着恐龙惦记着遥控车的小男孩，似乎的确有些兴师动众了。
英国媒体对于过早享有声名的儿童，通常不是太客气的。当2002年Declan发行第一张专辑的时候，就有媒体预言在他16岁之前，不会吸毒就会酗酒，而父母多半等不到那时候就已经离婚了。Declan的父母，颇有信心的表示他们不会做急进的父母，他们只需要支持Declan做他喜欢做的事情。当然，他们也表示了自己的担心，这么小的一个孩子，就已经获得了经济上的保障，而不必像普通人那样为分期付款担心，的确不是太好的事。
事实上，Declan已经是这个4口之家（父母和7岁的妹妹）唯一的经济来源。妈妈自小孩出生后就离职了，做电工的爸爸也已经辞工全程陪同Declan。对于很多成人歌星也羡慕的百万合同，Declan说，“其实我拿不到这么多，100万是公司承诺投入在我身上的全部资金。不过我不在意，我只是喜欢唱歌而已。”在一段自白中，Declan也说道，他最希望的是能够照顾好家人，父母再也不用去工作；如果他有了钱，会给爸爸买一辆新车；如果还有剩余，就给自己买些足球球星卡；如果还有多，就存进银行。很可爱很单纯的小孩。