Biography
Quirky, talented and distinctive British singer/songwriter Ed Harcourt was born on August 14, 1977 in Wimbledon, London. The son of an army officer & diplomat, Harcourt moved around a lot when he was a kid and first learned to play the piano when he was around nine or ten. (Besides the piano, Ed also plays drums, bass and guitar.) He was the keyboardist and bass player for the indie pop-punk band Snug. After the group broke up, Harcourt briefly worked as a chef at a French restaurant prior to embarking on a solo musical career. Ed released his debut CD EP "Maplewood" in 2000. This was immediately followed by the albums "Here Be Monsters," "From Every Sphere," "Strangers," and "The Beautiful Lie." Among the artists Harcourt has performed as an opening act in concerts for are the Patti Smith, R.E.M., Sparklehorse, Snow Patrol, Wilco, Beth Orton, Norah Jones, Neil Finn, Frank Turner, James, The Afghan Whigs, Gutter Twins and Supergrass. A prolific songwriter, Ed has co-written songs for such artists as Marianne Faithfull, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, James Bay, Paloma Faith, Lisa Marie Presley, Jamie Cullum, Sam Palladio & Hailey Tuck. . He recorded several tracks with the French jazz quartet Erik Truffaz for their 2007 album "Arkhangelsk" and performed on stage at the 2005 Meltdown music festival in London, England, curated by Patti Smith, which he opened with the Brian Jonestown Massacre. In 2007 Harcourt released the CD compilation album "Until Tomorrow Then: The Best of Ed Harcourt" which ended his 7 year tenure with Heavenly Recordings & EMI. He then went onto to release Russian Roulette, Lustre, Back Into The Woods ( recorded in 8 hours in Abbey Road Studios), Time of Dust, The Way That I Live for the fashion label Burberry, Furnaces with the producer Flood, two cinematic instrumental records, Beyond the End & Monochrome to Colour & most recently, El Magnifico on his own Deathless Recordings imprint. He is an avid fan of boxing, painting & loves cats. His wife Gita is a singer, writer and musician who plays violin with Ed both in concert and on several of his albums.
