Backgound
When The Time Comes is a stunning collection of songs written over a 7-year period. Recorded at Amberville Studio in Cullybackey, N.Ireland and produced by U2’s engineer, Alastair McMillan, it is an attractive album which both captures your attention immediately and also grows on the listener as the deeper sentiments of the songs take root.
Album Reviews
When The Time Comes review by Maverick Magazine, June 2010 issue.
***Good debut album from a talented young, Irish singer-songwriter.
Eilidh (pronounced I-lee) Patterson is a young and extremely talented Irish singer-songwriter from Derry in the north-west of Ireland. For those interested in these things, her first name is Scots-Gaelic in origin and means ‘ray of sunshine’. I first heard Eilidh about four or so years ago when mutual friend and local promoter, Andy Peters, handed her a first proper support gig at the Bronte Music Club and have kept an eye on her progress since then. She has now gone from filling the opening slot for many touring international names at various venues and festivals mainly in and around Belfast, to sharing the stage with the likes of Lynn Miles, Gretchen Peters and Beth Nielsen Chapman among others.
This is her first CD which I have found to be a very creditable first commercial offering. All songs, with the sole exception of the title track, co-written with Lisa Aschmann, are self penned and several are exceptional. Still Learning, inspired by the words of Michelangelo, is one well worth a listen as is Moving On and Falling Hard and Fast. However my personal favourite is Do I Ever Cross Your Mind? This has a typical country ballad storyline of a lost, but not forgotten, love in the classic western style and which, I believe, was written in a hotel room in Austin immediately after a returning from a Willie Nelson concert. How more country could it be? I firmly believe that had this song been written and released by someone of the stature of the aforementioned Gretchen Peters, it would be receiving widespread, international airplay. In my opinion, it’s really a great song and well worth wider attention.
Ex-Wings guitarist, Henry McCullough, and local legend, Percy Robinson (guitar, dobro), were among the backing musicians assisting in this self-released album. The absolute clincher is that my wife loves it – high praise indeed! A very good debut from an artist to watch out for in the future. CMcL
“I’m enjoying When The Time Comes….especially “Still Learning” and “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind.” I like it and I don’t like much! It’s honest and the singing’s cool….reminds me a bit of my friends Gretchen Peters and Eliza Gilkyson.” - Tom Russell, El Paso, TX. The Frontier.
When the Time Comes, Eilidh Patterson (CD Review) by Reviewer from Montgomery
Another CD to review, this time Eilidh Patterson’s, debut album ‘When the Time Comes’, and while I’m trying to work out how to pronounce Eilidh, I hit ‘play’. The opening chords wash over you and then Eilidh’s soothing vocals, which always seem to have a sad tinge, draw you further into the music. Clean, crisp production almost places Eilidh and the band in your living room, and the understated arrangements bring out the simple beauty of the songs as the instruments ebb and flow with the rise and fall of the narrative of the words. This is an album of introspection. The well crafted lyrics take you inside the images, from the longing of ‘Precious Cargo’, the sense of loss in ‘Letting Go’, and the assertion of faith in ‘You Are There.’ There are small glimmers of light too, for example in ‘It’s Easy’, which picks up the pace and lightens the mood with a story celebrating a new relationship. Eilidh’s music stays with you - using beautiful lyrics and well thought out arrangements, which allow the songs to curl up and make themselves a home.