I'm a professional songwriter based in L.A. I specialize in mainstream pop, though I was born in Australia and grew up writing country with my family of recording artists, Ray, Lee and Tania Kernaghan. I've written 11 #1 songs and had over 100 songs cut worldwide in a range of genres including pop, rock, contemporary country, AC and adult alternative. I've won a few awards including Apra (Ascap) Song Of The Year. I'm also an ARIA nominated recording artist - my latest cd is "Shadow Wine And Truth Lilies".
Looking back, it’s easy to see why I expresses myself easily in songs. I grew up on tour with dad’s traveling music and variety show and got my start writing songs for my country singer sister, Tania. When I was 18 I co wrote her first #1 single, "I'll Be Gone" and not long after that I signed my own first record deal with ABC/EMI. In recording my own material I took a decidedly different musical direction to my famous siblings. My influences are less George Strait and more Tom Petty, Bonnie Raitt, Peter Gabriel, Alanis Morrisette, Chris Cornell... and these days Katy Perry and Pink. Music critics seemed to dig my little debut singer songwriter record, "Cypress Grove". Bernard Zuel of The Sydney Morning Herald wrote, "Fiona is one of Australia's best new songwriters... with more potential than ten Sheryl Crows or Lisa Loebs." That record earned me a small but loyal following - and a finalist award for “Best New Australian Talent” at the 1996 Australian Recording Industry Awards.
I might have surprised industry insiders when rather than cutting a second record in Sydney in the late 90’s I moved to Nashville T.N instead - to work as a staff songwriter for Warner Chappell Music. I had my first cut in the U.S with Mindy McReady on her "Not So Tough" album (Sony), which debuted in Billboard's Hot 100. Life in Nashville was colorful to say the least... I shared a house with Keith Urban's band mates and learned a lot from my hero and friend's ascent to international fame. Keith and his band had just signed to Capitol Records when I was living with them and so I got to see first hand what it takes to get that far in the States. I immersed myself in collaborative work with hit producers and co writing partners such as Marv Green (“Amazed”), Vicky McGehee ("Like We Never Loved At All") and Andrew Farriss of INXS as well as working a fair bit as a demo singer.
I've always really pushed myself to keep growing creatively (and to satisfy my wanderlust!) so around the same time I made lots of writing trips back to Australia and to Europe and studied up on some of my other influences like Irish poet, William Butler Yeats and even Beethoven on a little pilgrimage to Vienna. I also lived in New York for a while, fueling up on all “The Big Apple” has to offer. David Bowie's guitarist, Gerry Leonard, and his wife, singer songwriter Pam Mann, were my N.Y family and turned me on to some awesome stuff that helped deepen my "creative well". Things like The Museum of Modern Art, Jivamukti Yoga, Tibetan Buddhist Meditation and of course all the incredible local music! I worked between N.Y and Nashville for some time until after 9/11 when I ploughed into an attention getting physical and emotional burnout. Once again I had to fine tune my personal and creative direction.
You could say I found my wings again in the "City Of Angels" where I've been based since 2003. LA is a perfect fit for my personality and an ideal setting for my musical style. And of course it's inspired new songs like "City Of Angels" (where I get to write and sing about California culture, "...where would we be without the best of Mexico? Let Maria raise the kids, you go get your lipo..." ) A few months after moving to LA I got a call from Marilyn Manson’s guitarist and producer, John Five, asking me to sing background vocals on a session for Garbage. That was cool. A career highlight followed when multi platinum selling Sony BMG artist, Tina Arena, included my song,"Take Me Apart", on her "Greatest Hits" CD. Then in 2005 the pioneering indie label, Red Rebel Music, released the compilation CD, "Feeling Fiona” which features 12 various artists including Aussie greats Ross Wilson and Vika and Linda Bull performing previously unreleased songs of mine. More recently I've placed a bunch of songs in the feature films "Hell Of A Ride" and "My Wife Is A Vampire" and the hit Lifetime series "Army Wives".
These days I run my own show (or indie music publishing company) specializing in country pop and mainstream pop rock. Some of my co writers are KEVIN SAVIGAR, J.J FARRIS, BEN LEE and film composer KRISTEN BAUM. My focus is on writing for films and collaborating with writer/producers and signed artists.
I also work as a writer/producer team with my rockin' husband, Daniel Kresco, when he's not tied up working for film composer, Hans Zimmer, at Remote Control Studios in Santa Monica. Dan brings many years of recording expertise to the party. His credits include work with Michael Jackson, Lee Ann Womack, Reba McEntire, Barenaked Ladies, Alicia Keys and Limp Bizkit and many more. A while back we wrote and recorded a second hit album for my sister, Tania, her "Livin' The Dream" cd - which was one of '09's Top 10 most downloaded albums on iTunes Australia. I balance writing super commercial songs for mainstream artists with a dash of healthy introspection ~ ie: recording my own more AAA material. Like on my album “Shadow Wine and Truth Lilies” which is very autobiographical!
Music journalist and author, Jeff Apter, had this to say about my record...
""U.S based Kernaghan, the quiet achiever of the Oz music clan, has spent much of her career as a songwriter for hire - this her second album of grown up pop - high on melody and insight, light on "twang" is more personal than a tattoo: Secrets Of The Flesh has an epic emotional flow that wouldn't have been lost on Sheryl Crow's great Globe Sessions."
Album Review - The Sydney Morning Herald Metro.
"Shadow Wine And Truth Lilies" is out now on Red Rebel Music/MGM. It's also available on CD Baby in the U.S and iTunes worldwide.
To talk about licensing, collaborating or writing for your project email fiona@fionakernaghan.com