Editing Eva Cassidy (section)

==Music career==
In 1986, Cassidy was asked by Stonehenge guitarist and high school friend, David Lourim, to lend her voice to his music project, [[Method Actor]].<ref>[[#knew|Burley et al.]] p.64.</ref> This brought her to Black Pond Studios, where she met recording engineer and bassist Chris Biondo. Biondo helped her find work as a [[session musician|session singer]] and later introduced her to Al Dale, who would become her manager. She sang back-ups for various acts, from [[go-go]] [[rhythm and blues]] band [[Experience Unlimited]] to [[rapping|rapper]] [[E-40]].<ref name= chuckeva>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/music/features/1browncassidy0309.htm |title=When Chuck Met Eva|first= Jefferson|last= Morley|newspaper=The Washington Post|date= March 8, 1998|access-date= March 6, 2008}}</ref> Biondo and Cassidy, who were in a romantic relationship for a time, formed the five-piece "Eva Cassidy Band" with Lenny Williams, Keith Grimes, and Raice McLeod in 1990. They began to perform frequently in the Washington area.<ref name= washingtonian />
{{Listen|filename=Eva Cassidy - Stormy Monday.ogg|title="Stormy Monday"|description=Cassidy's arrangement of [[T-Bone Walker]]'s popular blues song.}}

In 1992, Biondo played a tape of Cassidy's voice for [[Chuck Brown]], the "Godfather of go-go".<ref name= echoes /> It resulted in the duet album ''[[The Other Side (Eva Cassidy album)|The Other Side]]'' featuring performances of classic songs such as "[[Fever (1956 song)|Fever]]", "[[God Bless the Child (Billie Holiday song)|God Bless the Child]]", and what would later become Cassidy's [[signature song]], "[[Over the Rainbow]]". The album was released and distributed in 1992 by Liaison Records, the label that also released Brown's go-go albums. Brown originally intended to record an additional duet with Cassidy for his next solo album, but this was postponed due to ongoing negotiations between Dale and other labels for a solo deal.<ref name= chuckeva /><ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.evacassidy.org/eva/citypaper.htm |title= Side by Side| url-status= dead| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070610065925/http://evacassidy.org/eva/citypaper.htm |archive-date=June 10, 2007 |first= Alona |last= Wartofsky| work= [[Washington City Paper]]| date= November 20, 1992| access-date= November 2, 2016}}</ref> Cassidy's unwillingness to narrow her stylistic focus to one genre hindered her chances of securing a deal.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,105719,00.html | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121023075745/http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,105719,00.html | url-status= dead | archive-date= October 23, 2012 |title= Over the Rainbow| first= Jeff |last= Chu| website=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]| date= April 9, 2001| access-date= March 6, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.crosstownarts.com/CrosstownArts/client_music/eva/gift.html| title= Eva Cassidy's Gift| first= Joan| last= Anderman| work=[[The Boston Globe]]| date= January 31, 1999| access-date= March 6, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080102024455/http://www.crosstownarts.com/CrosstownArts/client_music/eva/gift.html| archive-date= January 2, 2008| url-status= dead}}</ref> After talks broke down, the two decided to record their own duet album. As a duo, they performed at the Columbia Arts Festival and opened for acts like [[Al Green]] and [[The Neville Brothers]].<ref name= chuckeva />

{{Quote box|width=30%|align=left|quote="She was an angel, very humble and shy. She would listen more than talk ... I remember lots of times, we were playing and it was just empty and dead. She seemed to like those nights, because there wasn't as much pressure. In fact, she'd be more relieved when hardly anybody was out there."|source=—Cassidy's bandmate Biondo on her anxiety in front of crowds.<ref>{{cite news |title=Eva Cassidy: A Musical Soul |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/highlights/010820_cassidy.shtml |date=20 August 2001|access-date=May 2, 2020 |agency=BBC}}</ref>}}
In 1993, Cassidy was honored by the Washington Area Music Association with a Wammie award for the ''Vocalist Jazz/Traditional'' category.<ref name= wammie>[http://www.wamadc.com/wama/wammies/WAMI-abc-e-g.htm Wammie Winners] Washington Area Music Association. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.</ref> The next year she was invited to perform at the event and chose to sing "Over the Rainbow". ''[[The Washington Times]]'' review of the event called her performance "a show-stopper".<ref>Wammies honor area musicians. ''The Washington Times''. November 9, 1994.</ref> She took home two Wammies that night, again for ''Vocalist Jazz/Traditional'' and also for ''Roots Rock/Traditional R&B''.<ref name= wammie /> For a brief period that year, Cassidy signed a deal with [[Blue Note Records]] to pair up with pop-jazz band [[Pieces of a Dream (band)|Pieces of a Dream]] to release an album and tour the country. She sang two tracks on a mainly instrumental album. It was a musically unsatisfying experience for her.<ref name= chuckeva />

After having a potential contract with Apollo Records collapse when the label went bankrupt, Biondo and Dale decided that she should release her own live album.<ref name= chuckeva /> On January 2–3, 1996, the material for ''[[Live at Blues Alley (Eva Cassidy album)|Live at Blues Alley]]'' was recorded at [[Blues Alley]] in Washington, D.C. Due to a technical glitch on the first night of recording,<ref>[http://www.evacassidy.org/eva/gt.htm Eva Cassidy: "Oh, Had I a Golden Thread"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140923230719/http://www.evacassidy.org/eva/gt.htm |date=September 23, 2014 }} evacassidy.org. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.</ref> only the second night's recording was usable, with 12 songs released on the resulting album. (The complete set of 31 songs recorded that night was eventually released 20 years later as ''[[Nightbird (Eva Cassidy album)|Nightbird]]'' in 2015.) Unhappy with the way she sounded due to a cold, she was reluctant to release the album. She eventually relented, on the condition that the studio track "Oh, Had I a Golden Thread", Cassidy's favorite song,<ref>According to the liner notes of the "Live at Blues Alley" CD:"* this wasn't in the live show but it is my favorite song..."</ref> would be included in the release, and that they start working on a follow-up studio album.<ref name= liner /><ref name= chuckeva /> Her apprehension appeared unfounded as local reviewers and the public responded positively.<ref name= liner /> ''[[The Washington Post]]'' commented that "she could sing anything&nbsp;— folk, blues, pop, jazz, R&B, gospel&nbsp;— and make it sound like it was the only music that mattered."<ref name= echoes>{{cite news| url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1996/11/17/echoes-of-a-voice-stilled-too-early/d7013c58-b104-4de1-97ba-e7e6a4c392b7/|title= Echoes of a Voice Stilled Too Early|first= Richard |last= Harrington| newspaper= The Washington Post| date= November 17, 1996| access-date= November 2, 2016}}</ref> The subsequent studio album she worked on was released posthumously as ''[[Eva by Heart]]'' in 1997. In the liner notes of ''Eva by Heart'', music critic [[Joel E. Siegel]] described Cassidy as "one of the greatest voices of her generation."<ref name= liner />