As the energy and excitement of the approaching Winter Olympic Games in South Korea build, many will be touched by the effort, athleticism, and grit of the participating athletes. But for one resident of Utah, the impact of this year’s games runs much deeper.
Singer/songwriter April Meservy, will also be going to the Olympics, but not as an athlete. Her voice will be heard among the rare selection of songs played during the PyeongChang 2018 Games.
This year, for the first time in Olympic history, figure skaters are allowed to perform to music with lyrics. Although music with lyrics has been allowed in ice dancing since the late 1990’s, this was never true for figure skating until now. Two-time world-champion pair figure skaters, Eric Radford and Meagan Duhamel, discovered April’s rendition of U2’s song “With or Without You” and have been using it in their Short Program all season.
Duhamel described the moment when their choreographer, Julie Marcotte, played the song for them, “Then Julie appeared, with an unheard-of version by April Meservy. Her voice was raw, powerful and captivating, and Julie, Eric and I sat there in tears listening to it. There was no plan B after that. This was it. It had to be it!
Over the weekend in the 2018 Canadian National Skating Championships, Eric and Megan solidified their spots on the Olympic team for Canada with a sizeable margin of victory. Due to the generosity of an unknown donor, April was able to be present in Vancouver to watch them skate to her song and take home their record-setting, seventh-straight national title.
April says, “I feel beyond honored they decided to use my recording! It has been an emotional experience watching them skate to a song that is so meaningful to me.”
Her version of “With or Without You,” along with her recently released album, an EP entitled “The Good-Morrow,” can be found on iTunes, Spotify, and all online digital outlets. The “Good-Morrow” is a compilation of cover songs that includes a stirring folk rendition of “Fix You” by Cold Play. Both are also available on her website.
Click here to see a video of Meagan & Eric’s winning short program, featuring April’s song.
Read Meagan’s blog entry on their decision to use April’s song.
Five-time Pearl Award-winning singer/songwriter, April Meservy, has been featured on over 100 albums and compilations released all over the world, as well as in film and commercial spots. Having toured nearly 50 cities throughout the western and midwestern United States after the release of her debut album Somewhere Between Sunsets, Meservy has had the opportunity to perform extensively worldwide. April currently lives in Provo, Utah.
Media Contacts:
David GrandPre, MBA, Media Relations Contact at Forêt d’Musique, LLC | 801.449.1616 | manager@aprilmeservy.com
