Name	Finnmark
Native name	Finnmárkku fylka
Idnumber	20
Capital	Vadsø
Governor	Gunnar Kjønnøy
Governor date	1998
Mayor	Runar Sjåstad
Mayor date	2007
Mayor party	Arbeiderpartiet
Region	Nord-Norge
Arearank	1
Area	48618
Arealand	45757
Areapercent	15.04
Language	Bokmål, Kvensk, and Sami
Population as of	2008
Populationrank	19
Population	72,812
Populationpercent	1.60
Populationdensity	2
Populationincrease	-4.2
Gdp as of	2001
Gdprank	19
Gdppercent	0.90
Gdpcapita	185,563
Incomecapita	128,300
Demonym	Finnmarking
Coatofarms	Finnmark_våpen.svg
Munwebpage	www.ffk.no }}

or Finnmárku (Northern Sami) is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland (Lapland) to the south and Russia (Murmansk Oblast) to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea (Atlantic Ocean) to the northwest, and the Barents Sea (Arctic Ocean) to the north and northeast.

The county was formerly known as ''Finmarkens amt'' or ''Vardøhus amt'', and since 2002, has had two official names: Finnmark (Norwegian) and Finnmárku (Sami language). It is part of the Sápmi region, which spans four countries, as well as the Barents Region, and is the largest and least populated county of Norway.

Situated at the Northernmost part of continental Europe, where Norway swings eastward, Finnmark has always been an area where east meets west, in culture as well as in nature and geography. Vardø, the easternmost municipality in the country, is located farther east than St. Petersburg and Istanbul.

General information

Name

The Norse form of the name was ''Finnmörk''. The first element is ''finn(ar)'', the Norse name for the Sámi people. The last element is ''mörk'' which means "woodland" or "borderland". In Norse times the name was referring to any places where Sámi people were living (also parts of Southern Norway).

More recently, ''Finnmark'' is also the older name for Lapland in Sweden and is used by some inhabitants in this region. The title comes from Linné's expeditions in the northern Nordic regions during the 18th century, and his choice of name was influenced by the history of the region.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms, ''Sable, a single-towered castle Or'', is from 1967, and shows the old Vardøhus festning.

Geography and environment

Finnmark is the northern- and easternmost county of Norway (Svalbard is not considered a county). In area, Finnmark is Norway's largest county, and is larger than Denmark. However, with a population of only 72,000, it is also the least populated.

Knivskjellodden in Nordkapp municipality (on Magerøya) is the northernmost point of Europe; Kinnarodden on Nordkinn Peninsula is the northernmost point on the European mainland. Honningsvåg in Finnmark claims the northernmost city of the world, and Vardø is the easternmost town in Norway and Western Europe, and is actually east of Istanbul.

The coast is indented by large fjords, which in a strict sense are false fjords, as they are not carved out by glaciers. Some of Norway's largest sea bird colonies can be seen on the northern coast, the largest are ''Hjelmsøystauran'' in Måsøy and ''Gjesværstappan'' in Nordkapp. The highest point is located on the top of the glacier Øksfjordjøkelen, which has an area of . Both Øksfjordjøkelen and Seilandsjøkelen (''Seiland glacier'') are located in the western part of Finnmark.

The Øksfjord plateau glacier calved directly into the sea (''Jøkelfjorden'') until 1900, the last glacier in mainland Norway to do so. The central and eastern part of Finnmark is generally less mountainous, and has no glaciers. The land east of Nordkapp is mostly below .

The nature varies from barren coastal areas facing the Barents Sea, to more sheltered fjord areas and river valleys with gullies and tree vegetation. About half of the county is above the tree line, and large parts of the other half is covered with small Downy birch.

The most lush areas are the Alta area and the Tana valleys, and in the east is the lowland area in the Pasvik valley in Sør-Varanger, where the pine and Siberian spruce forest is considered part of the Russian taiga vegetation. This valley has the highest density of Brown bears in Norway, and is the only location in the country with a population of musk-rats. Lynx and elk are common in large parts of Finnmark, but rare on the coast. In the interior is the Finnmarksvidda plateau, with an elevation of , with numerous lakes and river valleys, and famous for its tens of thousands of reindeer owned by the Sami, and swarms of mosquitos in mid-summer. Finnmarksvidda makes up 36% of the county's area. Stabbursdalen national park ensures protection for the world's most northern pine forest.

The Tanaelva, which partly defines the border with Finland, gives the largest catch of salmon of all rivers in Europe, and also has the world record for Atlantic salmon, . In the east, the Pasvikelva defines the border with Russia.

Climate

Finnmarksvidda in the interior of the county has a continental climate with the coldest winter temperatures in Norway: the coldest temperature ever recorded was in Karasjok on 1 January 1886. The 24-hour averages for January and July at the same location are and , the annual average is , and precipitation is only per year with summer as the wettest season. Karasjok has recorded up to in July, giving a possible year amplitude of 84°C (151.2°F) (rare in Europe). Finnmarksvidda has annual mean temperatures down to (Sihcajavri in Kautokeino), the coldest in mainland Norway (except for higher mountains areas) and even colder than Jan Mayen and Bear Island. However, Sihcajavri has also recorded the warmest temperature ever in North Norway: on 23 June 1920.

Due to the proximity to the ice-free ocean, winters are much milder in coastal areas (and more windy); Loppa has average January and July temperatures of and respectively, with an annual mean of , despite being further north. Average annual precipitation is and the wettest season is September until December. The year average temperature difference between Loppa and Karasjok (6°C) is comparable to the difference between Loppa and London.

In the Köppen climate classification, the climate in Karasjok–and most of the lowland areas in Finnmark–corresponds to the Dfc category (subarctic climate), while the Loppa climate corresponds to the Cfc category. The northeastern coast, from Nordkapp east to Vardø, have arctic tundra climate (Köppen: ETf), as the average July temperature is below .

Furthermore, elevations exceeding approximately in coastal areas in western Finnmark and in the interior result in an alpine tundra climate, and in the northeast this merges with the Arctic tundra climate.

The climate in sheltered parts of fjord areas (particularly Altafjord) is usually considered the most hospitable: winters are not as cold as in the interior, and summer warmth is comparable. Even if winter temperatures are milder in coastal areas, the coast is more exposed to winter storms, which often complicate or shut down road and air communications.

Midnight sun

Situated far north of the Arctic Circle, Finnmark has midnight sun from middle of May until late July. And in two months of the winter, from late November to late January, the county experiences polar nights where the sun is always below the horizon. As a consequence, there is continuous daylight from early May to early August. At midwinter, there is only a bluish twilight for a couple of hours around noon, which can almost reach full daylight if there are clear skies to the south.

Northern lights

Finnmark is situated in the Aurora Borealis zone, and because of the dry climate with frequent clear skies, Alta was early chosen as a location for the study of this strange light phenomenon. For this reason, Alta is sometimes referred to as the city of the northern lights.

Administration and economy

Vadsø is the capital city of the county of Finnmark, although Alta has the largest population. Fisheries have traditionally been the most important way of living along the coast, where the majority of the Norwegian population live. The red king crab, originally from the northern Pacific ocean but brought to the Barents sea by the Russians, have invaded from the east and are now being exploited commercially (especially in Varangerfjord). To prevent the crab from spreading too far south, crab fishing west of Nordkapp is totally unregulated. The slate industry in Alta is well known, and have sold to customers as far away as Japan. Kirkenes grew into a town as the exploitation of the iron ores started, but AS Sydvaranger closed down their iron ore activities in 1996.

In more recent years, tourism has grown in importance, with Nordkapp (North Cape), Alta and Hammerfest as the most important destinations.

There are two hospitals in Finnmark, located in Kirkenes and Hammerfest. There are a total number of eleven airports, but only Alta Airport and Kirkenes-Høybuktmoen Airport have direct flights to Oslo. In addition, Lakselv-Banak Airport in Porsanger is used for training purposes by the Royal Norwegian Air Force and other NATO allies, in conjunction with the nearby Halkavarre shooting range, which allows for practice with precision guided munitions. Garnisonen i Porsanger is also located near Halkavarre training area. There is also the Garnisonen i Sør-Varanger (Gsv) in the east, which guards the border with Russia. Hammerfest is now experiencing an economic boom as a consequence of Statoil's construction of the large land-based LNG site at Melkøya, which will get natural gas from the Snøhvit field. A new oil field was recently discovered just off shore, close to the Snøhvit field.

There is also optimism in the eastern part of the county, as the growing petroleum activity in the Barents Sea is expected to generate increased economic activity on land as well.

The Finnmark Estate agency owns and manages about 95% of the land in Finnmark, and is governed in tandem by Finnmark County and the Sami Parliament of Norway.

Municipalities

Currently, there are 19 municipalities in Finnmark.

Municipalities in Finnmark

!Key

Alta, Norway>Alta

# Berlevåg

# Båtsfjord

# Gamvik

# Hammerfest

# Hasvik

# Kárášjohka - Karasjok

# Guovdageaidnu - Kautokeino

# Kvalsund

# Lebesby

# Loppa

# Måsøy

# Unjárga - Nesseby

# Nordkapp

Porsanger>Porsanger or Porsángu or Porsanki

# Sør-Varanger

# Deatnu - Tana

# Vadsø

# Vardø

History

{{bar box |title=Religion in Finnmark |titlebar=#ddd |left1=religion |right1=percent |float=right |bars= }} People have lived in Finnmark for at least 10,000 years (see Komsa, Pit-Comb Ware culture and Rock carvings at Alta). The destiny of these early cultures is unknown. Three ethnic groups have a long history in Finnmark: the Sami people, the Norwegians and the Kven people. Of these the Sami probably were the first people to explore Finnmark. Small groups of Sami may have entered this area as early as the 9th century. Ohthere of Hålogaland was an adventurous Norwegian (Norseman) from Hålogaland, the area roughly corresponding to today's Nordland county. Around 890 AD, he claimed, according to historical sources (see Ohthere of Hålogaland) that he lived "north-most of all the Northmen", and that "no-one [lived] to the north of him." Later, Norwegians in the 14th century, and Kvens in the 16th century, settled along the coast. See the articles on Kven people and Vardøhus Fortress for more details.

Sami

The Sami are the indigenous people of Finnmark, but Norwegians have lived for hundreds of years on the islands' outer parts, where they made up the majority. The Sami people still constitute the majority in Finnmark's interior parts, while the fjord areas have been ethnically mixed for a long time. In essence, this still holds true today. The Sami were for many years victims of the ''Norwegianization'' policy, which in essence was a deliberate attempt by the Norwegian government to make them "true" Norwegians and forget about their Sami way of life and religion, which was seen as inferior. As a result of this, the Sami living at the coast and in the fjords gradually lost much of their culture and often felt ashamed by their Sami inheritance. The Sami in the interior managed to preserve more of their culture. However, in the 1970s, instruction of the Sami language started in the schools, and a new sense of consciousness started to grow among the Sami; today most are proud of their Sami background and culture. In the midst of this awakening (1979), Norway's government decided to build a dam in Alta to produce hydropower, provoking many Sami and environmentalists to demonstrations and civil disobedience (''Altasaken''). In the end, the dam was built on a much smaller scale than originally intended and the Sami culture was on the government's agenda. The Sami parliament (''Sámediggi'') was opened in Karasjok in 1989.

Norwegian

Gjesvær in Nordkapp is mentioned in the Sagas (Heimskringla) as a northern harbor in the viking age, especially used by Vikings on the way to Bjarmaland (see Ottar from Hålogaland), and probably also for gathering food in the nearby seabird colony. Coastal areas of Finnmark were colonized by Norwegians beginning in the 10th century, and there are stories describing clashes with the karelians. Border skirmishes between the Norwegians and Novgorodians continued until 1326, when the Treaty of Novgorod settled the issue.

The first known fortification in Finnmark is Vardøhus festning, first erected in 1306 by King Haakon V Magnusson. This is the world's most northern fortress. In the 17th century, 88 young women were burned as witches in Vardø, an extremely high number compared to the total population in this area at the time.

Finnmark first became subject to increased colonization in the 18th and 19th century. Norway, Sweden and Russia all claimed control over this area. Finnmark was given the status of an ''Amt'' (county) in the 19th century. For a time, there was a vibrant trade with Russia (Pomor Trade), and many Norwegians settled on the Kola Peninsula (see Kola Norwegians).

Kven

The Finnic ''Kven'' residents of Finnmark are largely descendants of Finnish immigrants who arrived in the area during the 19th century - or before - from Finland, suffering from famine and war.

World War II

Towards the end of World War II, with Operation Nordlicht, the Germans used the scorched earth tactic in Finnmark and northern Troms to halt the victorious Red Army. As a consequence of this, few houses survived the war, and a large part of the population was forcefully evacuated further south (Tromsø was crowded), but many peoples avoided evacuation by hiding in caves and mountain huts and waited until the Germans were gone, then inspected their burned homes. There were 11,000 houses, 4,700 cow sheds, 106 schools, 27 churches, and 21 hospitals burned. There were 22,000 communications lines destroyed, roads were blown up, boats destroyed, animals killed, and 1,000 children separated from parents.

However, after liberating Kirkenes on 25 October 1944 (as the first town in Norway), the Red Army did not attempt further offensives in Norway. The town was peacefully handed over to Norway as the war ended. When war was over, more than 70,000 peoples were left homeless in Finnmark. The government imposed a temporary disallow on return to Finnmark because of the danger of landmines until summer of 1945 evacuees can return to home.

Cold War

The Cold War was a period with sometimes high tension in eastern Finnmark, at the 196 km long border with the Soviet Union. To keep tensions from getting too high, Norway declared that no NATO exercises would take place in Finnmark. There were, however, a lot of military intelligence activity, and Norwegian P-3 Orion maritime surveillance aircraft were often the first to get pictures of newly built Soviet submarines and aircraft. A purpose built ELINT vessel, the Marjata, was always stationed near the border, and the current Marjata (7500 t, is still operating out of the ports in eastern Finnmark. As recent as 2000, Russian generals threatened to target nuclear missiles at the Globus II Radar in Vardø ).

Demographics

The old stoneage ''Komsa culture'' is very difficult to relate to the people living in Finnmark today. There are findings suggesting that the Sami people have been here for a long time, but exactly how long is unclear, some scholars claim 8000 years, while some claim only 2500 years. From the Middle Ages, starting in the 10th century, the coastal areas have been populated and visited by ethnic Norwegians, and Finnmark became part of the kingdom.

The Sami core areas in Norway are in Finnmark, where they constitute about one-quarter of the total population. The county and the municipalities Kautokeino, Karasjok, Tana, Nesseby, Porsanger, Kåfjord (in Troms), Tysfjord (in Nordland) and Snåsa (in Nord-Trøndelag) also have official names in the Sami language. Most municipalities in Sápmi, however, have unofficial names in Sámi as well.

In the 19th century up to World War II many Finnish speaking immigrants settled in Finnmark. Since 1996, they have had minority status as Kven people. Vadsø (Vesisaari in Kven) is often seen as the ''Kven capital'' in Finnmark.

Lakselv in central Finnmark is sometimes referred to as ''meeting place for three tribes''. In recent years, with the Russian immigrants arriving in Kirkenes, this town is actually a meeting place for four cultures.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

Norwegian Meteorological Institute (24-hr averages, 1961-90 base period)

External links

Stone age in Finnmark

Finnmark county administration

Visitnorthcape.com - official travel guide to Finnmark

Finnmark at the official travel guide to Norway

Category:Counties of Norway Category:Former Norwegian colonies Category:Regions of the Arctic

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Name	Eva Marie Cassidy
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Eva Marie Cassidy
Born	February 02, 1963Washington, D.C.
Died	November 02, 1996Bowie, Maryland
Origin	Maryland, United States
Instrument	Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard
Genre	Country , Jazz, Blues, Folk, Gospel and Pop
Years active	1981–1996
Label	Liaison (U.S.)Blix Street (U.S.)Hot (Europe)
Associated acts	Chuck Brown, Katie Melua
Website	www.evacassidy.org }}

Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996) was an American vocalist known for her interpretations of jazz, blues, folk, gospel, country and pop classics. In 1992 she released her first album, ''The Other Side'', a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown, followed by a live solo album, ''Live at Blues Alley'' in 1996. Although she had been honored by the Washington Area Music Association, she was virtually unknown outside her native Washington, D.C. when she died of melanoma in 1996.

Four years later, Cassidy's music was brought to the attention of British audiences when her version of "Over the Rainbow" was played by Terry Wogan on BBC Radio 2. Following the overwhelming response, a camcorder recording of "Over the Rainbow", taken at the Blues Alley, was shown on BBC Two's ''Top of the Pops 2''. Shortly afterwards, the compilation album ''Songbird'' climbed to the top of the UK Albums Charts, almost three years after its initial release. The chart success in the United Kingdom and Ireland led to increased recognition worldwide; her posthumously released recordings, including three UK #1s, have sold more than ten million copies. Her music has also charted top 10 positions in Australia, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland.

Biography

Early life

Born on February 2, 1963, at the Washington Hospital Center, Cassidy grew up in Oxon Hill and later Bowie, Maryland, suburbs of Washington, D.C.. She was the third of four children born to Hugh and Barbara Cassidy. Her father, a retired teacher, sculptor, musician, and former army medic, is of Scottish and Irish descent, while her German-born mother was a horticulturist. From an early age, Cassidy displayed interest in art and music. When she was nine, her father taught her to play the guitar and she began to play and sing at family gatherings.

At age 11, Cassidy began singing and playing guitar in a Washington area band called Easy Street. This band performed in a variety of styles at weddings, corporate parties and pubs. Due to her shyness, she struggled with performing in front of strangers. While a student at Bowie High School, she sang with a local band called Stonehenge. During the summer of 1983, Cassidy sang and played guitar six days a week at the theme park Wild World. Her younger brother Dan, a fiddler, was also a member of this working band. She enrolled in art classes at a community college but dropped out after finding them unhelpful.

Throughout the 1980s, Cassidy worked with several other bands, including the techno-pop band Characters Without Names. During this period, Cassidy also worked as a propagator at a plant nursery and as a furniture painter. In her free time, she explored other artistic expressions including painting, sculpting and jewelry design. Despite holding a belief in God, Cassidy was not part of any organized religion.

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. This brought her to Black Pond Studios, where she met bassist and recording engineer Chris Biondo. Biondo helped her find work as a 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 rapper E-40. 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.

In 1992, Biondo played a tape of Cassidy's voice for Chuck Brown, the "Godfather of go-go". It resulted in the duet album ''The Other Side'' featuring performances of classic songs such as "Fever", "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 a single 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. Cassidy's unwillingness to narrow her stylistic focus to one genre hindered her chances of securing a deal. 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.

In 1993, Cassidy was honored by the Washington Area Music Association with a Wammie award for the ''Vocalist Jazz/Traditional'' category. The next year she was invited to perform at the event and chose to sing "Over the Rainbow". A ''Washington Times'' review of the event called her performance "a show-stopper". She took home two Wammies that night, again for ''Vocalist Jazz/Traditional'' and also for ''Roots Rock/Traditional R&B;''. 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 to release an album and tour the country. She sang two tracks in a mainly instrumental album. It was a musically unsatisfying experience for her.

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. In January 1996, the material for ''Live at Blues Alley'' was recorded over a two-day period at Blues Alley, Washington, D.C. Due to a technical glitch on the first night of recording, only the second night's recording was usable. 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, would be included in the release, and that they start working on a follow-up studio album. Her apprehension appeared unfounded as local reviewers and the public responded positively. ''The Washington Post'' commented that "she could sing anything — folk, blues, pop, jazz, R&B;, gospel — and make it sound like it was the only music that mattered." The subsequent studio album she worked on was released as ''Eva by Heart'' posthumously in 1997. In the liner notes of ''Eva by Heart'', critic Joel E. Siegel described Cassidy as "one of the greatest voices of her generation."

Death

In 1993, Cassidy had a malignant mole removed from her back. Three years later, during a promotional event for the ''Live at Blues Alley'' album in July 1996, Cassidy noticed an ache in her hips, which she attributed to stiffness from painting murals while perched atop a stepladder. The pain persisted and a few weeks later, X-rays revealed that the melanoma had spread to her lungs and bones. Her doctors estimated she had three to five months to live. Cassidy opted for aggressive treatment, but her health deteriorated rapidly. In her final public performance in September 1996, at the Bayou, she closed the set with "What a Wonderful World" in front of an audience of friends, fans and family. She was subsequently admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Cassidy died at her family home in Bowie, November 2, 1996, at the age of 33. She was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Washington Area Music Association. In accordance with her wishes, Cassidy’s body was cremated. Her ashes were scattered on the lake shores of St. Mary's River Watershed Park, a nature reserve near California, Maryland.

Posthumous recognition

After Cassidy's death, local folk singer Grace Griffith introduced the Blues Alley recording to Bill Straw from her label, Blix Street Records. Straw approached the Cassidy family to put together a new album. In 1998, a compilation of tracks from Cassidy's three released recordings was assembled into the CD ''Songbird''. This CD lingered in relative obscurity for two years until being given airplay by Terry Wogan on his wide-reaching BBC Radio 2 show ''Wake Up to Wogan'', following recommendation by his producer Paul Walters. The album sold more than 100,000 copies in the following months. ''The New York Times'' spoke of her "silken soprano voice with a wide and seemingly effortless range, unerring pitch and a gift for phrasing that at times was heart-stoppingly eloquent."

Before Christmas of 2000, ''Top Of The Pops 2'' aired a video of Cassidy performing "Over the Rainbow", which resulted in ''Songbird'' climbing steadily up the UK charts over the next few weeks. Just as ITV's ''Tonight with Trevor McDonald'' aired a feature on Cassidy, the album topped the chart. Shot at Blues Alley by a friend with a camcorder the same night the album was recorded, the video became the most requested video ever shown on Top Of The Pops 2. "There's an undeniable emotional appeal in hearing an artist who you know died in obscurity singing a song about hope and a mystical world beyond everyday life", wrote ''The Guardian''. Jazz critic Ted Gioia writes, "you might be tempted to write off the 'Cassidy sensation' [...] as a response to the sad story of the singer's abbreviated life rather than as a measure of her artistry. But don't be mistaken, Cassidy was a huge talent, whose obscurity during her lifetime was almost as much a tragedy as her early death." ''Songbird'' has since achieved significant chart success throughout Europe and six times platinum status in the UK. Although still relatively unknown in the United States at that time, the album would eventually be certified gold in the U.S. as well.

In May 2001, ABC's ''Nightline'' in the United States broadcast a well-received short documentary about Cassidy. Over the weekend, all five of Cassidy's albums occupied Amazon.com's best sellers list top spots. The Nightline episode has since been rebroadcast three times due to popular demand. Producer Leroy Sievers has said that it is "probably the most popular Nightline ever". In December, a nine-minute segment on NPR resulted in a similar sales surge, with five of the top seven spots going to Cassidy. A rebroadcast of the ''Tonight with Trevor McDonald'' feature on Cassidy in Britain also bumped up sales.

Since ''Songbird'', several other CDs with original material have been released: ''Time After Time'' (2000), ''Imagine'' (2002) and ''American Tune'' (2003). 2008 saw the release of another new album titled ''Somewhere''. Unlike previous albums, which consisted solely of cover songs, this release contains two original songs co-written by Cassidy. An acoustic album titled ''Simply Eva'' was released in January 2011.

Together with word of mouth and internet fansites, online commerce has played a big role in Cassidy's success. This point was further affirmed when in 2005, Amazon.com released a list of its top 25 best-selling musicians, which placed Cassidy in 5th position, behind The Beatles, U2, Norah Jones and Diana Krall, and far ahead of Elvis Presley and several other well-known stars.

In 2004, during the gala opening of the Bowie Center for the Performing Arts, the Bowie Regional Arts Vision Association, Inc. (BRAVA) dedicated the Star's Dressing Room to Eva. Following a moving tribute to Eva, Chuck Brown took the stage and performed his duet "with" Eva as her photos and video appeared in the background.

Unofficial recordings

A collection of previously unreleased studio recordings from 1987 to 1991, was released in 2000 as ''No Boundaries''. This release was not endorsed by the Cassidy family and was released under a different label. An allmusic review of the album stated that even "a gifted vocalist like Eva Cassidy can only do so much with bad material". In 2002, the self titled 1988 album by the band Method Actor, which featured Cassidy, was re-released by the band's guitarist and producer David Lourim with Cassidy's name displayed prominently on the cover. The Cassidy family and Blix Street Records filed a lawsuit against Lourim, claiming that Cassidy's name was used in a misleading fashion and that Blix Street has exclusive rights to her recordings. Lourim had Cassidy's written permission to release the album and eventually the cover was changed to look like the original LP album while already released copies were affixed with a sticker indicating that they are not solo Eva Cassidy albums.

A bootleg recording which has been in circulation is called ''Live at Pearl's''. It was recorded at Pearl's Restaurant in Annapolis, Maryland in 1994. Copies of the recording were circulated among friends and families after her death. Some of the songs on the recording are also on ''Imagine'' and ''American Tune''. Another recording, featuring Mick Fleetwood on drums and recorded at his restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia called Fleetwood's in the early 1990s, was in the possession of Niki Lee - the former wife of pianist Lenny Williams - who discovered it in her garage and attempted to sell it on eBay in 2008.

In popular media

In 2001, a book titled ''Songbird: Eva Cassidy: Her Story By Those Who Knew Her'', on the life and work of Cassidy based on interviews with close family and associates was released in the UK. The hardcover edition has since sold in excess of 100,000 copies. A U.S. edition published by Gotham Books was released in late 2003 and includes two additional chapters on her influences and success in the US. Her life story has also been adapted into a musical and also a Broadway piece for cancer benefit.

At the 2002 Winter Olympics gala, and later on tour, figure skater Michelle Kwan brought Cassidy's music to a new audience when she skated to a recording of "Fields of Gold". Kwan's part in exposing the music of Cassidy to the international and American public led Cassidy's label to present her a gold record from the certification of ''Songbird''. Subsequently, other figure skaters such as Kristi Yamaguchi, Sarah Hughes and Kimmie Meissner have used Cassidy's music in their routines.

Anglo-Georgian singer Katie Melua is a keen fan of Cassidy. Her debut album "Call off the Search" contained the song "Faraway Voice", written in Cassidy's memory. Melua has also performed Cassidy's arrangement of "Anniversary Song" in concert. On Christmas Eve 2006, she performed alongside video footage of Cassidy singing ''Over The Rainbow'' on BBC One's "Duet Impossible". One year later, Cassidy's "What A Wonderful World" was spliced together with new vocals by Melua and released as a single exclusively at the British retail chain Tesco. It debuted at #1 on the UK Singles chart on December 16. All profits from the single went to the British Red Cross. Irish singer Chris de Burgh has stated that his song "Songbird" from his album ''The Road to Freedom'' was written in honour of Cassidy. Singer Mary Chapin Carpenter made reference to Cassidy in the song "My Heaven" on the album ''Between Here and Gone'': "More memories than my heart can hold, when Eva's singing 'Fields of Gold'."

In 2008, Cassidy's recording of "Autumn Leaves" was used by the Canadian National Professional Latin Champions, Andre and Natalie Paramonov, when they competed in America's Ballroom Challenge as finalists in the International Latin Competition.

The first film to feature an Eva Cassidy recording was ''Flight of Fancy'' starring Dean Cain. Since then her music has appeared in various film and TV series including the comedy ''Judging Amy'', ''Joe Somebody'', ''Love Actually'', ''Maid in Manhattan'', ''The Man From Elysian Fields'', ''Alpha Dog'' and ''Smallville''. Cassidy's arrangement of "Over the Rainbow" is a popular cover choice by singing competition contestants, with ''American Idol'' season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee and ''The X Factor'' season 3 winner Leona Lewis among the singers. Her interpretation of "Imagine" has been performed by ''American Idol'' season 7 runner-up David Archuleta.

Possibility of future film

In late 2007, AIR Productions acquired the rights to produce a film based on Cassidy's life. It is being produced by Amy Redford (daughter of Robert Redford), Irwin Shapiro and Rick Singer. In an interview a year earlier, Cassidy's parents suggested Kirsten Dunst or Emily Watson as possible actresses who could play their daughter.

Discography

Albums

Title	Release date	Label	Notes
		Liaison	Chuck Brown with Eva Cassidy.
''Live at Blues Alley''		Blix Street	Originally self-released under Eva Music in 1996.
''Eva by Heart''		Originally released under Liaison Records. Cassidy's only solo studio album.
		Compilation. UK #1, US (Pop Catalog) #1
	Renata/Brunswick
''Method Actor''		Blp	Reissue of a 1988 LP.
		Compilation.
''Simply Eva''		Blix Street

Singles

Title	Release date	Label	Notes
"Over the Rainbow"			UK #42 - Appeared in the charts between April and August 2001
"Take My Breath Away"			UK #54
"What a Wonderful World"		Dramatico	Posthumous duet with Katie Melua. UK #1
"Songbird"			UK #56

Bootleg

Title	Release date	Label	Notes
Live at Pearl's		align="center"
bootleg recording taped at Pearl's Restaurant in Annapolis, Maryland. Tracklist

Videography

Title	Release date	Format	Notes
Eva Cassidy Sings		PAL DVD (Region 2 and Region 4)

References

Notes

Book

External links

Eva Cassidy website maintained by her cousin, Laura Claire Bligh

Eva Cassidy Artwork website

Evasongs recordings information

[ Eva Cassidy] at the All Music Guide

Eva Cassidy on ABC Nightline

Eva Cassidy Feature on ABC Nightline

Eva Cassidy: Songbird: Her Story by Those Who Knew Her at Google Book Search

– Eva plays live, recorded on a friend's video camera — became the most requested video ever shown on Top Of The Pops 2. - ''Mary Ann Redmond & Eva Cassidy singing Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven"'' – From a 1995 performance at Fleetwood's in Alexandria, VA.

Eva Cassidy at Find-A-Grave

Category:1963 births Category:1996 deaths Category:American blues singers Category:American folk singers Category:American gospel singers Category:American jazz singers Category:American female guitarists Category:Cancer deaths in Maryland Category:Deaths from skin cancer Category:Musicians from Maryland Category:Musicians from Washington, D.C. Category:People from Bowie, Maryland Category:Women in jazz Category:American musicians of Scottish descent Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American musicians of German descent

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