In Conversation With Colin: Eva Carboni

18 August 2025 759 386 5

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Eva Carboni: A Voice Without Borders

Eva Carboni is a charismatic and gifted singer and songwriter who blends genres at her will rather than allowing herself to be confined by their boundaries; her work defies categorization and swings back and forth between jazz, blues, soul, pop, gospel and rock. With her unique blend of soulful sounds and captivating melodies Eva delivers unforgettable performances that transcend borders and languages.

Currently spending time with her close circle of friends in Norway and with a new album just released titled The Blues Archives, Colin Palmer sat down with Eva for ‘The Rock Vault’ to discover more.

Her voice is often times smoother than a polished floor, versatile and emotionally direct she can enliven the raunchiest blues as well as the subtlest of love songs. Combining the perfect conflation of her classical training and jazzy blues improvisation, while her dolorous timbre, set against powerful musical arrangements and often upbeat mood creates an intriguing paradox.

For the most part Eva doesn’t write many of her own songs, but as one of the finest interpreters of others’ tunes, she hardly needs to. The combination of talent and training allow her to deliver a mesmerizing vocal performance to her audience with passion, complexity and emotional honesty combining a strong grasp of technique; these are the foundations of her musical career.

Born on the Italian island of Sardinia, Eva’s musical upbringing was shaped when she discovered blues music at the age of ten, her two elder siblings introduced her to the music of Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix amongst others. Her musical promise started to show during her teenage years and she was soon studying diverse musical genres as well as musical theatre, classical dance and art.

Eva’s musical journey may have begun on the Mediterranean’s second largest island but slowly wound its way to Doncaster via Milan, Los Angeles and London. “It was a long adventure”, Eva tells me. “I was born on an island, but I decided to go and live in Milan when I was eighteen but I go up and down, here and there. I am like a rolling stone and I go wherever the wind brings me.”

Eva graduated at the esteemed Vocal Power Academy in Los Angeles under the guidance of Elisabeth Howard whose methodology has been used to coach Broadway performers, film celebrities and recording stars including Sting, Priscilla Presley and Lionel Richie.

“I was looking for a great teacher and vocal coach and I discovered Mrs Elisabeth Howard from Los Angeles,” Eva explains. “I wanted to study with this woman. I was so lucky because she came to Milan for a workshop, so I met her and did the workshop and I love her.”

Eva continues with clear admiration and genuine affection. “We stayed in touch for one year and then she said I had graduated, and I decided to go to Los Angeles for a couple of months to study with her further and it was an amazing trip. I learned so much from her, she is an amazing woman”.

In 2017 Eva commenced her collaboration with Doncaster based songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Andy Littlewood, subsequently releasing four full length albums, numerous singles and two EP’s on Andy’s independent Mad Ears Productions record label.

Andy has achieved an impressive portfolio of work specialising predominantly in music for film, television and advertising commercials. He formed his first rock band, The Shade Department soon after leaving school and quickly became involved in music production learning his craft at a local recording studio in South Yorkshire.

The catalyst for this seemingly unlikely musical partnership was Eva’s guest vocal appearance on the song ‘River of Life’ by blues rock guitarist Mick Simpson, and featured on his album Black Rain also released on Andy’s MEP record label.

“Mick invited me to sing River Of Life, it’s a very beautiful song”, explains Eva. “Then Andy suggested that we try and do an album together, and I said okay, thank you so much. The funny thing is at the beginning I was not so good in the studio, I was insecure but Andy suggested the song Good Times and I said no, no, no that is not for me, but then I recorded the song and it is one of my favourites and people love it.

“We have started this trip together, and for me Andy is a person very important to me and Mick too of course because we understood each other immediately. Andy is very good psychologically with me, when Andy pushed me to be a songwriter for example, because I was not so sure I would be able to express myself in writing. Andy has been very good helping me and I am very happy because he understood immediately what I wanted to do.”

Since that initial introduction Eva has recorded and released on MEP the albums Italia Square, Smoke and Mirrors, Blues Siren and her latest compilation of remixes and unreleased material The Blues Archives, alongside two extended play compact discs – the gospel inspired Wrong Turn and blues rock influenced In The Name of The Blues released in 2024.

While there are significant jazz and blues elements in Eva’s sound, many tracks feature bold electric guitar solos and audiophile quality studio mixes, making them hard to categorize, yet they remain elusive and filled with her signature style. There are several common denominators running through Eva’s music: passion, soul and an unwavering commitment to musical excellence.

One of Eva’s most powerful rock songs is ‘Don’t Get In My Way’ from her album Blues Siren. “Oh, that is a great rock song that Andy wrote for me,” exclaims Eva with genuine enthusiasm. “We had a lot of fun recording this song. I love very much Led Zeppelin, so I was becoming a little bit too much Robert Plant in the studio, and Andy said ‘Eva stop, stop, what are you doing’ as I tried to sing the higher notes on that song, it was very nice to sing it.”

For Eva’s latest release, The Blues Archives released in June this year (2025) she has brought together a collection of previously unreleased material, alongside some of her more popular songs from her back catalogue, several have been remixed under curiously named banners (Bar Room Mix / Freedom Mix / Archives Mix).

“The song Wrong Time was released as a single in the Christmas period, and I think it’s a very beautiful and touching song, a little bit gospel”, declares Eva. “I showed this to my vocal coach Elisabeth and she said ‘wow Eva, this is the Vocal Power Method, congratulations’. It’s a very relaxing song and is important for me and I’m very honoured to have had the opportunity of singing it.”

In 2025, where artistry veers towards the digital domain, Eva’s organic, profoundly human approach serves as a reminder of the power of pure expression. She has learned and understood the importance of technical foundation, the courage to explore one’s own voice, and the value of conveying genuine emotion.