Tag: Singer

Suzannah Espie

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From Suzannahespie.com:

Suzannah Espie is a Melbourne, Australia based singer songwriter who has been casting spells over audiences ever since she first took to the stage with her alt-country pop band, GIT, in 1997. A woman of compelling beauty — statuesque, with piercing blue eyes framed by golden curls — she has a voice to match, an intoxicating mix of country, soul, blues and pop. A gentle, sweet trill that can move grown men to tears one moment, or an Aretha-esque hellcat belt that can raise the roof the next; however she sings it though, it’s still unmistakeably Suzannah Espie. It is as a solo artist Espie has truly come into her own…

It’s hard to believe now that, despite her prodigious talent, Espie was beset by self-doubt and shyness early on in her career, which she moved to Melbourne from Fremantle at aged 18 to pursue in earnest. She tells of forcing herself to get up at Fitzroy’s Rainbow Hotel to sing once a week. “Then I’d go and have a cry in the toilets afterwards because I thought it was so horrible.”

Collard recalls the first time he went over to Suzannah’s house to play some music together. “Absolutely nothing happened,” he says with a laugh. “She was too nervous to sing a note.”

While Espie’s confidence and profile have grown over the years, she remains as earthy and honest as the music she writes and performs.  “I still don’t think I’m a good songwriter. Occasionally I’ll pull a good one out of my arse,” she says in typically straight-talking Suzannah fashion.

Find her album on iTunes: Sea of Lights

 

 

Un Cygene La Nuit

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LOVED THIS!  Don’t pull up early on this video. Take it to the finish line.  (Un Cygene La Nuit = A Swan At Night).

Yes. Yes. Yes. I agree. She stopped me in my tracks:

Every now and then a singer comes along with such an unusual approach to her voice that the Canadian folk scene stops in its tracks to make space for something they didn’t know they were missing. Darkly theatrical and deep-voiced, Toronto-raised, Montreal- and Paris-based trilingual (English, French and Spanish) singer Alejandra Ribera is such a performer.  (Source: nowtoronto.com)

A bit of Edit Piaf. A bit of Tom Waits. A bit of Joan Armatrading:

Ribera was born to an Argentine waiter and a Scottish actress and raised in Toronto. Her wildly bizarre vocal range and eclectic writing style have led to comparisons stretching from Edith Piaf to Tom Waits to Joan Armatrading. Growing up, Alejandra studied violin, viola and classical choral music. As a teenager her habit of sneaking into cabaret bars and her obsession with greats such as Mercedes Sosa, Odetta and Jimmy Scott began to shape the distinctly unique vocal style she would later apply to her own compositions.  After abandoning York University’s Vocal Jazz program after only four days, she headed off to Europe to study energy healing. “Yeah, I dropped out of school to study with a witch doctor in the mountains of Slovakia … it seemed like a good idea at the time… ” she chuckles, “but this is where it lead me, so I think it was an important detour.” Unable to deny the call of music she returned to Canada, this time to build her career as a gifted singer/songwriter.  (Source: alejandraribera.com)

Alejandra Ribera’s new album released February 4, 2014: La boca (Canadian store).  Her previous album Navigator, Navigateher can be found here.

Soft Place to Land

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Kathleen Edwards, 35, is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. She was born in Ottawa, Ontario to the daughter of a former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. At age 5, Edwards began classical violin studies that continued for the next 12 years. After high school she decided not to attend college, instead opting to play local clubs to pay the bills. Her musical sound has been compared to Suzanne Vega meets Neil Young. In 2012, Edwards’ fourth studio album, Voyageur, became Edwards’ first album to crack the top 100 and top 40 in the U.S., peaking at #39 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and #2 in Canada.  (Source: Wiki)

Find Edwards’ Voyageur album on iTunes at this link.

Kathleen Edwards’ official web site.

Words as Weapons

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Jasmine van den Bogaerde, 17, also known by her stage name Birdy, is an English musician. She won the music competition Open Mic UK in 2008, at the age of 12. Her début single, a version of Bon Iver‘s “Skinny Love“, was her breakthrough, charting all across Europe and being certified six times platinum in Australia. Her self-titled début album Birdy was released on 7 November 2011 to similar success, peaking at number 1 in Australia, Belgium and The Netherlands. Birdy’s second studio album Fire Within is expected to be released on 23 September 2013 in the UK.

Find her album Birdy on iTunes.  Her website: Officialbirdy.com.

17 years old.  Incredible.

Dale Watson

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Feelin’ like foot-stomping Johnny Cash.  “Dale Watson, 50, grew up in poverty outside of Pasadena, Texas as one of four boys. Watson’s father (whom he is named after) and brother, Jim were both musically inclined and guided what have become his longstanding musical influences. Watson began writing his own songs at age 12, making his first recording two years later. By day he went to school and by night he played local Houston clubs and Honky Tonks with Jim in an aggregation called the Classic Country Bandin. He champions “Ameripolitan” as a new genre of original music and has positioned himself as a tattooed, stubbornly independent outsider who is interested in recording authentic country music. As a result, his record sales have been slow, but he has become a favorite of critics and alt-country fans.” (Source: Wiki)

Dale Watson Official Website.  On iTunes at this link.