3 posts tagged “singer songwriter”
Meet singer-songwriter Bleu. He's one of our favorite artists in the world. His debut disc, "Redhead," is a stone classic (created in collaboration with such wizards of songwriting as Jellyfish's Andy Sturmer and Semisonic's Dan Wilson). He's even written a song for the Jonas Brothers, which is a good thing because someone this talented also deserves to eat.
His new record, "A Watched Pot," is so good it makes us want to punch a wall.
So we're pretty damn giddy to see the man himself wearing our Queen '82 tour tee in this playful pic (photo credit: Tony Wisner), rocking what seems to be a toy drum kit with a typically demure affect.
Then again, when you make a record of gigantic, colorful, heart-on-sleeve emotional pop-rock, why be coy?
You should buy "A Watched Pot" when it goes on sale July 14. And if you're in L.A., you should catch one of the Boston native's residency gigs at the fabulous Hotel Cafe starting June 30 (with guests like Rooney, Roger Manning, Mike Viola and Drake Bell).
Maybe you'll even get to hear what the tiny drum kit sounds like.
L.A. singer-songwriter Eleni Mandell has been making compelling music for some time, but it does seem the world is beginning to catch up with her adventurous musical sensibility.
Possessing a voice that can be impossibly silky or forbiddingly smoky, depending on the melodic demands of her beguiling songs, she saunters into new musical territory on her new album, Artificial Fire.
Though she's a million miles from the transparent confessional style of most L.A. troubadours, and adept at telling stories from multiple points of view, she does achieve a new kind of intimacy here, especially on tunes like "It Wasn't the Time (It Was the Color)."
But what's bound to catch listeners' ears, at least on first spin, is her musical range; Fire includes jagged guitar-rock, winsome chamber-folk and even rollicking power pop. She's assisted in this by her solid band (guitarist Jeremy Drake, bassist Ryan Feves and drummer Kevin Fitzgerald) as well as such reliable musos as X drummer (and superb vibes man) D.J. Bonebrake, co-producer Dave Trumfio, and singer Inara George, one of Eleni's two partners in the foxy side project The Living Sisters.
You'll certainly want to catch her live, so go here to scrutinize her upcoming tour dates.
Since we love the voodoo that she does, we're psyched to see her doing it in WF's Joey Ramone Capitol Theatre and Joan Jett Peacock tees. And if you attend her shows, we're told, you might well spot one or more of her bandmates in Worn Free attire as well.
Alice Peacock may be many things – a fantastic singer, a superb songwriter, an admirable do-gooder and a frankly gorgeous woman, to name a few of her more obvious qualities – but let's face it: She's no punk.
Her songs and voice instead recall the glory days of pop troubadours like Carole King, with a firm nod in the direction of the folk-rock tradition, especially on her spectacular recent CD, Who I Am.
Still, we have to admit this Chicago-based artist looks beyond fetching in our Debbie Harry Punk shirt. This pic was taken just outside the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood, where she'd just finished performing a stellar set.
With the power of her songs and her forthright, playful onstage demeanor, Alice is capable of rocking pretty much any space, as she's demonstrated repeatedly during her 2007 tour.
The night before her Hotel gig, she regaled a very different audience: a devoted crowd of folk-leaning fans at The Coffee Gallery in the charming southland burg of Alta Dena. During that engagement she was attired in WF's Debbie Harry Berlin Shirt, which offered a wry counterpoint to the rural painted backdrop and picturesquely arrayed bags of coffee beans that surrounded her.
Come to think of it, bringing Worn Free's rock and roll style to the folkie hinterlands? That is kinda punk.
