Portland OR's Adrian H and the Wound releases their debut on Projekt Records

Nick Cave once released Murder Ballads, an album that serves as the premise for a musical genre that effectively describes the work of Portland, Oregon's Adrian H And The Wounds. 

Our narrator Adrian H sings grim stories of broken characters of flesh and blood, human tragedies that chase shivers down the listener's spine. His narrative style, spoken and sung in a hoarse, sonorous voice rides atop The Wounds' solid accompaniment which exudes an almost tangible sinister atmosphere. Sultry, passionate and intense through and through, the compositions provide the perfect drive and spark that Adrian's narrative story-telling requires. Adrian's ever-present piano forms the basis for the arrangements which rock with a cabaret post-punk mood à la Bauhaus and Love And Rockets.     

The songs as stories are presented in a dark, brooding film noir style, as if told in a smoky joint in a backwater southern town populated by characters at the edge of society; they're broken and yet more whole than its shining citizens. These men and women are not presented as sinners but as rounded human beings condemned to life as it is without the need for redemption. They are 'real' if you like, observed by Adrian H as a modern day and more mature Bukowski who has chucked the excess and honed his stories to a razor-sharp point. It's all quite literate, dark and brooding, yet fused with speakeasy black humor.

Throughout, Adrian H's feverish vocals create a rapport with the listener. You’re not just eavesdropping on his songs, you’re transported to a malevolent side of town, just a step away from a knife blade and the deep, black abyss. 

Featured on the album are Adrian's re-possession of three well-known tracks.  First off is Tom Waits, 'Hoist That Rag' where Adrian leads The Wounds with a blistering organ through a bloody battle of saxophone, piano and percussive textures to claim victory at its end with a call to arms chorus and a tip of the hat to old Tom. Later, the band is on the vaudeville stage for "Chim Chim Cher-ee" with a dark cabaret atmosphere and three-quarter time; the harmless children's song suddenly turned into an angry nightmare. A haunting version of Bain Wolfkind's "Border Patrol" finishes the album with its sexy saxophone and crime-ridden streets; "a man lays dead in the snow," Adrian H intones, knowing all too well it could be a stranger just as easily as it could be himself.

Each song is a world all its own, sometimes introspective, sometimes vaudeville, sometimes driving post-punk, often very catchy and always very emotional.

Adrian's murder'n crime tales would work as a Tim Burton soundtrack: pitch-black moments, blackhearted and gloomy, yet sizzling and captivating. Adrian's virulent and venemous vocals deliver grim stories with musical echoes of Nick Cave and Tom Waits. 

Simply Six: Ruby Jane

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted  to   be a     singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show,  to   another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there  such  a defining moment for you?

1.       From the time I first saw a violin at 2 years old, I knew that this was what I wanted to do with my life. I saw a video of Itzhaak Pearlman playing a concert and something was ignited inside me which told me this was my mission in life. I realize that’s a really early age but from that moment on I never doubted what I wanted to do with my life. However, there is one other moment that stands out in my mind as a moment that re-affirmed my passion and assured me that I was on the right path. I was about eight years old and Rhonda Vincent, a popular bluegrass artist, came to our town in Mississippi to play a concert. We went to see her play and I was able to go backstage and talk to her during the intermission. She had me play a song for her on her fiddle backstage and was so impressed that she taught me a song on the spot and invited me to come play it with her on stage. It was a sold out crowd of a thousand people and that was my first real experience performing a show. I remember being in the middle of the song and looking up and seeing the shining light at the back of the theater. I don’t even really know what it was I just remember seeing it and having this feeling of exhilaration that told me “You’re on the right path. This is what you’re meant to be.”. From that point forward I’ve never stopped pursuing my dream.

2 . When you’re not creating music what are you listening   to?  Who are some of

your favorites?

 

Well I have a wide variety of musical interests and inspirations. Some of the artists that have been most influential to me are: Patty Griffin, Tom Waits, Johnny Cash, John Lennon, Willie Nelson, and Ryan Adams. The artists that I currently listen to the most are probably: Erykah Badu, Radiohead, My Morning Jacket, Ryan Adams, Tom Waits, Wilco, and Ray Lamontagne. Other violinists and fiddle players that I really admire are: Mark O’Connor, Stuff Smith, Stephane Grappelli, and Vassar Clements.

 3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record

or live?

        Hmmm…there are so many incredible moments that I look back on as some of the best moments of my life. I might have to pick a couple! One that really stands out in my mind is performing when I was 12 with Big and Rich at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville and the Tennessee Titan Stadium for a sold out crowd of 60,000. It was an unbelievable experience. I had been asked by ABC television to be in a special they were doing about young and upcoming artists teaming up with big music stars. They chose me and a piano player from NYC to fly to Nashville, meet Big and Rich, and be invited to perform with them. I remember walking out on that stage, hearing the deafening roar of the crowd, and feeling right at home. I never felt more comfortable in my life. It was like I was meant to be there. The bass was booming really loudly wish made my heart beat so fast. Seeing that sea of people was probably the most exciting moment of my life. Again, I knew this was something I wanted to be doing every single night! Other great moments were when I had the opportunity to play both Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits music festival this year. At my age to be asked to play those festivals was an incredible honor that I will never forget. I was able to play with my band and my songs and sound. And I was welcomed by amazing crowds at both events. It made me feel that all the hard work is really paying off. I was so honored to be standing among amazing bands at both of these festivals. There are tons more incredible moments but I really feel that those three have stood out the most. 

        4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something   to  listen   to?  How much can music  influence current events?

  

           I believe that music is one of the most incredible tools that we have as human beings. Music, unlike anything else, targets your emotion. You can be in a sad mood and then listen to your favorite song and it can turn your whole day around. Music has an otherworldly connection to our souls and has the power to change us as human beings. Music more than anything else can change people’s way of thinking. So yes I believe it has the power to change the world. If our entire world were to run out of money tomorrow, everyone lose their jobs, crops die out, etc., we would still have music. We would still have the ability to play music for people and make them happy again. When you’re playing a concert, you have the power to reach into people’s souls and make them forget about their crappy lives, if even just for an hour. Music has the power to make people feel like they can do anything; like they can turn their life around. It is one of the most incredible devices that mankind has ever known. 

     

        5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?

          Just like everything else in the world, music will grow and change and develop. As technology grows and changes, our ways of accessing music and listening to music will change as well. This is inevitable. It’s pointless to try to stop it. It’s pointless to try to save the old ways when new minds are being born and new concepts are developing every day. We have to embrace the change and grow with it. It’s the only way to reach out to the world. Youth is everything. And youths use technology. If we want to make an impact with music, we have to reach out to them. And I don’t think the fact that iTunes and other means of technological communications is a bad thing for the music business. Record companies are dying out and it’s becoming about the artist again. We’re not relying on rich executives to hire models and run them through auto-tune in order to make a million bucks. The artist now has to reach out to their fans themselves: through the internet. I think it’s wonderful. I love having the ability to interact with my fans through Facebook, iTunes, blogging, tweeting, etc. I think it’s gonna turn our ideas of how to “make it” completely upside down. It’s an opportunity for us to grow as an entertainment business and an opportunity for true music to stand out again.  

         6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

         Oh man this is tough! I would have to say Converse. Not just because I wear them a ton, but   because I’m not fancy, I love to be comfortable, I’m unique and I want to fill your closets. Haha!

Simply Six: May McDonough

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such a defining moment for you?

-----  My mother kept musical instruments around the house, and she was a rock n roll girl herself.  I learned guitar watching her, and passing tips back and forth with my brother.  Singing was just a part our lives as a family.  The three of us used to harmonize irish folks songs on the way to kindergarten in the mornings.  So I'm not sure I can isolate any defining moment for me.  I was always a musician.  All though I did go through a few years in highschool trying to be a comedian.  Even then though... I think comedians are just musicians who can't play, and musicians are just comedians who aren't funny.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of your favorites?

------  My music collection is pretty lofty, but I've got favorites.  Sonic Youth, Neutral Milk Hotel, Tom Waits, The Beatles, The Pixies.  I grew up on Bowie and Led Zeppelin and the greats and then moved into the more obscure stuff in high school.  There's a common thread in what I like, but I couldn't name it for the life of me.

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

----  That's got to be a tie between recording my first album last year, and now having a band and playing the House of Blues for the first time.  For an indie band, that's one of the biggest stages we'll ever be privy to.  Can't wait.

4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to?   How much can music influence current events?

----  Sure.  Music is art.  And art is distinctly what we do with our humanity.  There's not much pragmatic purpose in it, yet it's what we do.  so I feel like it must be some integral part of the human experience.  It most certainly can influence our actions and our perspectives.

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?

---- Well, while the industry fat cats we're busy debating over what new format to use, some nerdy music fans sitting in their basement somewhere created the mp3 and started sharing.  That's definitely the greatest influence I've seen on the industry.  Sharing has given indie bands like us a platform.  Mp3's have made word of mouth powerful again. It's unfortunate that the RIAA refuses to see that.  I wrote an open letter to the RIAA about it on our blog.  They need to revise their laws.  

6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

----  Probably the kind of pair where one is always missing.

Simply Six: Susan Picking

1.   For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such a defining moment for you? 


 I think back to when I was in elementary school and I loved vocal music. My favorite teacher was the teacher who had us sing everyday.   My mom took me to musicals and inside I thought I could do that, and would be fun.....and yet as a kid I studied piano and cello.

About 15 years ago in Long Beach CA, I was hitting some tennis balls with a 7 year old girl.  She sang a song for me on the court and told me she was taking voice lessons.  I got the name of her teacher and immediately started to study voice.  I was working as a flight attendant at that time, and could easily bring my voice along on my trips and practice singing on my layovers.  I would practice vocal exercises into my pillow in my hotel rooms.  As crazy as I knew it was, it was so energizing and fulfilling.  I continued private lessons and studied music at Long Beach City College.  It was at this point that it hit me. “ I realized it was my passion, when I could practice for hours in solitude in a college practice room and lose time and forget to eat.” At that moment It wasn’t about performing, it was connecting to my voice and my passion and realizing I’d found it,  both my voice and my passion. 

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of your favorites?  


The    favorites list is sooooo long.  There is so much good music out there.  I love just about all genres from classical, to native ethnic, to any Americana, jazz, gospel R &B , hip hop to country. MY BIGGEST INFLUENCE IS  70’s folk rock.....Carole King, James Taylor, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits.  I also LOVE Willie Nelson and Ray Charles.  A few female jazz icons whom I adore are Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone.  Contemporary Artists that I listen to are Cassandra Wilson, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, Sarah McLachlan, John Mayer, BrandyCarlisle, Cheryl Crowe, Alison Krause, Jack Johnson, Ben Harper..... I love to hear anything live, and listen to a lot of local Just to name a few......

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?  


There have been a couple of pivotal moments in my career this past year that confirm that I’m heading in the right direction.  One was my first appearance on eightWest  WOOD TV 8, an NBC affiliate in Grand Rapids MI.  It opened a lot of doors for me in Grand Rapids when I first moved there.  People took me more seriously as an artist.  Another one was being selected as a Top 10 Summer CD release in Grand Rapids by John Sinkevics writer for the Grand Rapids Press.  In Live performance there are always moments of feeling deeply connected.  One was performing as a vocal soloist and played the Bodhran,  with the Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra.  I performed a Traditional Gaelic Irish Tune with a Celtic group.  Another experience that was moving was having a Developmentally Disabled elderly man come up to me after a show and tell me that my performance raised his spirits.  That’s why I do it.

4. Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to?   How much can music influence current events?


 Change starts from within on a singular individual basis. In other words, change happens when people change.  Societal or cultural  climate change occurs when collectively humans come together and create a shift.  Music can definitely influence a mood or a state of mind which can then influence change. Musicians and Artists are often at the forefront in leading this type of movement.  Historically musicians and artists have been visionaries who suggest different ideas and different ways of being through their art. Music can be inspirational and can inspire people to create change in their worlds.  It is also just something to listen to, if you are not open for change.  ;)

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?  


Technology has had a huge effect on the music industry.  From recording technology we have gone from very expensive studio recordings to DIY in home computer studio recordings making it affordable for all musicians. With DIY recording being so accessible to any musician......one does have to consider the varying expertise of this accessibility.  Technology has also made free music accessible corrupting the ability of musicians to make money off of their art, with piracy.  Technology has also made it accessible for the creative Indie Artist to make a living through various streams of social networking.  It has definitely assisted me through social networking to be able to reach larger audiences through the internet and social media.

6. Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?


I like making a statement while also being sensible.  I like a versatile shoe that is comfortable for the miles that I walk through life, as well as exhibits some personality of the wearer.  Ultimately I like it to have a lot of SOLE.  Chuck Taylor meets, Born, meets Manolo Blahnik, all with a reasonable price tag......DSW or Zappos.

Simply Six: The Shining Skulls

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such

 a defining moment for you?

       It was the first time I heard "Appetite for Destruction" by Guns n Roses. At that time Top 40 was all derivative pop-metal and neon colored R&B. I was in 4th or 5th grade and my mom bought me the album. I put on my huge listening cans and there were the initial delayed guitar stabs of "Welcome to the Jungle", echoing in a dirty urban world I never knew. In a way the title was completely appropriate. It took me to a place in my imagination that I had never been.  I never really came back. I have wanted to play music ever since.  

Though none of their later work measured up in my ears, Appetite for Destruction stands out to me as one of the finest rock albums of the last 2 generations. If you do not own it, I suggest you get  copy. Put on some really nice head phones and turn it up.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of your favorites?
I have been listening to a lot of Tom Waits lately, Nick Drake, Nick Cave, the Black Keys. Cave SIngers. I'm sort of in a phase as a listener that I want to hear incredibly screwed up characters tell vividly screwed-up stories. As I have gotten older, I don't really buy teenage angst so much. I get it, I'm just not buying anymore. I prefer an older voice...musicians that can tell stories and can funnel all that neurosis into something less self-absorbed and more entertaining.  Oh yeah, and I have been digging on Trentmoeller a lot lately as well.

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

I think finishing our album was the greatest moment for sure. We took it upon ourselves to produce the album having never really done so before. I worked on demos and our first EP, but I really had no idea how to pull off a full-scale production, especially considering the expectations we had. Instead of going into a studio, I outfitted a small but high quality recording rig and we recorded the entire thing in the basement of a house where Andrew and I lived. I was learning everything from mic placement to mixing while on the job so it took some time for me to get my confidence up. It was a massive amount if work and sometimes I just wanted to quit...b/c what I heard was not as good as I what I wanted. But we pressed on and after about 8 months of tracking, re-tracking, re-writing, second and third guessing, we finally finished the album. When I sent it off to mastering, I had the most amazing exhale of my life.

4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to?   How much can music influence current events?

Absolutely. I think art changes the world everyday. It's rarely so obvious as Jimi Hendrix playing the National Anthem at Woodstock. Most of the changes are small and passing and almost all of them occur within the brain of the person experiencing the art. The truth is that "the world" is both a universal thing and a starkly personal frame of reference...and the world is both of these things at the same time all the time. The right song or photograph at the right time of day can turn that day around. Turning a day around is the first step in turning a life around. In that way, I think all art contributes to a butterfly effect. It creates small changes in the experience of a person and the world as we know it the world of people. So yeah, I know for certain that music changes the world, but it is a subtle thing.

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?

Now this is a loaded question. Digital technology has turned the music world upside down. Huge studios and massive retail distribution deals have given way to DIY philosophies and the tangled data-jungle of the internet. For bands willing to learn and do the work, music can be recorded and made available to every person on the planet with little more than a computer in some cases. 

I like that I can make music and not have to shell out tens of thousands of dollars in studio costs. The internet allows us to expand our reach to an international level. A lot of artists are doing this which has created it's own downside. The downside is that the internet culture is becoming a market of entitlement and short attention spans. Everybody wants everything for free and they want it now. For artists, the internet is both a blessing and a curse. The curse is that almost any piece of art available on the internet has less perceived value to a listener. It's simple psychology. We always value more what we have to work for or pay for with our own hard earned money.  Something given away for free has less value to the person consuming it. But if you charge for it there is a good chance most will never give it a try. The blessing is that it puts the onus on the artists to make the best art possible. My philosophy is that the only way to break through the static is to create music that will stand the test of time and keep putting it in front of as many people as you can. At the end of the day it's a numbers game. You increase your odds of success if you make sure that your art pleases you first....b/c only then will you muster the energy to try to share it with the rest of us.

6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

Toe Sox I think. The Shining Skulls are Toe Sox. We have a snug little home for each of our toes....and by toes I mean fans.

Simply Six: Sheri Miller

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such a defining moment for you?

I have a feeling if I was alive when The Beatles were on the Ed Sullivan show, I would’ve been convinced in one heartbeat, one split second flat, I wanted to sing, and write songs.  How could you not, it’s the Beatles?

For me, I can’t recall one specific thrilling, defining moment, but I’ve been writing songs since I first sat on a piano bench at age 6/7.  Making up songs always felt as natural to me as feeling the wind on my neck, or swimming in the ocean.  It feels like it’s been born with me, as part of nature.  My nature.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of

your favorites?

Aaah, great question.  The Beatles.  Beach Boys.  Wings.  Nina Simone.  Ella Fitzgerald.  Etta James.  Paul Simon.  Tom Waits.  Joni Mitchell.  Ricki Lee Jones.  Jimi Hendrix.  Glenn Gould.  Bach.  Tchaikovsky.  John Coltrane.  Bob Dylan.  Elvis Costello.  Leonard Cohen.  Adele.   Raphael Saadiq.  Stevie Wonder. 

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

When you play a song live, and people have told you the cried. Or written me they’ve cried from listening to a recording.  I once read a Rickie Lee Jones interview, and she said something to the effect of “the point of making music is to make people cry; and to make yourself cry.”  I think that’s a beautiful way of putting it.

4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to?

How much can music influence current events?

Absolutely!  Music has changed the world since the first note rang clear through the treetops.  Bob Dylan in the ‘60’s with “Blowin’ In The Wind” influenced masses of teenagers to support the peace movement.  So many civil rights songs, from Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” to gospel spirituals, inspired and gave strength to busloads of Civil Rights activists who found deep sources of courage to risk their lives, and ride through the dangerous South to protest the Jim Crow laws. They changed the world.  Music has lifted people up, told our stories, and changed our world since the beginning of time.  I think it’s an honor and privilege to be part of the musical tradition and legacy in any form.

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?

Wow.  Loaded question.  Technology, in essence, has revoked the power from the record companies and massive terrestrial radio stations, and given the power back to the listeners, the people themselves, the musicians, at the very source.  Anyone can post a song on the internet.  Anyone can be heard. It’s a double-edged and a blessing. I love the new technology. It’s a true musical democracy.  Amen.

6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

Barbara, I dig it.  I would be a flashy, sparkly 3 inch pair of sexy hot smokin’ high heeled puppies.  You could walk in me, but never walk all over me.  I’d make you feel something.   Something good.  Watch me comin’, now.  I got some sole! 

http://www.sherimiller.com/
http://www.facebook.com/sherimillermusic

Simply Six: Heather Edwards

Heather Edwards is a singer/songwriter from New York.

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such a defining moment for you?

When I was 6 1/2 years old my parents bought a piano.  I was trying to play a song but it wasn't going the way I thought it should or wanted it to.  I asked my Mother what the problem was and she explained that I had to take piano lessons.  My Father was a high school math teacher and asked his students if any of them had a piano teacher that they really liked.  One girl told him that she had a piano teacher and she really liked her and that is how my parents found my piano teacher.  After my first lesson I ran to the piano once we got home and tried to play the song.  I exclaimed to my parents that the piano lesson didn't work.  They told me I needed to take more than one lesson and so I kept going back.  Four months later I gave my first recital (playing at a fourth year level, which I didn't know was a big deal at the time).  After that performance I was on Cloud 9 and knew that a pianist/performer was what I would be 'when I grew up'.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of your favorites?

Instead of generating a random (and very extensive) list of artists that I love to listen to, I've created alphabetical listing just for fun (but not a complete listing by any means)!

Aerosmith
Beatles
Chet Baker
Damned
Eurythmics
Fleetwood Mac
George Gershwin
Heart
India.Arie
Journey
Kronos Quartet
Led Zepplin
Meatloaf
Nat King Cole
Ozzy Osbourne
Prince
Queen
Rush
Stevie Wonder
Tom Waits
U2
Van Halen
Who
Xavier Rudd
Zappa

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

It is really hard to say I've only had one greatest moment.  However, one of the highlights was a show that I gave when I was 18 years old - my Senior Recital.  The first hour was Classical music in chronological order based on when it was composed and ended with a piece I composed.  The second hour I came out with a rock band and we played an hour of songs I had written.  I loved the complete change in mood and the crowd had a great time.

4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to?   How much can music influence current events?

I believe that music has power that we may sometimes either be unaware of and/or take for granted.  Music therapy has been proven to heal.  Lyrics have inspired and taught people around the world about major events.  Music fundraisers are events that can help raise awareness and funds for medical research, disaster relief and other important causes.

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?

I believe that technology has been a blessing and a curse.  Because of the internet, music is more available and accessible to people around the world.  Music searches and social networking have helped my music reach people globally whereas without the internet, I don't know that I'd have fans in places like India, Ireland and Bulgaria.  The downside of the technology is that music is easier to steal and has put traditional record stores out of business.  I read that it was estimated that because of online piracy and illegal sales of copyrighted works on the artists who create them, artists lost $12.5 BILLION and 71,060 jobs last year.  Those are pretty terrifying statistics.

6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

If I were a pair of shoes I would be the most flattering, comfortable, never-go-out-of-style pair.  These shoes would be the kind that a person would do anything to keep around because this paid of shoes is her absolute, can't-do-without favorite!

 

Spotlight: Krista Detor

There is a woman who operates at the crossroads of poetry and circus, con men and wholesome Midwesterners, between transience and the hearth. Her name is Krista Detor and her new album, Chocolate Paper Suites (Tightrope Records; September 21, 2010), brings together her signature brave Americana and indie sounds in a lush, heady set of interwoven songs. They dance from Lorca to Darwin, from Tom Waits to Aimee Mann inspired by Detor’s own big-top life.

Detor’s suites, extending past the standard folk four minutes, expand the individual songs emotionally, ripe with big ideas and big heart. “The format has struck some folks as ambitious,” Detor states, “but it allowed me to explore a longer trajectory with better hang time. To make a longer musical statement.” 

The ambitious choice of form suits Detor’s rich subjects. Lorca’s vision of a gown made from chocolate paper, a burst of ephemeral beauty meets imagined letters to Darwin (“Darwin Songhouse Suite,” written in the scientist’s hometown of Shrewsbury). Hints of Tom Wait’s poetic vision of American life mingle with the starlit ghosts of Hoagy Carmichael and Bessie Smith (“Night Light”). It’s all darkness and sweetness, and Detor, in her wandering, has embraced plenty of both.

“If you pick up the theme of circus, it’s just so easy to just set it upon my life. It has been very circus like,” Detor explains. “I had a quirky birth family and plenty of unusual events in my life, things that look pretty strange on paper.”

Teenage parents gave her up for adoption at birth, and Detor was raised by a hard-working Indiana family with a strong moral compass. Then, unexpectedly when she was 30, her birth parents re-emerged, her biological father having been in a federal penitentiary for counterfeiting 72 million dollars in the Caribbean. 

“When he and my birth mom found me, he had been straight for ten years and ran a swimming pool contracting business.  But for most of his life my biological father was a con man, with his own traveling medicine show.”   Though his ethics were questionable, his sense of freedom was magnetic.  “His perspective changed me.” Krista recalls.  One month after meeting him, she had quit her career in commercial real estate and was living in a house on the water in the Florida Keys.

The moment she decided to abandon the life she knew for something new is captured in the song “Oranges Fall Like Rain.” “I wrote the lyrics sitting at my job in an office building, contemplating my future. I was looking down on a man who was selling bags of oranges. I imagined the whole street scene changing and then me chucking my computer out the window,” Detor recalls. “I saw myself sprinting down the steps and running into this Andalusian place, where the scarecrows sing and butterflies are everywhere.”

With this latest album Detor has found new paths to tread, new ambitions sparked by the bright images of poets like Lorca and Dylan Thomas, as well as by her own wild and wooly experiences. These vivid worlds shine in the colors and contours of the suites. “There is a context that sits in your brain for poems you are enamored with,” muses Detor. “In a way, you get into that zone, but with your own viewpoint. I can find enormous inspiration from other peoples’ world view, especially someone from another culture. It’s a whole different palette.”

Detor matched this lyrical approach by developing a new musical palette to pull from, listening to everything from Tin Pan Alley chestnuts to Italian café music. She worked with brilliant and eccentric musicians she encountered on her travels—everyone from an aerialist/bass player, a fiddler steeped in Middle Eastern traditions, and an old-time mandolin master. She found inspiration in unexpected new locales, including her days as part of the Darwin Songhouse, writing music about Darwin’s loves, life, and profound losses.  All coming to fruition in the ambitiously lush and dark Chocolate Paper Suites.

SIMPLY SIX: Ariane Mahryke Lemire

Ariane Mahryke Lemire is a singer/songwriter from Edmonton, Alberta Canada.

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer. For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later. Is there such a defining moment for you?

There was no particular defining moment. I started making up songs as soon as I could talk and later put on recitals and plays along with my cousins that lasted much too long. I decided I was going to be a writer after reading "Anne of Green Gables" when I was about 12...I had forgotten about the music. It came again, later, when someone asked to use some of my poetry to put to music. When I went to the concert and heard how my writing had been butchered, I decided that I would be doing to composing and singing from then on.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to? Who are some of your favorites?

Dad was a classical guitarist so there was always something playing on the jukebox or the stereo. My standard go-to s are the 60's classics (everything pop to Jimi, Janis, Jethro, King Crimson...). Other staples: Joni Mitchell, Tori Amos, Ricki Lee Jones, Tom Waits, Ryan Adams, Djavan, French singer-songwriters, and then there are the up and comers: Eamon McGrath, Andrea Lindsay, Geneviève Toupin, Scott Cook, Derek Frank, Madame Moustache, Joe Nolan...the list goes on and on and on...

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

The circus that is producing TWO albums at once! It's almost over, they're almost finished, and it's been one heck of a ride. From picking the songs to organising the recording sessions, to handling the budgets (and lack of budget), working out the arrangements, and the absolute thrill of seeing it all come together.

4. Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to? How much can music influence current events?

Music has always played an imperative roll in society. It used to be a way to transmit news from village to village, to transmit heritage and tradition from generation to generation. It can soothe or torture...Governments have used music to influence the population: rally songs, party songs, jingles...anthems. Music plays a powerful roll in triggering emotions. Just as it can put a baby to sleep, it can compel a group to battle. My 87 year old great uncle told me being an entertainer was as important to the a society as a bus driver, a lawyer, a teacher or a loaf of bread. He says that for many people, seeing a play, a movie, or going to a concert makes the rest of the week worth living.

5. How has technology affected the music industry? How has technology affected your career as a musician?

Technology, its accessibility and relatively low cost, has allowed pretty much anyone to make their music accessible to the masses in one form or another. It's the doubled edged sword. On one hand, there is an increase in people listening to a larger variety of styles, languages, etc.. Labels and the music industry are no longer dictating what we listen to. Music can have a global reach much faster. The resourceful can make a career of what they love doing. On the down-side, it is becoming increasingly difficult to create a long lasting bond between the listener and the creator. Everyone is constantly bombarded with a plethora of new artists. Then again, this could also be a good thing since it pushes us to work harder at upping the quality, originality, and honesty of what we put out. I guess what I'm trying to say, in regards to that question is.....?.

6. Now for my Barbara Walters question: If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

If I were a pair of shoes...I'd have to be some weird cross-breed of spiked heels, skate shoes, flip-flops, and mid-calf boots.