Most of the Lyrical Venus 2011 Interviews

Wow! It’s kind of hard to believe it, but it’s true, the Lyrical Venus Radio Hour is 4 years old!

That’s four years of great music by and fun interviews with women musicians of many genres – folk, pop, blues, jazz, even the occasional rap!

Thanks to the internet, the connections have been worldwide. When I can’t do the show live, I’ve pre-recorded and sent it in from multiple states and countries I’ve visited over the past four years – Barranquilla and Medellin in Colombia, Seattle, WA, Ashland, OR, Lyons, CO, Austin, TX for instance.

Plus the artists have called in from around the country and world, LA, Boston, Nashville, Austin, London, Canada, Trinidad & Tobago, Philadelphia, Idaho, Seattle, St. Louis, Florida, Boulder, and more.  Of course it’s always a treat to get a local artist playing live in the studio too!

And let’s not forget the wonderful listeners navigating time zones to tune in on Tuesdays to Lyrical Venus on kruufm.com from all around the planet!  Big love and thanks to you!  It is always a treat to hear from you, what you enjoy about the artists, if you got to tune in to the show, who you want to hear more from and about.

Speaking of connections, if for some reason you haven’t connected yet on the other Lyrical Venus social profiles, let me take a moment to give you those links here:

Lyrical Venus on Twitter

Lyrical Venus on Tumblr

Lyrical Venus on Facebook

And don’t forget the KRUU blog and the archived interviews over at KRUU too.  (I must confess, I am definitely missing several interviews from the past, if there is one in particular you are looking for, hit me up, that squeaky wheel would help me prioritize the order I work on editing them.)

As has been my annual tradition, I’ve collected a playlist of songs by the women I’ve interviewed in the past year (the shortest one I can find by each artist), and I played as many as I could this week, though I had to split in two parts, since there were 32 artists!  Part 1 playlist is here: http://kruufm.com/node/12262 Tune in next Tuesday from 9-10am Central for Part 2.

Big love, many thanks, looking forward to another year of awesome music in 2012!

P.S. I can’t deny that this show and blog has been the inspiration and impetus for me to explore my own music, I’ve been blogging about that here: http://heathermillermusic.com/

Filed under: Lyrical Venus Radio, music, musicians, women | 1 Comment

Singer-Songwriter Laura Marie

San Antonio born and raised, singer-songwriter Laura Marie very nearly became a marine biologist in college. Luckily for fans of her heartfelt, personal lyrics and smoky-smooth vocals, Laura Marie’s love of music and songwriting eventually carried her through to a degree in music education, past band breakups and the challenges of new motherhood to arrive at her second solo album, Last of the Ones.

Both a snapshot of a time of challenging change for the better in her life, and a prophecy of the bigger picture she couldn’t see at the time, Last of the Ones is both deeply personal and yet serves as a healing salve to all the hearts out there that inevitably get bruised by some life event or another.

Check out this gorgeous and heartwarming video of her song Love You Like Me:

If you are reading elsewhere, you may need to come to the blog to see the video.

Check out Laura Marie’s website to get her albums, keep up-to-date with her shows and also her blog with great tips for indie musicians!

Tune in Tuesday 11/8/11 to KRUU-LP 100.1 FM in Fairfield or kruufm.com online anywhere from 9-10am Central time US for your weekly concentrated dose of music by female singer-songwriters! Interview with Laura Marie at 9:30.

Filed under: Lyrical Venus Radio, female vocalists, interview, music, musicians, singer-songwriter, video, women | Post a comment

Singer-Songwriter Bess Rogers

Brooklyn-based artist Bess Rogers just came out with her fourth independent release, Out of the Ocean. Featuring all the upbeat handclaps, sweet harmonies, indie punk and pop progressions and catchy melodies we’ve come to love from Bess, the album is also tied together with her fascination with science.  Themes of evolution and love are woven together masterfully in an album that is the perfect balance of smart and fun.

If the success of her Kickstarter campaign is any indication (the final result was reaching 267% of the goal, with over 500 backers, after meeting the original goal in just 2 days!), Bess’ near constant touring in the past several years has really gained her a devoted following.  That, her awesome songs and the fantastic company she keeps.  I have this feeling that when we look back in music history sometime down the road, there will be a group of musicians with the same sort of notoriety as The Group of Seven or perhaps the Impressionists.  Yes, I know that’s painting and this is music, but the same principle of a bunch of people living around the same time and influencing each other’s art applies!  Just check out the cast of characters involved in making Out of the Ocean:

Produced by Chris Kuffner (Ingrid Michaelson’s Girls and Boys) and recorded partly in a Maine farmhouse studio owned by Sam Kassirer (producer of Josh Ritter and Erin McEown) and partly in Rogers’ home studio in Brooklyn, Out Of The Ocean features a host of talented friends including Ingrid Michaelson, Allie Moss, Ian Axel, Saul Simon-MacWilliams, Elliot Jacobson and Dave Eggar (Train, Beyonce).

And now check out a few of them performing the single Anchor:

If you are reading elsewhere, you may need to come to the blog to see the video.

Check out Bess’ newly updated website to get the new album, see videos, get other merch, and stay up-to-date with her busy touring schedule.  For those of you in Fairfield, IA, Bess will be performing at Cafe Paradiso on Oct. 24th with Allison Weiss.  It’s sure to be an energetic and entertaining show!

Tune in Tuesday to KRUU-LP 100.1 FM in Fairfield or kruufm.com online anywhere from 9-10am Central time US for your weekly concentrated dose of music by female singer-songwriters!  Interview with Bess at 9:30.

Filed under: Lyrical Venus Radio, female vocalists, interview, music, musicians, new album, new release, singer-songwriter, video, women | Post a comment

Singer-Songwriter Jane Godfrey

Growing up in a large and highly musical family, St. Louis singer-songwriter Jane Godfrey spent a lifetime of listening to and making music with her brothers and sisters before a serious of sleepless nights led to her picking up a pen to write herself.  Quickly validated to continue by winning a song-writing contest, when Jane was ready to record, she had a built-in backup band of siblings ready to add their harmonies and instrumental talents to her delightful story songs.

When I met Jane around the campfire at Storyhill Fest Midwest in 2010, a few things really struck me about her music.  There was the clever wordplay, the poignant insights into the human condition, and the way her songs really served and honored the people she wrote them for, yet they were universal in that anyone could relate to them.

Check out Jane performing her song Donuts & Daydreams at a songwriting contest last August:

If you are reading elsewhere, you may need to come to the blog to see the video.

If you’d like to hear more of Jane’s music, stay up to date on new releases or purchase her album Choose Beauty, check out her website.

Of course you can also tune in to KRUU at 100.1 FM in Fairfield or kruufm.com online anywhere from 9-10am Central on Tuesday, October 11th. Get to know Jane at 9:30.

Filed under: Lyrical Venus Radio, female vocalists, interview, music, musicians, singer-songwriter, video, women | Post a comment

Singer-Songwriter Kristin Cifelli

Boston based singer-songwriter Kristin Cifelli has been playing piano since 2nd grade and writing songs since the 5th.  Two and a half years in the making and well worth the wait, her newest album, Middle of Nowhere, is grown-up pop with songwriter smarts and a voice you could listen to all day long.

The polish shines on each carefully crafted song of Middle of Nowhere, backed with lush instrumentation that never distracts, allowing the vocals and stories to take center stage.  Not that the Berklee grad needs a full band to make her songs soar, just check out this version of her doing her song Not Supposed To solo on The Steve Katsos Show:

If you are reading elsewhere, you may need to come to the blog to see the video.
Then you can go check out and download the album version on Kristin’s Bandcamp to hold you until the full album is released.  Check out Kristin’s website and sign up to her mailing list so you’ll know as soon as Middle of Nowhere is available!

Of course you can also tune in to KRUU at 100.1 FM in Fairfield or kruufm.com online anywhere from 9-10am Central on Tuesday, October 4th. Get to know Kristin at 9:30.

Filed under: Lyrical Venus Radio, female vocalists, interview, music, musicians, new album, new release, singer-songwriter, video, women | Post a comment