Singer-Songwriter Courtenay Green

Courtenay Green is a colorful character.  By that I mean she really seems to dig colors.  For example her band is called See Green, (it used to be Courtenay Green & The Red Scare), their new EP is called Violet, and there’s a track on it called Goldmine.

Lame pun attempts aside, See Green makes some pretty rockin’ pop music.  The kind that makes me walk back into the room where my computer is to check what’s playing when their songs come up on shuffle.  The songs on Violet have some flavors that I remember from some of my favorite movie soundtracks in the 90’s but with a fresh twist.  Which means for me, listening to See Green feels like catching up with an old buddy from high school who I maybe haven’t seen since graduation.  Familiar enough to slip right into comfortable conversation, long enough time apart that there’s a lot I want to know about them and what they’ve been doing.

See Green just released a brand new music video for their song Get What I Want. If you can watch this without at least bobbing your head, I think there might be something a bit off with you.

If you are viewing this post elsewhere you may need to come to the actual blog to see the video

Courtenay is a multi-instrumentalist, so she composes and arranges all the parts in her songs and has recruited a crack team of LA musicians (who look great in cardigans!) to form the band See Green. They have already been rocking stages and dance floors around the country, and I have a feeling they are only getting started.

I Can Change (LCD Soundsytem Cover) by See Green

If you you like what you are hearing, catch up with See Green around the web!

Check out more of their videos on YouTube.

Stream the Violet EP on Bandcamp.

Follow Courtenay on Twitter

You can purchase the Violet EP on their official website, which also has links to their other social sites.

And of course, you can join me this Tuesday, August 31st, from 9-10am Central to get to know Courtenay, and to get your weekly dose of songs by female singer-songwriters!  KRUU-LP 100.1 FM here in town, kruufm.com online anywhere! Courtenay will be calling in around 9:30.

Singer-Songwriter Kassie Miller

Going from the lyrics on her self-titled debut, Nashville-based Kassie Miller seems like the kind of gal you’d be happy to have as a neighbor.  She’s pretty and talented, but down to earth and honest at the same time, so it’s plenty easy to relate to her.

As it says in her bio, “Kassie Miller is a mix of a little bit of country and a little bit of soul.” And also, “Her raspy voice, reminiscent of Tanya Tucker, combined with her lively southern-country personality on stage create an artist that will capture you heart, leaving you wanting more.”

If you watch CMT, you may already be familiar with Kassie, as she starred on both Can you Duet and Season 1 of the Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search, which she won! The exposure from the shows and her other hard work around Nashville garnered Kassie the attention of a record label. Ultimately Kassie decided to strike out on her own to ensure she could sing her own songs, bolstered by the fact that her fan following was clamoring for her to release her own album.

The result was worth the wait! Check out Kassie performing her song Lazy Day at her CD release party in Nashville this past December:

If you’re reading this elsewhere, you may need to come to the blog to see the video.

Since the release of her album, Kassie is keeping busy touring and doing house concerts with her husband and guitarist Ben, and her little dog Baby became the proud mama of three little chihuahuas!  You can follow those adventures, (plus see pictures, tour dates, buy her album and more) over on her official site or on YouTube, and connect with Kassie on Facebook and Twitter.

Tune in Tuesday, July 20th to get to know Kassie a little better. KRUU-LP 100.1 FM here in town, kruufm.com online from anywhere in the world with internet.  Music from 9-9:30am Central, Kassie will be calling in at 9:30.

Singer-Songwriters Feathe

While students at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Alyssa Rieper, Johanne Swanson, and Adelyn Strei decided they wanted to join musical forces to start a band.  The result was Feathe (rhymes with “breathe”).  Featuring guitar, accordion and light rhythms layered with delicate harmonies, their mellow and sweet folk-pop would fit nicely in a playlist with the likes of Iron & Wine, Neko Case, The Starlings and The Decemberists.

This is the kind of music you can have as a soundtrack to so many things – an art day in your room, a sunny long-distance drive, tea with friends, to name a few.  No matter what, it’s going to bring a little smile to your face and to your heart.

Check out this video of Feathe performing their song Roses to see what I mean:

The Valley: 2.3 from The Valley on Vimeo.

Their music may have that satisfying lo-fi feel to it, but the girls of Feathe are also pretty tech savvy.  They’ve been releasing their EPs on Bandcamp, a great site for musicians, and you can get the songs there for free! (or pay what you want, if you are inspired to support them financially!)  You can also find them on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Feathe is coming to Fairfield for a show at The Beauty Shop on July 31st with She Swings, She Sways and X-Ray Mary!

Join me Tuesday for the Lyrical Venus Radio Hour from 9-10am Central to get your weekly dose of music by female singer-songwriters!  KRUU-LP 100.1 FM here in town, kruufm.com online anywhere!  Feathe will be calling in at 9am.

Singer-Songwriter Jennie Hunter

Classically trained in piano, LA-based singer-songwriter Jennie Hunter has international connections. Her debut album, Feel the Fire, was recorded in Chile with producer Claudio Valenzuela.

If you jumped to any conclusions after seeing the words “classically trained” and “Chile” in that first paragraph, you probably jumped too soon. With songs ranging from rock to electronica to pop, Jennie’s classical training really only shows in that she never misses a note. You won’t really find any Latin rhythms, but every part of the songs, whether sung or played, is drenched with that passion Latinos are famous for expressing.

So what you get from Jennie and Claudio is lush, rich, piano-driven landscapes, the emotional details painted with a delicate voice that might at times even be described as childlike, except for the maturity of the lyrics and the crystal clear control.

The eleven tracks on Feel the Fire pound, skip, rock, flow and tumble by turn.  The songs are sometimes sassy, sometimes melancholy, sometimes pleading, sometimes gritty, and sometimes playful.  All-in-all, the album is a pretty delightful ride. Check Jennie out on her MySpace or Facebook pages to hear tracks and find out more!

Tune in Tuesday, July 20th to get to know Jennie a little better. KRUU-LP 100.1 FM here in town, kruufm.com online from anywhere in the world with internet.  Music from 9-9:30am Central, Jennie will be calling in at 9:30.

Singer-Songwriter Sheila Nicholls

7/19/10 UPDATE: We are working to reschedule the interview with Sheila, should be in early to mid August, stay tuned! In the meantime, check out this fantastic in-depth feature on Sheila over on the amazing site KGRL.

It’s always interesting to hear what sort of music an artist comes out with after they’ve been with a label and decide to go independent.  Whether it’s very different or essentially the same, you know it’s definitely the artist’s true vision.

It’s also always interesting to hear what sort of music an artist comes out with after having a child.  Such a profoundly life-changing experience is bound to change your artistic expression as well.

I admit to not knowing Sheila Nicholls’ music before either of these events that happened in her life, but I do know I like what I hear now! Ranging from acoustic to alternative to trip hop, Sheila’s style is grooving and twinkling by turns, her versatile voice sliding easily up the scale and dropping into a gritty growl. With song after multi-textured and rich song, Sheila is one of those artists so easy to put on repeat!

But don’t take my word for it, here are two of her new tracks available to stream or download:
Sheila Nicholls – Bardo by artofbroadcast

Mighty Love (Live)
Sheila Nicholls – Mighty Love (Live) by artofbroadcast

Lovely interview about music, songwriting, being an artist and behind the name of the album:

Connect with Sheila online:

http://sheilanicholls.com/

http://www.myspace.com/sheilanicholls

http://www.facebook.com/sheilanichollsmusic

http://twitter.com/splendidfrock

Tune in Tuesday from 9-10am Central for your weekly dose of Lyrical Venus! KRUU-LP 100.1 FM here in town, or http://kruufm.com online anywhere!  The first and only solar powered radio station in the Midwest!  Sheila will be calling around 9:30.

Lauri Kranz of Snow & Voices

So I’m sitting here in front of a fan on high speed, it’s thundering outside and apparently there’s a flash flood warning and a tornado watch going on for the I don’t know how many-th time in the past couple of weeks.  I’m also cooking a big batch of caramel sauce that involves boiling down a gallon and a half of milk for two hours, as in, all four stove burners are going.  So yeah, it’s hot and the humidity is sticking to me, along with a huge buzzing swarm of thoughts and to-do’s.

Then I scroll to the album Anything That Moves by Snow and Voices and click play.  A sweet, relaxed voice floats on top of an ocean of cool piano and waves of ambient strings.  I remember to breathe.

Lauri Kranz and Jebin Bruni are the songwriter and multi-instrumentalist fronting Snow and Voices, and they pulled together an impressive collective of other artists in their LA area to create Anything That Moves, which just released on May 25th.

Have a listen to their track Maybe Finland and see if you get the same sense of fresh air that I did:

Snow and Voices Maybe Finland by artofbroadcast

There’s a picture on their website of Lauri and Jebin lying in a patch of sunlight on a shaggy rug. Between the relaxed attitude, the fact that Anything That Moves is their third full-length album and their just coming off a month-long Saturday residency at Hotel Cafe, I have a feeling that the sense of ease created by their music has more to do with their incredible skills and putting in the time to make good music than actually having a mellow attitude toward life. Which they may have as well, but I’m just saying, sometimes really talented people have this way of making things look easy that are not.

I also have the feeling that I could put this album on in the winter and feel all toasty warm somehow.  That’s pretty powerful all-weather stuff!  Check them out yourself on their website or MySpace page.

Join me Tuesday, June 22nd from 9-10am Central for music by female singer-songwriters and an interview with Lauri Kranz from Snow and Voices.  Tune in to KRUU-LP 100.1 FM here in town, kruufm.com online anywhere!  Lauri will be calling at 9am.

The Whispering Tree

Now based in New York, classically trained vocalist Eleanor Kleiner and French bassist Elie Brangbour met at the London Center of Contemporary Music in 2004. Together they formed The Whispering Tree, Eleanor’s liquid-sweet voice balanced and grounded by Elie’s solid bass, their extensive training only evident in how effortlessly the songs flow.

Since their meeting, Eleanor and Elie have traveled the world, sharing their music and picking up new influences everywhere from China to South America. Their new release, Go Call the Captain, combines elements of folk, rock, jazz and bluegrass into a melting pot of musical inspiration that is at once familiar and otherworldly.

Indeed, if one listened to only a couple of tracks, they might get a fairly different impression of the duo compared to listening to the whole album.  Piano-rich songs like By the Side of the Road and Las Vegas evoke a certain melancholy.  So Many Things speaks to consumerism in a quirky, jazzy upbeat flavor including peppy brushed drums.  The twangy banjo in Slide sidles up to the funky bass and adds a down-homeness to the groove I could see myself dancing to at an outdoor concert on a summer evening.

It may be hard to imagine without actually listening to it, but all the variety works well together, and listening to the album is like getting to know the different sides of a friend.  The different styles come one after the other as naturally as a coffee shop conversation turns from one subject to another over the course of an hour.

Speaking of spending time with friends, it seemed like a friend popped over a few weeks ago when I was de-cluttering in my little home office with my iTunes set on random and So Many Things came up for the first time.  I stopped for a moment and laughed a little – it was almost as if Eleanor was standing over my shoulder observing the many things I had managed to cram into the tiny space over the past couple of years!  Have a listen and see if you can relate to any of it as well:

If you’re reading this elsewhere, you may need to come to the actual blog to see the video.

Check out their website to hear and purchase other tracks.
You’ll also find easy links there for connecting with The Whispering Tree on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter.

Finally, don’t forget to tune in to KRUU-LP 100.1 FM here in town or kruufm.com online anywhere for The Whispering Tree interview on Tuesday, June 1st!  Eleanor and Elie will be calling in at about 9am Central.  Plus we’ll have more great music for the second half hour too!

Singer-Songwriter Lisa Brigantino

Spend a few minutes perusing Lisa Brigantino’s website and links and you’ll start to wonder if there is anything this talented musician can’t do!  It starts to make sense when you realize she has been steeped in music making since the age of 5, when she started piano lessons.  Now able to play at least 14 instruments, Lisa has garnered a variety of songwriting and performing awards, has toured the world with an all women Led Zeppelin tribute band, shares a musical comedy act with her sister in New York, and still found time to write, record and produce her two solo albums, the newest one to be released in June.

Wonder Wheel is a well rounded album, featuring everything from blazing electric guitar licks on Go and Find It, to rockin’ blues on This Town, to sweet finger-picked acoustic folk on Those Days, and sparkling piano pop on the title track.  Lisa’s voice moves fluidly from style to style, earthy on the blues and rocker songs, liquid sweet on the acoustic and pop tunes.

Not only did Lisa write all the songs on the album, she played the majority of instruments, and had a hand in the recording and mixing of all of them as well!  Like I asked before, is there anything she can’t do?

Here she is performing a twangy, olde time flavored tune of hers called I Gotta Find Me Something at Songwriters By The Sea, Asbury Park, NJ:

If you’re reading this elsewhere, you may need to come to the actual blog to see the videos

To find out more about Lisa, listen to song samples and pre-order the brand new album, set to release June 7th, check out LisaBrig.com

You can also find her on Twitter as LisaBrig and connect on Facebook or MySpace.

Of course, don’t forget to tune in to KRUU-LP 100.1 FM in town or kruufm.com online anywhere, this Tuesday from 9-10 am Central for the interview with Lisa.  She will be calling at 9am, and after the interview we’ll finish up with some more great music by female artists!

Singer-Songwriter Stephanie Nilles

Bored with playing other people’s songs, classically trained pianist Stephanie Nilles turned to writing her own. Tiring of New York City, she hit the road in 2008 and found her way into the indie/folk/coffee house circuit, booking herself about 20 shows a month and playing for tips on nights she didn’t have an official show. She also does house concerts, and I’ll be hosting her for one of those on Saturday, April 8th!

Stephanie’s music has earned her descriptions like “Ella Fitzgerald on speed beating the shit out of Regina Spektor” and “Tom Waits on helium”. Her subject matter “address issues ranging from drug busts in her neighborhood to the challenges and joys of life on the road.”

Stephanie is a modern day troubadour, touring non-stop, and these are songs that make you pay sit up and take notice, though you may be fooled at first listen if you aren’t paying attention. The brassy, jazzy voice and syncopated piano might remind you of some torchy song you heard before, but it only takes a moment to realize this is something new. Try this song of hers called Eggs Over Easy and see if you can hear what I mean:

Pretty cool huh?

If you want to check out more, go to:
http://www.stephanienilles.com/
http://www.myspace.com/stephanienilles
From there you can find multiple ways to listen and buy her music!

If you live in town and would like to see Stephanie live this weekend, email me at Lyrical Venus at gmail dot com and I will get you the details!

If you don’t live in town, remember to tune in to Lyrical Venus Radio 0n Tuesday morning at http://kruufm.com or KRUU-LP 100.1 FM here in town for a live interview with Stephanie Nilles!  Lyrical Venus starts at 9am, Stephanie will be calling around 9:30am.

Singer-Songwriter Misty Boyce

Singer-songwriter Misty Boyce is currently based out of New York, but a quick look at her bio will show that she has lived in several states and learned many a life lesson before landing in Manhattan.  A listen to her self-titled debut LP will show that those life lessons provided plenty of fodder for songs.

Add to that all of Misty’s musical experience – writing songs from the age of 9, studying jazz piano in college, touring as a keyboardist and backup singer (to name a few), and you can imagine that not much stands in the way of her expression. Whether Misty’s smokey-sweet vocals are dancing over hook-y piano riffs or hovering above guitar chords, they always seem to find a way into your heart.

Check out this video of Misty performing her song Trouble live at The Cutting Room Studios to get the idea of what I mean:

If you’re reading this elsewhere, you may need to come to the actual blog to see the videos

I had to remind myself to breathe after that!  Wow.  How about you?

Get more Misty at her website, MySpace, Twitter or Facebook.  Listen to song samples, watch videos, find tour dates, buy her brand new album and more!

Tune in to KRUU-LP 100.1 FM on Tuesday, April 27th from 9-10 am Central for great tunes by women in music and the interview with Misty.  Show starts at 9, Misty will be calling at 9:30.  Tune in online from anywhere in the world at http://kruufm.com