Steve and Lobelia Lawson

Born in West Virginia, a long-time resident of Canada and currently living in the UK, singer-songwriter Lobelia is no stranger to making her way in new lands.  She and her husband Steve apply that adventurous spirit as a musical pioneers, forging a new path for independent artists everywhere by their own life example.

Lobelia’s latest project, a covers album titled “Beautifully Undone”, is sparse and lovely, her rich voice wrapping like warm honey around each song and claiming them for her own.  Tracks as you’ve very likely never heard them before include Junk by Paul McCartney, Moon River by Henri Mancini, Consider Me Gone by Sting and You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) by Dead or Alive.

Here’s an example of Steve & Lobelia performing a cover at a house concert during their US tour last summer:

Here’s another video of them performing their song Happy:

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

You can learn more about Lobelia, connect with her social networks and listen to and buy songs from her website at http://www.lobelia.net/

Of course you can also join us for an inspiring interview on Lyrical Venus Radio as Lobelia talks about touring sustainably, booking gigs and being genuinely interesting on Twitter, motherhood as a musician and the importance of using all your talents to live a happy life, rather than trying to fit into a traditional idea of what being a musician looks like.

The next Lyrical Venus Radio airs on Tuesday, August 9th from 9-10am  Central Time US.  Tune in to KRUU-LP 100.1 FM in Fairfield or kruufm.com from anywhere in the world at the top of the hour and get to know Lobelia.  Stick around after that for more great music by women artists for the rest of the hour!

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

Amy Winehouse

To honor the passing of Amy Winehouse, for this episode of Lyrical Venus, we’ll kick off with one of her songs, followed by a whole bunch of other songs by artists who share the same first name. Plus a few other songs of hope to round out the hour.  Check out the playlist here: http://kruufm.com/node/11122

Tune in to KRUU-LP 100.1 FM in Fairfield, IA or to kruufm.com online anywhere from 9-10 am Central time on Tuesday morning, July 26th for a full hour of music by women!

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Singer-Songwriter Annie Dressner

Growing up surrounded by music both in her family and school life, it wasn’t till the end of high school that New York singer-songwriter Annie Dressner taught herself to play guitar and began putting her own words to song.  Challenged by a friend to take her songwriting seriously, Annie started taking her music out to open mics every week until she “wasn’t scared anymore”.  That hard-earned confidence is probably what gives Annie the graceful, relaxed and assured delivery that makes it sound like she’s got 4 or 5 releases behind her, when Strangers Who Knew Each Other’s Names is really her debut album.

Evoking the likes of Jenny Lewis or Neko Case, Annie’s confessional quirkiness hooks you in at first listen, and her sweet voice and the lush, layered production will have you pressing “repeat” and adding the album to your summer backyard BBQ soundtrack.  Don’t be surprised if you hear one of her songs behind a pivotal scene on a popular TV show sometime soon.  She’s got that thing.

Check out this video of her song Fly to see what I mean:

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

From the title track about meeting someone for the first time after only knowing them on Facebook for a while, to the melancholy-sweet “Morning in Brooklyn”, the upbeat “Find Me”, and more, Annie is unleashing a lovely little collection of tracks to the world today.  Find out more about Annie and keep tabs on her upcoming adventures in the world of music at her website: http://www.anniedressner.com

She’s on Facebook too, obviously. https://www.facebook.com/AnnieMakesMusic

Tune in to KRUU-LP 100.1 in Fairfield, IA or kruufm.com online from anywhere on Tuesday, 7/19 from 9-10am Central for your weekly concentrated dose of music by female singer-songwriters. Interview with Annie starts at 9am, followed by a set dedicated to the awesomeness of live music and more.

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

Singer-Songwriter Amy Zamarripa

Generous, hard-working and talented to boot, Amy Zamarripa is a major player in the Austin Open Mic scene, hosting her own on Fridays at Fair Bean Coffee every week.   You can find her playing out at others around town almost any other night of the week!  Besides being a musician, Amy is a massage therapist, painter, poet and shutterbug, taking pictures of all the performers at the open mics and posting them in the Austin Acoustic Open Mic Network group on Facebook.

Informed by her other artistic passions, Amy’s music is lush with poetic lyrics and imagery of colors, nature, spirituality and the human condition.  Mix that with a rich, bluesy voice and you get the soulfulness of Janis Joplin, the spark of Bonnie Raitt and the mystery of Tori Amos.

Have a listen to Amy singing Turtle Blues by Janis Joplin:

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

Check out Amy’s website to hear more of her music and connect with her elsewhere online! With one album under her belt and another one in the works, she shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.

Tune in to KRUU-LP 100.1 FM in Fairfield IA or kruufm.com from anywhere in the world on Tuesday from 9-10am Central to get to know Amy, hear a few songs celebrating the 4th and more! Amy will be on the air at 9am.

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

Little Grey Girlfriend

Mash up a foundation of classical training with years of honing a pop sensibility, mix in a generous portion of creative originality, a splash of quirk and top it off with the liquid silver of Erika Lloyd’s voice and you get one of Brooklyn’s more unique indie bands – Little Grey Girlfriend.

Bringing to mind other stylistic trailblazers like Regina Spektor, Bjork and Joanna Newsom, more for a simpatico of fearless approach and extensive range than a similarity in sound, Little Grey Girlfriend is ready to take their show on the road this summer, kicking things off with a tasty 70′s power-pop inspired single, Lovesick For The World.  The track is free for a limited time over on Bandcamp, so go snag it and listen while you read Erika’s answers to my 10 questions!

1.Do you remember writing your first song(s)? How does that compare to your songwriting process now?

As a little music student, I always preferred to write songs on the piano rather than practicing the music from my lesson books. I started writing full songs with lyrics in elementary school. They were mostly R&B pop influenced songs with stories about things of which I had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. For instance, I co-wrote this song with my friend for the seventh grade talent show about our gangster boyfriend who got shot. No kidding, those were really the lyrics. (We did win second place.)

In high school I got a little better about writing honest songs from life experience and did everything by ear, just voice and piano. Because of my upbringing with popular music, the songs were often made up of common chord progressions by default, but had some interesting twists. These days I still write a lot by ear, but do know the chords and their relationships as I go along because of my music degree (Voice Performance Indiana University.) I don’t let textbook rules of voice-leading or common progressions ever change what I do, I’m just aware of them now and sometimes use them to help me through a rough spot. I’m not one of those people who can write a composition from my head right to the staff or lead sheet. I always have to be sitting at the piano, even when I’m arranging music for other instruments in an already finished song.

I’m also a melody-first kind of writer. The harmony supports the line and pushes it in new directions. Brad, our keyboardist who co-wrote a large amount of our music, is more interested in harmony than melody, so we write really well together.

2. Where is your favorite place to sing?

It depends on what I am singing. In a choral or recital setting I love singing in the sanctuary of the church where I’ve had a choir job for a couple of years. The acoustics are gorgeous. With Little Grey Girlfriend the best club we’ve performed in, as far as sound goes, was Arlene’s Grocery. The balance on stage was crystal clear and the engineer was extremely attentive. Clearly hearing my voice bounce back at me makes all the difference in the world for my confidence level at the time, which can really affect a performance. The place I sing most often is in our living room, I mean, recording studio, which has nice small-space acoustics.

3. What’s the hardest thing about performing? What’s the best thing?

The thing I get most nervous about as a singer is memorization. I’ve performed hours of memorized music at a time, other people’s music in other languages, and yet I still worry that I’ll blank out on lyrics I wrote myself that I’ve been performing for years. Oddly, what’s made me a lot less nervous about that was actually blanking on lyrics in a show, only to realize that few people noticed and no one cared.

The best part of performing is the return from the audience. I am so happy when I can get a crowd to dance or sing along. The rush after stepping off stage is also fantastic. If I could bottle that feeling to sell, I’d be a rich lady.

4. What things are you passionate about besides music?

I am also a painter and graphic artist. I love living in a city with so many galleries and museums, not to mention the most amazing street art. There is inspiration everywhere here, everyday. I’ve been lucky this year in having some really interesting commissions right in a row. When I sit down to paint I don’t normally get up for at least 6 hours, which in the alternate realm of painting-time feels like about half an hour. The music I listen to while working is very important and I’ll always remember what I was listening to when I look at each section of the painting that correlates.

5. What is the one thing (besides your instruments) you can’t leave for tour without?

Snacks on snacks! Anyone who’s ever traveled with me in any capacity knows that I take great pride in being on cooler duty. I’ll make sure the band is always well fed and stays hydrated.

6. What is your favorite way to relax?

I’m a sitcom junkie. We don’t have a television, but don’t let that fool you. I watch way more “television” than any of my friends, just online. Laughter helps me relax and all of the ridiculous plot lines keep whatever my current stress is about in perspective. I’ve also been watching the same shows over and over for years now which is comforting because Monica’s kitchen or Blanche’s living room feel like home, no matter where I am or in what new unfamiliar situation.

7. What are you most excited for with the tour?

Seeing all of the people along the way. This is our very first tour with Little Grey Girlfriend so we’ve set it up to be playing in places where we already have strong support systems and good draws (band members’ home towns and alma maters.) I’m hoping to see all sorts of people from high school and college that I haven’t seen in a long time.

8. Any new projects currently or on the horizon?

I am always writing music and have about half of a new album worth of material right now. I’m not sure if we’ll record anything until fall 2012 though, because Brad and I are getting married next summer and planning the wedding will be my project for a while!
I have to say, a lot of the work being done for this group has been outside of the creative aspect of being in a band. We’ve been a self managed band for five years and it’s a full time job booking, promoting, budgeting, networking, and producing, while also doing all of the song-writing, album artwork, poster design, making of music videos, recording, mixing, mastering, performing… I guess our biggest project when returning form tour will be trying to get a manager or small label to take us on. In this highly saturated market of awesome bands in Brooklyn, it is harder than you would think to get an established management team to commit to you (or even notice you.)

9. Do you have any pre-gig rituals that help you prepare for a show?

As many times as I’ve done this, and as unnecessary as it might seem now, I always sing through the entire set by myself the day of a show. Even if I just rehearsed it with the band, I still do this. I guess I’m a bit superstitious that if I don’t keep that habit, something will go horribly wrong.
Also, if I’m at all nervous I clean the heck out of our apartment. I don’t get nervous for LGG all that much anymore though, which is a great great feeling.

10. If you could create a musical super group with any artists, living or dead, who would you choose and what would they play?

Ah, that’s a great question. It would have to include Björk, David Bowie, Elizabeth Fraser, Kate Bush, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Enya, Joni Mitchell, and Jeff Buckley. Mike Patton would write all of the music for the album and Phil Spector would produce it. I think it would be a ton of vocals, providing the orchestral texture too. I’d have them all play many percussion instruments and when they felt like it they would trade off on piano, organ, synths, guitars, harp, and bass. I’d also make sure to have plenty of studio string players around, only the best for my group.

Bonus questions!

What’s your favorite sandwich?
Peasant bread, olive oil , salt & pepper, mozzarella, avocado, and tomato. Excuse me for a second while I eat a snack.

What’s your favorite hot drink?
Hot chocolate!

Do you have pets or a favorite animal?
My son Benjamin (He’s a cat and he is my favorite guy.)

So there you have it!  If that whet your appetite for more of Little Grey Girlfriend, you can start by check out this music video for their song Fulfill:

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

Then be sure to check out the band’s official website http://littlegreygirlfriend.com for their tour schedule, the latest band news, more photos and videos, and of course links to buy their music and connect on all the social networks.

I’ll be kicking off this week’s Lyrical Venus with a feature set by Little Grey Girlfriend, so tune in to KRUU right at 9am Central Time US to hear all four songs and get a real sense of the fantastic, dynamic range of this band that actually deserves the descriptor “unique”.

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