Great Advice from Fiona Bloom - "Build your Brand" and Avery Sunshine

I have recently become obsessed with Instagram and I am amazed at the valuable connections I am making with fello IGers. Here is Fiona Bloom whom I connected with there.
If you are an indie artist she has some great advice. Check out her Fiona Bloom youtube channel and subscribe to find some great artists.



Fabulous music from Avery Sunshine and Joya and more. Here I Avery Sunshine singing "That Ugly Part of Me"

Savages and Thank You NPR Music and KCRW.

The joy of blogging here at Violet Femmes is discovering all the new great music out there.
I recently started really focusing on creating a following for the blog via my Violet Femmes facebook page and also via my twitter account of the same name. I encourage you to go follow and like these pages if you enjoy the music and information I post there.

Twitter brought me to Savages. NPR had a feature of them performing in the KCRW studio and this  video is intense.
 
 It was recorded on August 1, 2013, and on their site they describe how "The British post-punk band recently brought its intense live show to the studios of KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic. Watch the group tear through a vicious version of its song "She Will.""

Savages are from London and are Jehnny Beth (vocals), her real name is Camille Berthomier and she was previously part of the French indie rock duo John & Jehn.  Gemma Thompson is on guitar, Ayse Hassan on bass and Fay Milton is the drummer.


You can like them on their facebook page.

This photo is by French photographer Richard Dumas.
 
I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. Thank you NPR.

Mother Falcon - Blue and Gold (Official Music Video)

This is stunningly beautiful video by Mother Falcon, a collective of musicians from Austin.

The music video for "Blue and Gold" is off their new album 'You Knew' available now on iTunes at http://bit.ly/mf_itunes.

  Mother Falcon are creating quite a buzz. Their bio from their website states:

The young group – which is comprised of a rotating group of 15 to 20 musicians and boasts three cellos, six violins, horns a plenty, several pianos, a bassoon and a glockenspiel – have developed a huge following in their native Austin, receiving as many accolades for their innovative chamber performances as for their electrifying live rock club performances. Beginning as an after school jam among a handful of orchestra students looking for a more creative outlet than reading sheet music, Mother Falcon expanded into an organic collective of classically trained musicians unafraid to explore their varied musical influences.

 

I am grateful to bitcandy , a great music site, with radio and news etc., for discovering this great group of music makers.

Mother Falcon is currently touring the West Coast in support of You Knew.
Here are their dates.
8/3: Tucson, AZ @ Solar Culture
8/5: Hollywood, CA @ School Night
8/9: San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar

8/13: Los Angeles, CA @ Largo at The Coronet
8/16: San Francisco, CA @ Hotel Utah Saloon
8/17: Davis, CA @ Sophia's Thai Kitchen

8/19: Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios

8/20: Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile Cafe

Selina Koop and The Blank new Video

Checking my email today there was a newsletter from Music BC. I decided to click on a link to the video for the song Completely, by Selina Koop and the Blank. Am I ever happy I did. What a stunningly gorgeous video to subtly  complement the music that is, Completely.

The sound is best described as "intimate yet expansive, dark yet sparkling wrapping itself around the listener to soothe, haunt, and uplift."

You can get Selina and the Blank's music at  bandcamp . Also you can support her on facebook.

Rena Jones, "The Diva of the Ambient Cello"

I love getting updates from artists whose email lists I have signed up for.
It is even better when I follow a link and I get to hear brand new music that is fresh and beautiful.  This is why I do  what I do. The excitement of hearing new music never dies.

I got such a newsletter from Rena Jones.




“Multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer Rena Jones is a force to be reckoned with. At age 30, she boasts more than 30 collaborative albums, 3 full length solo albums, 20 years of classical violin study, and 12 years of cello—and she is considered one of the leading women in audio engineering today.” -- Strings Magazine





Her video "Echoes" ft Ilya Goldberg won my heart. 
It is off her new CD of the same name, Echoes.
I got this information from her website:
“Echoes” is the fifth full-length album from seasoned producer Rena Jones…


Unlike Rena’s previous releases, Rena has chosen a new path to make a truly collaborative and live studio album while still holding true to her unique take on down-tempo music.
Pulling from her years of experience as a session musician, Rena decided to work with many long time collaborators as well as world renowned artists Sophie Barker on vocals (Zero 7 and Groove Armada), Matt Robertson on modular synth (Bjork, Lamb, Bat for Lashes), Earl Harvin on drums (Seal, Air) Laura Scarborough on grand piano (Quixotic Fusion), a live woodwind section and solo violinist Ilya Goldberg (Emancipator) to name a few.

 She has several wonderful shows this year. Rena will be taking the album out on the road with a live drummer and mutli-instrumentalist Laura Scarborough on electric vibes, accordian and more.Here is what she has planned so far!

Gratifly
Lake Hartwell, SC

Sun Jul 28 2013
7:00p

Beloved Music Festival
Tidewater Falls, OR

Sun Aug 11 2013
4:00a

Decibel Festival 

Show Box
Seattle, OR

Wed Sep 25 2013
10:00p

Art Outside
Rockdale, TX

Sat Oct 19 2013
8:00p

"It may be ambient but unlike much of the downtempo music around it’s certainly not background music" — Total Music Magazine

"The Diva of Ambient Cello" — John Diliberto , NPR

"Literally one of the best experimental artists currently making tracks. " — Women's Radio Brian Ball, Digital Bliss - Compilation review

Summer Concerts in the Courtyard featuring Christie Rose

Christie Rose is performing at the Firehall Arts Centre as the first of a three part concert series that Jack Vickery and  Beth Southwell of Nightingale Productions  are producing with in partnership with the Firehall Arts Centre. Sunday, July 28th at 7:30pm. Spread the word, it's a lovely outdoor event in the courtyard. Christie will be joined by Noah Walker on guitar and Michael Simpsonelli on drums.

 The Firehall Arts Centre is located at 280 E Cordova Street in Vancouver.

Buy your tickets here

The Good Lovelies, Touring UK and Canada and their 'Lie Down' video

It's hard to believe that it was in 2009 that I first got The Good Lovelies CD and fell in love with this song, Lie Down. I had it on repeat in my car. 



The Good Lovelies, (Caroline Brooks, Kerri Ough and Sue Passmore) are "funny and upbeat, with just a pinch of sass."
Now four years later, and they are just completing their current UK tour and they are definitely one of the hardest working bands I have seen for a while.
It seems they will only have set foot back in Canada for a few weeks and they will be off on a nationwide tour, playing as far west as Victoria in BC, and right across to St John's, Newfoundland. 

• Jul 27: Edmonton, AB
• Jul 29: Canmore, AB
• Jul 31: Vancouver, BC
• Aug 3: Victoria, BC
• Aug 4: Hornby Island, BC
• Aug 9: St. John's , NL
• Aug 12: Kensington , PEI
• Aug 14: Haliburton, ON
• Aug 29: Ingersoll, ON
• Aug 30: Grafton, ON

Their 2012 CD Live at Revolution is available at Amazon and features 16 beautiful tracks highlighting
their beautiful three-part harmonies, their constant instrument swapping and their witty on-stage banter.

My Heavens by Adrienne Pierce

Adrienne Pierce has a new single out and I just love it. The album is also called My Heavens .

 You can get her wonderful songs on iTunes. 
  
Adrienne is such a hard working and dedicated musician. In March she was touring in support of her new release. She  performed in the States, (Indiana, Idaho and Washington)  as well as througout western Canada.
Back home in Vancouver,  Adrienne recently performed at the Backstage Lounge as part of the Cold Reading Series. This series takes place every Monday. It is an evening with a mix of performances: actors presenting readings and a featured musician. This is a great concept and I hope Vancouverites head out to the Backstage Lounge to check it out.

Adrienne is on facebook, so why not drop by her artists page, and see what she is up to there.

I love this review from her show in Yakima, as it says things so perfectly:

“She’s a breathy chanteuse whose sensibilities are in line with the Wes Anderson set, the lovers of tiny and bittersweet and beautiful. If you like Feist you’ll probably like Pierce. If you like songs that sound pretty but have a little bit of a melancholic edge, you’ll probably like Pierce. “
-Yakima Herald

 2012 was an exciting year for Adrienne Pierce. She recorded her new album My Heavens, scored a film and even got a Grammy nod.  Her song “It’s Your Day” which was featured in two international commercials, made the ballot for Best Song from Audio/Visual.  This all happened while she was taking a year off from music to teach Art, History and English at an alternative one on one school. 2013 looks to be a great year too. She released her fourth full length album, My Heavens February 19th and embarked on a tour across Canada and the USA February 17th. - See more at: http://www.adriennepierce.com/band_bio/#sthash.ae3HmTKr.dpuf

I just had to share this video of My Heavens and hope you enjoy it too.

Beth Southwell: Debut CD Release Concert at the Firehall.

Vancouver's Beth Southwell has a new CD out and it is stunning. You can hear it on soundcloud.The CD Release concert is at the beautiful Firehall Arts Centre in Vancouver, BC and it is on June 22nd, 2013. 

Beth will be joined by some of Vancouver's finest musicians including Jesse Waldman (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, ukulele, and piano), Michael Simpsonelli (drums), Michael Rush (bass), Monica Lee(viola), Meghan Engel (violin and saw) Christie Rose an Bahiyyih Peters (harmony vocals). Beth has said she is honoured to be in such fine company and looks forward to experiencing the magic that will be created on June 22nd.

Tickets are $12  and available through the Firehall website and
by telephone at 604-689-0926 or in person at the Firehall Arts Centre ( 280 East Cordova St.Vancouver)

Here is Beth joining Jesse Waldman at the Rio Theatre on June 6, 2013 for the Tom Waits Tribute Part 3. Michael Rush is on the bass and Michael Simpsonelli is on drums. These three will be part of the CD release concert so you can see will be an amazing night.