Sharon Van Etten at SXSW sings Don't Do It, and her Vancouver Show

Sharon Van Etten has just had a great SXSW experience and she will be appearing at the Media Club here in Vancouver on March 29th. It is just one night of a huge tour promoting her new CD, Epic.  Doors 8 pm, show 9:30 pm

Sharon is a Brooklyn indie guitarist and singer-songwriter ("One Day", "Much More Than That") and is appearing with guests Little Scream.
Tix are $14 (plus service charges and fees) at Red Cat, Zulu Records, and www.ticketweb.ca/

Media Club ( 695 Cambie, Phone: 604-608-2871 )

As found on Sharon's website:
"Epic, Van Etten’s second album, lays a romantic melancholy lining over the gravel and dirt of heartbreak, without one honest thought or feeling spared. She sings of betrayal, obsession, egotism and all the other emotions we hate in others and recognize in ourselves. Yet, Van Etten’s grounded and clenched vocals convey the sense of hope – the notion that beauty can come out of the worst of circumstances. Epic is indeed that beauty.
The album was recorded at Miner Street Studios in Philadelphia with Brian McTear. Where Van Etten’s first record, Because I Was In Love, explored her thoughts on love through minimalism and sparseness, Epic embellishes her music to grandiose luminosity. Guitar and singing are joined by drums, piano, lap steel, and a trio of backing vocalists: Meg Baird (Espers), Cat Martino and Jessica Larrabee (She Keeps Bees). The result is a fully realized album that astounds as it elucidates, disturbs as it soothes. The final track, “Love More,” has already been covered live in a collaborative effort between Sharon fans Bon Iver and The National.
A few things need to be made clear about SVE’s music. She’s not the type of “female singer/songwriter” who champions women-centric perspectives and denies personal accountability. Nor is she a strident provocateur. Rather, Van Etten is a performer who fully embraces her femininity while confidently expressing it through intelligent and mature perspectives on relationships. Those turned off by the provincialism of other performers will be pleased that you can identify with Van Etten’s incisive and universal observations about love and loss.

RPW Records Plans CD Release for Princess Nut by Aural Heather

Hi everyone
I am very excited to have signed Aural Heather to my label, RPW Records.

This is the first artist signed to my roster. Up to this point I have just been promoting Two Tall Women, Revealing Grace and Beth Southwell, sort of a family affair, and working hard to promote many talented indie artists through my compiatlon projects, Violet Femmes and Music For Coffee Beings.
So this is a big step forward and an act of faith, believing in the dream.

We are having the CD Release Party, Massive Bash, Major Celebration at the Medie Club in Vancouver on May 29th. I would like to invite anyone who can make it to come down and share in the celebration
Beth Southwell and her band will be opening up the evening, followed by a surprise guest (you've got to love the surprise guest).
Then Aural Heather take to the stage to share their new sound creations.
Here is our Press Release so you can see who they are and what people say about them.
I hope you will help to spread the word to friends who might like to share this evening with us, or just love the latest news. Spreading the word and sharing is the great thing about MySpace. Thank you everyone
Pam
Punk Poet Princess

Aural Heather


Old School and proud of it, Heather Haley and RPW Records are gearing up for a spring release of her groundbreaking AURAL HEATHER cd of spoken word songs, Princess Nut.

AURAL HEATHER is Haley, Roderick Shoolbraid and “a sublime fusion of song and spoken word.” Shoolbraid is a guitarist, composer, sound designer and DJ. Haley is a maverick; a poet, singer, author and media artist often found pushing boundaries and always on the vanguard. “A Canadian national treasure,” Haley started writing verse in high school influenced by poets like bp Nichol, ee cummings and Susan Musgrave. Her life as a bona fide artist began on the stage of the infamous Smilin’ Buddha fronting the all-girl band the Zellots. She was a member of The 45s with Randy Rampage and later formed HHZ—Heather Haley & the Zellots—praised by Los Angeles music critic Craig Lee as one of "Ten Great Bands". “Brawny and uncompromising”, she long ago made a commitment to honesty, feeling, craft and a sense of the absurd. “Supple and unusual”, Haley’s work exposes society’s underbelly and asks all the questions a nice girl is not supposed to ask. Potential violence hovers like heat on the horizon but she can be fatally funny too.

Haley is a gutsy, riveting and accomplished performer. She enjoyed a stint as an official BC Transit busker and has appeared at the Vancouver International Writers Festival, Crush Champagne Lounge, the Lamplighter Pub, Rime, the Art Bar in Toronto, Words & Music in Montreal, the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City, Red Sky Poetry Theatre in Seattle, Shakespeare & Sons in Prague, the Roar Lit Crawl with Edmonton’s Raving Poets band and on CBC and Book Television. In 2004, she teamed up with Shoolbraid to produce a series of live shows and their first cd, Surfing Season. As Haley returns to her roots, their sound has evolved into the spoken word songs of AURAL HEATHER. There is nothing precious or flowery about the poetry on “Princess Nut.” It rocks!

Praise for Surfing Season:
“Great job! An auspicious disc. One of the best albums of its kind.” –Kurt Heintz, e-poets
“Beautiful. A credit to the genre.”-Ian Ferrier, Wired on Words
“Important work.” –Poseybeat

Further reading on AURAL HEATHER and Heather Haley is available through her website, http://www.heatherhaley.com as well as four tracks from “Princess Nut”