STEPH CAMERON SHARES NEW SONG “CALIFORNIA”

POLARIS MUSIC PRIZE LONG-LISTED SONGWRITER STEPH CAMERON SHARES A WINTERY NEW SONG TITLED “CALIFORNIA”

WATCH FOR MORE NEW MUSIC IN 2017

LISTEN TO AND SHARE “CALIFORNIA” HERE

 

PHOTO CREDIT : Mark Maryanovich

After the release of Steph Cameron’s debut album, Sad-Eyed Lonesome Lady, the Globe And Mail named her one of their ‘Artists To Watch’ and Pop Matters ‘Best Canadian Albums of 2014’ listed the record at #1. The album was also long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize and at the Sirius XM Indie Awards she was nominated for Female Artist of The Year.

With a new album on the horizon for next year Cameron is sharing her first new music since Sad-Eyed Lonesome Lady. Though titled “California,” the track finds its inspiration deep in the snow. “It was written about friends of mine that were traveling south for work in winter when the north country is buried in snow,” says Cameron. “When people in your life move on, it sometimes feels like they left the front door open, for all the weather to come inside.”

LISTEN AND SHARE “CALIFORNIA” HERE

There is an undeniably retro feel to Cameron's work, think beatniks in the 50’s, communes, hitchhiking, and hopping freight trains, but she is certainly not mired in the past. Her influences range from the country blues of Lightnin' Hopkins to the bluegrass of Doc Watson, to the vintage '60s folk of Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and early Joni Mitchell.

PRAISE FOR SAD-EYED LONESOME LADY

“Sad-Eyed Lonesome Lady is a monumental, brilliant album… heralds the crowning of a bright new talent” Pop Matters

“People don’t make records like this anymore. A voice, guitar and a little bit of harmonica – just a woman in a room laying her music onto 2-inch tape” .NOW Mag NNNN

"Sad-Eyed Lonesome Lady is a fantastic debut destined to be on many year-end top 10 lists." Winnipeg Free Press

“An impressive debut album, Sad-Eyed Lonesome Lady delights from start to finish. Steph Cameron is the real deal.” Exclaim!

“There is character in her delivery and depth in her themes” - The Vancouver Province CD Of The Week

“At the confluence of Dylan, Shakespeare and Elmore Leonard.”  FYI

STEPH CAMERON ONLINE
WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
TWITTER

PHEROMONE RECORDINGS  

ROSE COUSINS SHARES NEW SONG FROM UPCOMING ALBUM

LISTEN TO AND SHARE “FREEDOM” HERE

JUNO AWARD-WINNING SONGWRITER’S NEW ALBUM, NATURAL CONCLUSION, DUE OUT FEBRUARY 3 VIA OUTSIDE MUSIC

MORE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES ADDED BEGINNING FEBRUARY 2017

PRE-ORDER NATURAL CONCLUSION HERE OR HERE

 

PHOTO CREDIT : VANESSA HEINS

Last month, Rose Cousins announced the details behind her upcoming album, Natural Conclusion, set for release on February 3 via Outside Music. Today, the JUNO Award winning songwriter premiered another track from the record via the airwaves on CBC’s q.

The song “Freedom” is "about the double edged sword of choice,” says Cousins. “How in order to have what you want you must often give something up. The title of the record comes from this song's bridge and I knew soon after writing ‘Freedom’ that Natural Conclusion would be the title as it revealed the common theme I kept running into. Acceptance, I suppose."

LISTEN TO AND SHARE “FREEDOM” HERE

On her new album, Natural Conclusion, Rose Cousins steps boldly forward, a fully mature writer and artist in her next great stride. Cousins took a deliberate break from her active touring schedule and traveled to create – Toronto, Los Angeles, Boston, Nashville, Ireland. Her goal was to connect with artists, writers, and producers to make songs in new ways, new sounds with new people, not knowing where they would go and not needing to. Her catalogue and perspective expanded.

Cousins enlisted Grammy Award winning producer Joe Henry for the recording of Natural Conclusion. “Joe is a poet, a thoughtful, contemplative writer,” says Cousins. “That poetry and thoughtfulness transfers to his approach in production. It’s about the right life for the song and the right musicians to make that happen.” She and Henry each gathered trusted colleagues and met in Toronto. Henry brought longtime collaborators from Los Angeles; Engineer Ryan Freeland, drummer Jay Bellerose, and bassist David Piltch, who collectively worked on many notable projects (Bonnie Raitt, Solomon Burke, Allen Toussaint, Billy Bragg).

Cousins invited Toronto pianist Aaron Davis (Holly Cole, Jane Siberry) and guitar player Gord Tough (Kathleen Edwards, Sarah Harmer); touring mates Asa Brosius (Anais Mitchell, Heavy Blinkers) from Halifax on pedal/lap steel and dobro, and Zachariah Hickman (Josh Ritter, Ray Lamontagne) from Boston on bass; friend and fellow PEIslander violin/violist Kinley Dowling (Hey Rosetta!) added strings and joined the choir that also included Hickman and longtime friends Jill Barber, Caroline Brookes (Good Lovelies), and Miranda Mullholland (Great Lake Swimmers).

“My goal was to be wide open emotionally,” says Cousins. “This band created a space for me to rise as a musician yet let me lead. Ultimately this is a record of performances, the moment, raw, vulnerable and real. I suppose not unlike the subject matter within.” The result is what Cousins calls “the most honest and vulnerable thing” she has made to date.

WATCH THE NATURAL CONCLUSION EPK HERE

PRE-ORDER NATURAL CONCLUSION HERE OR HERE

A native of Prince Edward Island, Rose Cousins lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She deeply values being part of multiple music communities, and is constantly fueled by collaboration. Cousins’ 2012 album We Have Made A Spark celebrated her Boston community and featured a cast of musicians Cousins had known and played music with for a decade. It won a JUNO Award, 3 East Coast Music Awards, a Canadian Folk Music Award, was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize, and made picks/best of lists in USA Today, NPR Music, and Oprah Magazine. Her music has found its way into several TV shows including Grey's Anatomy.

Rose Cousins will take the road in support of Natural Conclusion in February, with more North American tour dates being added today. Full performance dates can be found below.

LISTEN TO AND SHARE “CHOSEN” HERE

PRAISE FOR ROSE COUSINS

“Some voices hit you hard from first blush and this is one of them.” Exclaim!

“Stark, impeccably written songs … elegantly understated …” NOW Toronto

“achingly candid” USA Today

“It’s no wonder Cousins is the object of audience affection…” The Boston Globe

 

NATURAL CONCLUSION TRACKLIST
01 Chosen
02 Like Trees
03 Freedom
04 White Flag
05 Chains
06 The Grate
07 My Friend
08 Tender Is The Man
09 Lock And Key
10 Grace
11 Donoughmore
12 Coda

ROSE COUSINS TOUR DATES

FEBRUARY
9 Philadelphia PA - Ardmore Music Hall
12 Charleston WV - Culture Center Theater / Mountain Stage
14 Paris ON - Dominion Telegraph
15 Kitchener ON - Centre in the Square
16 Toronto ON - The Great Hall / Massey Presents
17 Ottawa ON - Studio Theatre / National Arts Centre
18 Montreal QC - La Sala Rossa  
22 New York NY - Rockwood Music Hall
23 Portsmouth NH - Press Room
24 Cambridge MA - Club Passim
25 Cambridge MA - Club Passim
26 Northampton MA - Iron Horse Music Hall

MARCH
3 Ann Arbor MI - The Ark
10 Winnipeg MB - West End Cultural Centre / Winnipeg Folk Festival Presents
11 Regina SK - Artesian on 13th
12 Saskatoon SK - Broadway Theatre
16 Calgary AB - Ironwood Stage
17 St Albert AB - Arden Theatre
18 Victoria BC - St Ann’s Auditorium
19 Vancouver BC - Wise Hall / Vancouver Folk Music Festival Presents
22 Seattle WA - Triple Door  
23 Sisters OR - Sisters HS Auditorium / Sisters Folk Festival Presents
26 San Francisco CA - Great American Music Hall
28 Los Angeles CA - Hotel Cafe

APRIL
3 St John’s NL - LSPU Hall
5 Halifax NS - St Matthew's United Church
7 Moncton NB - Tide & Boar Ballroom
8 Charlottetown PEI - Confederation Center

ROSE COUSINS ONLINE
WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM

OUTSIDE MUSIC

 

 

 

BERNICE SHARES ANIMATED VIDEO FOR “ST LUCIA”

WATCH AND SHARE “ST LUCIA” HERE

RED BULL SOUND SELECT PERFORMANCE IN TORONTO DEC 16

UK TOUR DATES SUPPORTING MARTHA WAINWRIGHT BEGIN IN JANUARY

“Blends melodies reminiscent of artists like Sade with the playful sounds of artists like Deerhoof and Dirty Projectors" - Pigeons and Planes

“A real standard of musicality and musicianship right here… Love that [track]” - Zane Lowe

“we need music like this more than ever.” - Stereogum

“from the realm of lowkey bedroom pop to a strobe lit dancefloor - The FADER

“lush with layered vocals splashing atop driving, yet whimsical beats” - Artist Direct

 

PHOTO CREDIT : Claire Harvey

Today, Bernice shares the video for “St Lucia” - the band's first single for Arts & Crafts. Premiering today via Pigeons and Planes, they note Bernice “pairs soulful vocal melodies with playful sonic explorations." Bernice vocalist/songwriter Robin Dann tells the site that artist Sonia Beckwith-Cole, who directed the “St Lucia” video, was the clear choice – “Her animation felt completely right to me, and I knew she would make something so beautiful for the song's world.”

“When I first heard the song I imagined pinks and blues, a lot of textures and water, water, water,” director/animator Sonia Beckwith-cole says of her inspiration for the video. “The song talks about how as a woman you are connected to a lineage of women that are a part of you, and contribute to who you are, while somehow still being distant. The verses bring up these complicated feelings and the chorus brings us escape from these worries to be present in a moment of joy. The woman in my story starts out in a confused wandering state surrounded by dark, obscured imagery. When she finally dives off the edge of a waterfall the imagery becomes bright, colourful and full of movement and she finds solace with friends in the water.”

WATCH AND SHARE “ST LUCIA” HERE


"St Lucia", the bouncy, maximalist R&B track produced by Grammy Award-winner Shawn Everett, is inspired by Robin’s great Auntie Irene and is about maternal ancestry and the traits we know or don’t know we embody from those who came before us.

Born to a musical family, the daughter of a symphony harpist and the former Toronto Symphony Orchestra's principal violist, and a graduate of Goldsmiths' MA in Music, Dann's background, formal training, and experimental sensibilities developed into sparse arrangements and pop-minded songwriting, often following curious and unexpected paths.

STREAM / DOWNLOAD “ST LUCIA” HERE

Bernice’s members and collaborators include longtime Owen Pallett collaborator Thom Gill (keyboard/sampler), Colin Fisher (guitar), Daniel Fortin (bass), Philippe Melanson (drums) and Felicity Williams (supporting vocals). All are professional musicians from Toronto's music community and members of Owen Pallett, DIANA, John Southworth, Bahamas, Martha Wainwright, The Barr Brothers, and many others.

Bernice's upcoming album was co-produced by Grammy Award winner Shawn Everett (Alabama Shakes, Lucius) and Matt Smith (Owen Pallett) and co-mixed/mastered by experimental musician Sandro Perri (Polmo Polpo).

In addition to the UK tour supporting Martha Wainwright, Dann and collaborator Matt Smith have composed the sound design for Toronto Dance Company's production of NOISY, an original performance by one of Canada's foremost experimental choreographers Ame Henderson. The performance is set to debut on January 26th.

BERNICE TOUR DATES
12-16 Toronto, ON - The Costume House (Red Bull Sound Select)^
01-17 Dublin, IR - Vicar Street*
01-19 Belfast, UK - The Redeemer Church*
01-21 Gateshead, UK - The Sage*
01-23 Brighton, UK – Komedia*
01-24 Bury St Edmunds, UK - The Apex*
01-25 Bristol, UK - St. George’s Hall*
01-26 Cardiff, UK - Cardiff Tramshed*
01-27 Leeds, UK - City Varieties*
01-28 Manchester, UK - O2 Ritz*
01-30 Birmingham, UK - Town Hall*
01-31 Ashford, UK – Revelation*
02-01 Salisbury, UK - Salisbury City Hall*

^ w/ Jaunt
* w/ Martha Wainwright

Bernice
“St Lucia”
November 7, 2016

BERNICE ONLINE
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM