Sara Groves - I Saw What I Saw

Oh my dear friends and fellow music lovers! I have had some busy times and some more busy times are ahead. I just got back from a trip to Seattle to see one of my dear friends graduate from Naturopathic Medical school. (And she did it while having 3 little boys! The oldest is 5. A true wonder woman!) It was also a mini reunion with a few of my other dear friends - we all met in our first year of college 11 years ago and have managed to get many of us together every summer since then. It's always a short, sweet and precious time that I look forward to each year.

And the very night I arrived home, rehearsals started for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, in which I play a Wife. They are doing it summerstock style, where everything is crammed into all day sessions in just two weeks before we start dress rehearsals. I've never done such a thing and it's quite intense, so I'm not sure how much time and energy I'll have for blogging in the next couple of weeks. But never fear, it's only a temporary thing, and I may end up doing more little quick posts like this, because the music really does feed me, and I'll be needing those boosts!

So if I was doing this right, I would do a bunch of research and tell you all about how wonderful Sara Groves is, but all I have to offer at the moment is this beautiful video my mom forwarded to me. Sara wrote the song inspired by a trip to Rwanda, and if it doesn't tug at your heart and give you hope at the same time I'm not sure what will.

Feed and email readers may need to come to the blog to see the video

Gorgeous right? Here's Sara's website if you want to go find out more: http://www.saragroves.com

Flood Relief for Iowa Musicians and Artists

I just got an email from the Americana duo Truckstop Souvenir about the flooding in Cedar Rapids and other Iowa river towns, and what you can do to help out some of the musicians and artists who lost equipment and housing in the recent floods. As self employed people, artists often don't have insurance, and losing their equipment/workspaces is also losing their means to livelihood. Not to mention, with these historical high waters, many people who DO have insurance don't have insurance that covers flood because water has just plain NEVER come anywhere near their houses before. Anything you could give would help and be much appreciated.

Lauryn and Dennis also happen to live across the street from me (and fellow DJs on KRUU!), so pretty much everything they say about the weather experience these days goes for me too. They played today at our local Farmer's Market, and donated all their tips to the Iowa Artist Relief Fund. It's a beautiful sunny Saturday, here's hoping it stays clear for the next weeks and the waters continue to recede.

Here's the message from Lauryn and Dennis. (And there's a link to go check out their music at the end, which you should, because they are AWESOME):

Hey y'all. It's been a long, long time since we sent out an email to our entire mailing list, but we've gotten some emails from folks worried about how the weather in Iowa has affected us. We wanted to assure everyone that we are safe and dry here (relatively speaking),as there are no rivers running through our town. The county has experienced some minor flooding, but nothing like the devastation Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and other river towns in the Midwest have experienced.

We just learned about a fund for Iowa artists and musicians affected by the floods. The Iowa Artist Relief Fund has been set up through the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation and the Legion Arts to assist artists who have lost equipment, portfolios, tools, studios, housing and more. If you have a little spare change to help these folks out, you can donate via the Legion Arts website:

http://www.legionarts.org/

Every little bit helps and on behalf of our fellow artists and musicians, we greatly appreciate anything you can give!

Thanks for all the continued support. We'll be in touch as we get closer to that second album we keep talking about ... the finish line is in sight!

All the best,
Lauryn and Dennis

http:///www.truckstopsouvenir.com
http://www.myspace.com/truckstopsouvenir
http://www.legionarts.org

10 Questions with Priscilla Ahn!

So the lovely folks over at Filter noticed my post about how excited I was that Priscilla Ahn has a full length album coming out today, and they hooked me up with an email interview with Priscilla herself! They also sent me a pretty picture to share with all of you:
Very exciting! I love that Priscilla plays the harmonica in her songs. There's even a song where she plays the kazoo with that thing. Anyway, without further ado, here are my 10 questions, and Priscilla's answers (note that any links were inserted by me, I figured if I wanted to look something up, you might too):

1. Where is your favorite place to sing?

My house.


2. What was a favorite moment on the Hotel Cafe Tour?

Playing in Ithaca was really cool because we played in a old theater. It was beautiful, and the acoustics were lovely. The audience was sitting, and really there with the performer. It was a lot of fun. And I also had a lovely day walking around the town too.


3. What's the one thing you can't leave for a tour without?

Oh, there's so many things! I guess my ipod. I need it sometimes to even be able to fall asleep.


4. What are your 3 most played tracks on your iPod? (or, What music are you listening to these days?)

"There's a Reason" by A.A. Bondy

The soundtrack from "La Vie En Rose"

The soundtrack from "Juno"


5. Do you get most of your inspiration for your songs from your own life or other people's stories or both?

Most of them are written from my own experiences.


6. What has been your most exciting songwriting experience so far?

The best feeling is to have a song come to you when you least expect it, but you just let it happen, and in 20 minutes, you have a song that you really love. that's happened to me a few times, and it's a really satisfying and fun process.


7. What do you use to do your live loops?

A Boss Loop pedal. I'm now getting into using more pedals. I'm expanding!


8. Let's say you just won a big award for your music at a red carpet event - who do you thank in your acceptance speech?

Oh man, it's something I've thought about since I was little, and it's always changing. I think some of the definites would be my boyfriend, my manager, my brother, my fellow musicians and producer, my therapist, and my friends. They all are people who inspire me, support me, and I feel are with me in my life in the best ways.


9. If you could pick 5 or 6 people, (living or dead) to be in a super band, who would you pick and what would they play?

John Lennon - he'd play whatever he wanted and sing.

Jonny Greenwood - he'd fiddle with his inventions and arrange the orchestra

Jeff Buckley and Nina Simone would sing together.

Don Shirley would play piano.

Neil Young and I would write together.

I know that's not much of a band, but it'd be kickass just to be around all those people.


10. And the big question I'm asking everybody these days is: What's your favorite sandwich?

Right now I'm into caprese sandwiches. yum!


So there you have it folks! From the girl herself! I'll leave you with this sweet little video of her song Dream. As I've said before, I love how she uses that loop pedal. It's easy to overdo and I think she gets it just right.

Feed and email readers may need to come to the blog to see the video

If that doesn't make you want to run out and get the new album, I don't know what will!

You can download A Good Day right now on iTunes!



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Carrie Rowan Interview on KRUU!

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Singer-songwriter Carrie Rowan spent a good ten years climbing the corporate ladder before she decided to leap off. Lucky for her, (and for us!) she landed on her piano bench, and soon picked up the guitar as well. Carrie's debut album, Almost Home is set to release June 28th and we were fortunate to get an advance copy AND an interview for this Tuesday at 9:15! Tune in at 9am for the full hour of Lyrical Venus-y goodness! KRUU-LP 100.1 FM in town, kruufm.com online anywhere in the world!

Check out Carrie's angelic voice and sweet music on her MySpace, or buy tracks for download RIGHT NOW off her Nimbit cart:

Boca Chica: Blackberries, Beasts and Banjos

This week on Lyrical Venus I'll be interviewing Hallie Pritts of the indie alt-folk band Boca Chica. Their quiet, lush and sometimes quirky sound has drawn comparisons to Sufjan Stevens, Iron & Wine and Bright Eyes with flavors of Old Crow Medicine Show and Gillian Welch.

Check out this music video for their song Beasts and I think you'll see why:

Feed and email readers may need to come to the blog to see the video

Boca Chica means "little mouth", and just like the small fruit they sing about in their song Blackberries, Hallie and company provide sweet-tart morsels of sound that leave a stain of faded purple behind and satisfied smile on your lips. Voted one of the city's best bands by the 2006 Pittsburgh City Paper poll and featured on NPR's Open Mic podcast, Boca Chica has been charming audiences across the country since 2004. Tune in Tuesday the 2nd (that's today for most of you) at 9 am to hear from Hallie! 100.1 FM in town, kruufm.com on the interwebs.

P.S. The one thing I don't know how to do yet is post mp3s on this blog, so even though Hallie graciously sent me a copy of Blackberries, you'll have to check out their MySpace to hear it - I highly recommend!!)

P.P.S. What I really recommend is you get their album Transform Into Beasts on CD Baby!