by maggie coutu | Feb 23, 2016 | Uncategorized
So much has happened so quickly for 20 year old Canadian singer /songwriter Ruth B. You might think her beautifully rendered viral hit “Lost Boy” has transferred its notions of ‘arrival’ to her own personal story, but it’s the song that takes flight under Ruth’s stunning vocal command. Blessed with keen songwriting instincts and intimate phrasing, there’s a touching heartache to the artist’s delivery that brings authenticity to every whispery verse.
Note the organic way she went about posting the first staggered snippets of “Lost Boy” on the short-form video sharing service Vine – looping snatches of the song in haunting, six second reveals. Such patient handling reflected the quiet confidence in her own muse – a crucial indicator as to how a complete unknown could go on to garner nearly two and a half million followers on YouTube, blaze a self-propelled sales-trail on iTunes, and ink a major label record contract all in a six month window.
Despite her strength for piano-tinged ballads, Ruth’s music is never subdued. She elicits an enlivened narrative on “Lost Boy” that glides over her striking piano accompaniment and the trill of her mesmerizing vocals. Ruth also recorded a host of other songs she wrote in a burst of creativity after “Lost Boy” caught the attention of viral music fans. Lyrics tumble out with amazing profundity on the radiant gem “Golden,” a grateful confessional that captures her hypnotic delivery and sparingly delivered arrangement, as does the sultry tremble of “Dandelions” – also tenderly crafted; And then there’s the uplifting cascade of “Young,” a gentle, tumbling anthem of hope that is sure to inspire the Vine generation that embraced her; All effortless story-songs that place her in the company of a prescient lineage of evocative female singer/songwriters such as Janis Ian, Norah Jones, and Sarah Bareilles; Artists who grasped early on in their careers how the power of understatement can translate into sublime emotional richness for the listener.
Ruth recognized the power of storytelling at a young age, always reading and writing stories growing up. “It’s funny but I always remember thinking, even when I was a little kid, that music was what I was called to do,” she says. The immediacy and connectivity of social media’s role in her incredible rise, notwithstanding – you get the feeling there’s an old soul lurking deep inside the Edmonton native. She is quick to cite her Ethiopian heritage, another patch in the quilt of bold threads infusing her songs with that magical blend of innocence and gravitas; All the more remarkable when you realize she only took up songwriting less than a year ago. “I took piano lessons for five years starting when I was 8 years old, so I always used music as my solace whenever I was feeling lost or inspired or bubbling over and needed to express myself. But as far as sitting down and completing whole songs, I only began to seriously write this past January.”
Ruth’s tightly knit family life and solid middle class upbringing grounded her. Being able to attend a new public school for her senior year of high school also galvanized her creatively. “The new school was a lot more diverse,” she says, which led to a wide range of musical influences, “from Lauryn Hill to the Beatles.”
“After starting to use Vine right out of high school, little by little, people started to follow me. People gravitated more towards my six second originals versus the covers”. The idea for “Lost Boy” evolved after a friend suggested she watch the TV drama Once Upon A Time. “I don’t know why she suggested that show,” marvels Ruth, “but it had been on for a couple years so I binge-watching on Netflix to catch up. One of the seasons had a Peter Pan storyline, and the next thing I knew I was down at my keyboard making up the first couple lines to what would become ‘Lost Boy.’ It just seemed to come out of nowhere.”
Ruth was sufficiently inspired to post a snippet of her singing the first part of the song on Vine. Positive comments followed immediately, with fans urging her to finish the song. She had surpassed 80,000 likes by the end of the week, and continued to add to the newly-crafted “Lost Boy.” Ruth completed the track and posted it on YouTube, waking up the next morning to more than 100,000 views. That was in January of 2015. “Lost Boy” would make the kind of viral impact that changed Ruth’s entire life virtually overnight.
by maggie coutu | Nov 12, 2015 | reviews
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by maggie coutu | Nov 12, 2015 | Uncategorized
The Los Angeles-based Gardner has been touring in support of his debut album Adventures in Real Time, which is out now on Warner Bros. Records. Co-produced by Gardner and John Dragonetti (The Submarines, Jack Drag), the album is a stellar showcase for the 19-year-old Illinois native’s brisk hooks, high-spirited melodies, and a musical eclecticism that reflects his deep love for his pop-rock predecessors, including The Beatles, Ben Folds, and Vampire Weekend. Gardner first began to attract attention with the album’s opening track “Let’s Get Started” when he put it up on Spotify earlier this year. After being included on a popular playlist called “Smart Is The New Sexy,” the track caught fire and began racking up plays. (It is now close to four million.) Watch the official video here.
Raised in both Illinois and Arizona, Gardner has been playing piano, guitar, and drums, as well as writing songs since he was a kid. His father, Mark, was the bassist in ’80s Chicago power-pop band The Kind and young Dylan pored over his dad’s record collection, becoming deeply enamored with such classic artists as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and The Doors. Before recording Adventures in Real Time, Gardner studied the techniques detailed in Brian Kehew’s 500-page tome Recording The Beatles.
by maggie coutu | Nov 6, 2015 | Uncategorized
There’s a new breed of pop star seizing hold of the world’s airwaves and online—more accurately, a conscious pop star who’s set to subversively top charts and sway hearts and minds. This enigma embodied is 18-yearold Alessia Cara, who’s riding the refrains of her ironic anthem, “Here.” Premiered by The Fader, “Here” garnered over 500,000 total streams in it’s first week, resounding praise for its freshness and insight.
“Here” is unapologetically autobiographical: “‘Here’ is a true story,” Alessia confesses. “It’s a party song, but really it’s the complete opposite of a party song. It’s absolutely me; it shouts out the person in the corner of the party, looking around uncomfortably. I feel like this song narrates what the wallflower is thinking.”
Co-written by Sebastian Kole, “Here” manages to be both cheeky and cautionary. It’s authored from the perspective of an unenthusiastic partygoer who’s counting the minutes till it’s time to leave. “Here” takes aim at mindless revelry and is peppered with lines that touch everyone’s hidden introvert: “I’m sorry if I seem uninterested / Or I’m not listenin’, or I’m indifferent / Truly I ain’t got no business here” and “Excuse me if I seem a little unimpressed with this / An antisocial pessimist, but usually I don’t mess with this” and “Really I would rather be at home all by myself / Not in this room with people who don’t even care about my well being.”
Powerful stuff from a teenage voice; in fact, that’s powerful stuff from anyone who’s ever put pen to pad in name of art. And Alessia’s mature pen game is matched by her larger-than-life voice; she’s dazzlingly chameleon-like, boasting the kind of versatility that will make her a force. In short, Alessia has cause to be confident. But she’s still the bashful, small-town girl even in the big city: “You don’t think you’re ever going to end up here from Brampton, Ontario, Canada. Instead, you think, ‘Who’s going to see me?’ I can’t wrap my head around everything that’s happened: the chemistry with Sebastian, the producers, the label. Def Jam got what I am trying to do: I want my music to be cool and reflective of my influences –Drake, Amy Winehouse, Ed Sheeran– but still new. Def Jam gave me the opportunity to say something meaningful and positive without being preachy. I didn’t expect everything to feel so natural and organic. And I can’t believe how quickly it’s going.”
Alessia is equal parts fresh face, old soul, newcomer, and lifer. She’s going, quickly. Now it’s up to the rest of the world to catch up and catch on.
by maggie coutu | Nov 6, 2015 | Uncategorized
“I Am Invincible,” is a power anthem reflecting resilience and strength and is the 1st single from Cassadee’s forthcoming album.
“We get a little bit more of a difficult journey,” Cassadee Pope told Rolling Stone Country earlier this year, speaking about the tougher climb up the country radio charts that women seem to have, versus men. But she went on to explain the challenge as a glass-half-full kind of thing, adding, “I really pulled from that in a positive way. I haven’t let it bring me down or make me want to quit. It’s actually added fuel to my fire.”
“I Am Invincible,” the incendiary lead single from her next solo album, echoes that sentiment. In its brand-new video, Pope starts the tune off with a dedication – “to my girls, the fighters, the warriors” – and jangles with gentle determination before exploding into a thunderous, sky-high chorus.
“Nothing’s gonna make me break or shatter,” she declares. “No one’s gonna tell me I don’t matter.”
The clip for “I Am Invincible” focuses on a young girl who is repeatedly bullied, first by a pair of boys, then by a group of sneering peers. The singer tells Seventeen magazine, “It was important for me to have young actors, because those are the most influential years. Those scenes really show you how hard life can be, but that you have to keep building.”
Though Pope never experienced physical bullying as a child, she remembered being “belittled by my peers because of how focused I was on music.” With the video, she hopes to offer support to any young women in need of a pick-me-up. “Empowering girls is extremely important to me,” she notes. “Growing up, I needed those empowering women to show me the way.”
Over the summer, Pope performed “I Am Invincible” at an event that brings its lyrics to life every year: the Special Olympics.
