Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 05/13/2012
Support Women Artists Sunday: April Smith and the Great Picture Show
“I was the surprise,” says April Smith, the bonus baby her parents won late and whose moxie and dash astounded everyone she met. Today, she remains a welcome bolt: a loose-lipped, cocked-hip gal whose music and mien could buoy the Titanic.
As she took her place in the family, April developed a muscular, mellifluous voice and high-flying showmanship. Her mom adored Queen (”If you didn’t know a Brian May solo in the first few notes, you weren’t her child”) and her dad gave her his old 8-track tape player, letting her buy Elvis and Led Zeppelin tapes at yard sales. During summer vacations with Aunt Cricket and Uncle Fred, April discovered songwriters like Tom Waits and Kinky Friedman, stealing Fred’s cassettes and absorbing observational story-songs in a backyard tent. Waits …
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Creative | Posted by Julie Z on 05/6/2012
Support Women Artists Sunday: Polly Scattergood
Polly Scattergood (born 1987, Colchester, Essex, England), is a British singer-songwriter. She has been described as ethereal, dark, intense and quirky, while her musical style has been described as “early 21st century electro-dance-pop of London proper”. Scattergood’s debut album, self-titled, was released in spring 2009 in the United Kingdom and United States. Scattergood attended the Brit School where she wrote 800 songs. After graduation she caught the attention of music industry executive Neil Ferris who took on her management. Ferris then introduced Scattergood to Daniel Miller head of Mute Records. He led her to her current producer Simon Fisher Turner. Scattergood describes herself as a storyteller. “I write about emotions and moments, not all are biographical.”
via Wikipedia
Please Don’t Touch
I Hate The Way
Polly Scattergood on iTunes: 
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 04/29/2012
Support Women Artists Sunday: Nina Storey
Nina Storey uses the phrase “21st-century soul” to describe her music, “because it’s rooted in a soul sound with bluesy overtones,” she explained to AfterEllen.com. “The music that I write is a mix of singer-songwriter acoustic stuff, and then there’s rock, and then there’s quirky stuff that’s totally out of the box.”
A Boulder, Colo., native now living in Los Angeles, Storey has been singing pretty much her whole life — professionally since the age of 12. She is self-taught, but grew up in a very musical family: Her mother is a songwriter and producer (and also acts as her manager and publicist), and her dad is a sound engineer. Her parents always encouraged her to pursue her craft.
Storey said she hasn’t talked about her sexual orientation in interviews …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 04/22/2012
Support Women Artists Sunday: Nite Jewel
Nite Jewel is the performing moniker of Ramona Gonzalez. She is a composer, songwriter, and multimedia artist from Los Angeles, California, where she has exhibited a number of video and sound installation pieces. A recent sound installation entitled “The Question Concerning Technology” has been transcribed to traditional notation by Human Ear Music founder, Jason Grier. She has collaborated with Julia Holter and Cole M.G.N. of Haunted Graffiti, curated two exhibitions at the Tiny Creatures gallery, and performed the work of Michael Pisaro. She was a philosophy student at Occidental College in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles.
The Nite Jewel project is a remarkable combination of revisionist Bronx pop and hazy musical impressionism. Like her ex-pop peers, Ariel Rosenberg and Geneva Jacuzzi, she records solely on portable 8-track cassette deck, often composing …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 04/8/2012
Support Women Artists Sunday: Girl in a Coma
Girl in a Coma formed when best friends Jenn Alva and Phanie Diaz met in Jr-high school art class over a mutual love of the Smiths, Nirvana, and skipping school. All they needed was a singer. Enter Nina Diaz, Phanie’s little sister. Nina blew them away with her mesmerizing vocals, a powerful voice some critics have compared to Bjork, Patsy Cline, and the band’s hero, Morrissey himself. The trio practiced for three years, gigged at local punk rock clubs, played a High School talent show, one kid’s birthday party, and then hit the road, building up a solid and loyal fan base across the country.
In 2006, the Girls played for Joan Jett and long-time songwriting partner and producer, Kenny Laguna, at New York’s Knitting Factory as part of a …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 03/25/2012
Support Women Artists Sunday: Rebekah Delgado
Rebekah Delgado is a solo musician from London, United Kingdom. After previously fronting two successful bands, Rebekah embarked on a solo career in 2010 when her previous band, The Last Army broke up. When playing live Rebekah is accompanied by a variety of other musicians, currently including Tom on violin and harmonium, Daniel on cello, Saulo on percussion, and Sara on musical saw.
Rebekah’s solo material is a departure from her previous bands’ foundations, being influenced by Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Carla Bruni, Pulp, Serge Gainsbourg, Jacques Brel, Kris Kristofferson, Patti Smith, Johnny Cash, Sonic Youth and Paco Ibañez among others. As a result, Rebekah’s solo music ranges from the melancholic to intelligent pop.
Rebekah is continuing to work on her first solo album, Don’t Sleep which is due for release …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 03/18/2012
Support Women Artists Sunday: Laura Gibson
Laura Gibson grew up in a small town in southern Oregon called Coquille. Her family lived in the middle of the woods, as her father was a forest ranger and her mother a teacher.
Her introduction to music began early, listening to the folk albums her parents kept around the house and learning to love the intense imagery and narrative storytelling of folks like Bob Dylan. Gibson was inclined toward music while growing up, but too shy to perform live for people.
She moved to Portland to go to school (on a math scholarship) and continued to grad school, where she studied counseling. After college, she took to playing music at nursing homes and for hospice patients. Seeing the joy it brought to her audiences, Gibson developed the confidence to …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 02/19/2012
Support Women Artists Sunday: Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American recording artist, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, the Guinness World Records cited her as the most-awarded female act of all-time. Houston was also one of the world’s best-selling music artists, having sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide. She released seven studio albums and three movie soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. Houston’s crossover appeal on the popular music charts, as well as her prominence on MTV, starting with her video for “How Will I Know”,influenced several African-American female artists to follow in her footsteps.
Houston is the only artist to chart seven consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits. She is the second artist behind Elton John …
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