Ann Vriend’s “When We Were Spies” has had music critics singing since it was released in 2008. The Alberta songwriter’s third disk gets going with the background of star-crossed secret agents thrown into a complicated, tangled web.
Vriend is playing in the Bow Valley, with Matt Epp, on her prairie Double Agent Tour this weekend.
“I am a spy,” Vriend said from her Edmonton home. “As a result, I can’t talk much about it, or I’d have to kill you.”
It’s a concept album, she offered. And a role the Vriend seems to like, it’s one that may have subconsciously emerged through the time she’s spent in airports and one that she plays well enough to have seemingly credible people ask her incredulously, “Are you really a spy?”
For a secret agent though, Vriend is very open when discussing certain aspects of her life. Her parents’ recognition of some musical talent at the age of three when she picked out tunes on her toy xylophone, for instance. Or her strict upbringing that meant she could not listen to commercial radio or watch TV. The music she could listen to and did identify with, from her parents record collection, became for Vriend “bright lights.”
Vriend also talks about being younger and getting into the business (the music business not the spy business) easily as well.
“I was really shy and had never really done any performing at all, I played all the time in my basement where nobody could hear me, when I heard someone coming down the stairs, I would stop playing,” Vriend recalled of her younger days.
As part of a self-directed school project, Vriend, rather ambitiously, wrote and recorded eight songs. Her project then caught the eye of the high school principal when a talent show came up and nobody signed up. Vriend was coerced into performing three of her songs at the show.
“I was mortified . . . I didn’t sleep for months leading up to this show,” she said.
People liked it. She next joined a band with a recent graduate. As a relatively unknown commodity, she won a songwriting contest in 2002 at Edmonton’s gone but not forgotten Sidetrack Café which involved winning the studio time necessary to record her first album and a trip to Nashville.
While she recognizes the moment in her life as having significance, it was hard for Vriend to articulate what the contest win meant for her career.
“There are so many people that want to be musicians, obviously, and they all have myspace pages — you kind of go, ‘Yeah, but do I have anything that anybody else really wants to hear, or is this just my own navel gazing? My own hobby?’” Vriend said. “That’s a question that you have to keep asking yourself, it’s not, you win a big contest once and then you know for the rest of your life you’re producing quality music. Unfortunately, you’re as good as your last show and you’re as good as your last song. It’s a very ‘insecure’ career. But, I still like it.”
Vriend said she hopes to release a live, acoustic “stripped down” disk at the end of the summer. But in the meantime she is writing material for her next studio album.
The melodramatic pop on “When We Were Spies” at times verges on jazz.
“I did go to a jazz and pop school, so I did learn a lot of the jazz theory and improvisation,” she said. “I’m a fan of jazz. I’m a fan of jazz just about as much as I’m a fan of folk, or Brit Pop, or . . . the list goes on. But it’s really tempting, when you’re writing and you have to play solo . . . . One thing I’m trying to get away from is trying to play as jazzy as I have in the past, to be honest. Keeping it simple is actually harder.”
The jazz-informed style she has played in in the past, Vriend said, had more to do with her satisfying her own creative impulses than what “served the song best,” sometimes.
These days, Vriend said, she’s more concerned with “letting the song be what it is.
“Getting my ya-yas out when I’m practicing is one thing, when I’m performing it’s just really trying to make it solid and, really, simple but powerful.
“I kind of believe that the craft of songwriting (works best) when the words and music are woven together so well that it just makes so much sense, emotionally and intellectually that you just go, ‘yeah,’” she said. “That’s not a very articulate way of explaining it, but that’s what’s important to me as a songwriter.”
For the performing artist, performing was second and songwriting was first, in her approach, from the beginning.
Vriend has been known over the years for perpetuating an awkward, even goofy stage presence, something she now credits as a lesson learned in comic relief when reading Shakespeare plays in her youth.
Vriend said she’s looking forward to her Canmore Double Agent show with Winnipeg’s Epp. She’s performed with him in the past, written a song with him as well.
“He’s an interesting ‘cat,’” she said. “He’s a really good person to work with, he’s fun to travel with . . . .I think Matt (Epp) is a really engaging performer, he has this natural charisma about him on stage, and off stage, as well, that really draws people in.”
That must be a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Ann Vriend and Matt Epp bring the Double Agent Tour to the Communitea Café in Canmore (tickets $10, or $12 at the door) Saturday, May 9, doors open at 7:30 p.m. the show starts at 8 p.m.
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Fingertips: Free and Legal MP3 from Ann Vriend
(Kate Bush meets Nanci Griffith, in Canada)
Journalists Discover “When We Were Spies”, and the Secret Agent Behind It All:
“Being a Canadian is the only reason possible for explaining why Vriend is not sweeping our xenophobic nation with her wit and charm. ‘Spies’ doubles as a dossier on the human condition, replete with subversive love stories and clandestine sexuality. Department of Homeland Security be damned, Vriend is a whistleblower behind eighty-eight keys with a voice that would do the Iron Butterfly herself, Dolly Parton, proud… Ann Vriend has maintained a low profile up to this point, her third release. As ‘St. Paul’ parlays, ‘risk it all’ and listen to this manifesto without hesitation… purchase ‘When We Were Spies’ before Big Brother destroys the evidence.” --Sen Baltimore Magazine, March 2008
“Ann Vriend drives me nuts; how can music be this good and she's not plastered on billboards from L.A. to N.Y.?? “Spies” is a complex album full of subtleties wrapped in memorable tunes…. Vriend is an exceptionally talented artist with a strong comprehension of what her voice can do, an ear for orchestration and she plays the piano skillfully. Her voice is serene with a great amount of precision to it, and yet wild at the same time, like unchartered, untamed vocal territory…. In truth Vriend is such an original, her vocals are hard to categorize. Whatever Vriend does after Spies, I would have to say buy it, in fact buy When We Were Spies and also buy Modes Of Transport. 4.5 stars.” --A n E Vibe, February, 2008
“While listening to the album’s opening track, “(If We Are Not) Spies”, it should become quite apparent to listeners that Vriend has the doubtless potential to become a radio darling. She possesses the swagger and stylistic flair of a star in the making… With her soaring vocals, impressive songwriting ability, and multi-instrumental prowess, Vriend is truly an all-in-one package… Her melodic capacity is in full form here too, being of beautiful elegance in her seemingly natural ability to craft vocal-led hooks. “When We Were Spies” is Vriend’s most consistent release yet, with both her fantastic songwriting and vocal ability resulting in her best overall effort to date. If this album does not gain her some serious recognition outside of Canada, I would be absolutely shocked.” --Obscure Sound, February 2008
“Ann Vriend’s sultry pop vocals are wonderful. In the world of build-up songs—the ones that start low then rise to fill the room—her voice and songwriting are fun and difficult. From the first track, ‘[If We Are Not] Spies’, Vriend gives you exactly what you’re going to get with the next 10 songs. She showcases her range and playfulness. The rest of the songs… focus on one or more ways for her to sing the story… of a former spy. Wow! This better be good. Thankfully, it is. The emotional ups and downs sung from Vriend’s perspective keep your ears attentive, always looking for the next tune. Her black hair, pin-up beauty and spy fashion—all black with briefcase and gun—add to ‘When We Were Spies’’ polish and catchy musical finesse… Excellent music. Great Stuff.” --Scene and Heard, March 2008
"Elegant Alberta artist Ann Vriend returns with another eclectic collection of porcelain pop pieces that recall everyone from Kate Bush to Dido, but are delivered in a style all her own. From the unabashedly anthemic Where You Are, with its brash brassyness, to the classical and folk-tinged-- but still rockin'-- cover of Neil Young's Rockin' In The Free World, Vriend's Spies finds a way to sneak into the head of anyone open to her secrets." --Calgary Herald, April, 2008
“Infectiously cooed pop tunes by an April Dancer chanteuse stuffed into a tight trench coat fulla pseudo-THRUSH shenanigans. Open channel D!” --Detroit Metro Times, March 2008
“Well, who would have thought it— ‘piano pop laureate’ Ann Vriend a former spy? But that’s what the Canadian singer/songwriter would have you believe on ‘When We Were Spies’. The thematic conceit allows her to chart a covert love affair through songs filled with clandestine meetings, double-speak and one-way glass, while billowing strings, lush electro-pop synth arrangements, tinkling piano and, the best instrument of all, her jazzy, impassioned country-soul voice rise up from the intimate surroundings of her previous outings and take on a widescreen quality in keeping with the pop-noir story of a shadow femme fatale… This is one well-kept secret everyone should have access to.” --Pop Matters, March 2008
"Country-soul crosses the border with Ann Vriend’s ‘When We Were Spies’… And out of it comes Agent Ann Vriend, who, with ‘When We Were Spies’, hopefully won’t be a secret anymore.” --QRO Magazine, March 2008
"It is an absolute felony that Ann Vriend doesn’t have a prominent label behind her and the fact that this woman has sold over 10,000 CDs on her own is a testament to her ambition and determination.... This enigmatic woman is a Canadian music legend in the making." --Party In Kingston, March 2008
Review from fellow musician Marv Machura:
"Ann Vriend’s disc, When We Were Spies, is an exciting collection 10 new songs and one cover of a Neil Young classic 'Rocking in the Free World.'
"The production by Doug Romanow is lush, yet subtle, and it puts Vriend’s literate songwriting and expressive vocal style in epic-like dioramas. For each cut on the disc, Romanow and Vriend seem to have created a mini movie score. In our current world of mostly bare-bone production values (stuff like Alison Krauss and Robert Plant’s Burning Sands disc of last year for example) , this disc comes as a treat to the listener’s ears. For me, this kind of work harkens back to the seventies when bigger and more interesting production were the norm: the Carpenters, Heart, Fleetwood Mac, etc.
"One thing that you will notice, even on your first listen, is the joy that springs from the music. The performances bloom with a vibrant life force. We can tell she’s having fun—and giving us a gift of music that is at once personal, inviting, and universal. And although this should be evident in all music, unfortunately it isn’t. Contrived, fame-seeking music spawned from our hyper-competitive glut of idol contestants can NEVER have this kind of soul.
"Ann Vriend describes her music as “Baroque Pop” a term that identifies her with other artists that love balanced phrasing, beauty, and clarity. However, to me this classification is somewhat misleading because this disc is more akin to the Romantic period than the Baroque period—Vriend is more like Chopin than Bach. But, whatever: classifications are an unavoidable evil to original and interesting artists like Vriend. Besides, there currently is no recognizable term such as “Romantic Pop” (not even on Wikipedia!). And if it did exist, the connotations of the term may be co-opted by that cringe-worthy kind of corn-syrup music coming out of Nashville and other places that are still holding onto their factory approach to writing, recording, and distributing music. It’s likely best if we never make the mistake of comparing Ann Vriend with that kind of bland homogenized sound. So, Baroque Pop it is!
"One person who comes to my mind when thinking about Vriend’s lyrics is Leonard Cohen. She has the same kind of poetic sensibilities in creating imagery that carries the story, not with vivid, harsh, realistic colors and brush strokes, but rather with interesting, more-nebulous shades of color and abstract forms. Like Cohen, we can still follow the story line and be there, but we are brought into these worlds through a fourth dimension. It is a world filled with grinning jack-o-lanterns, forgotten missions, disguises, radio waves, etc. all held together by a Cohen-like search for authenticity in relationships and life.
"'When We Were Spies' is an appropriate title. Vriend is like a spy ducking in and out of the shadows. We may want to pin her down, but we cannot. She’ll forever be just ahead of our grasp, moving romantically beyond the brick and mortar of mundane music. But the best thing about this spy is that we know she’s on our side—one of the good guys. As she convincingly sings on her cover of Neil Young’s classic: 'keep on rocking in the free world.
"This remarkable disc will stand the test of time and is one of my favorite recordings to come out of anywhere in the last while. On one of her songs, Vriends asks, “Will you suspend your disbelief?” Music lovers everywhere should say yes and enter into the spaces created by this world-class spy, singer, and songwriter."
Ann Vriend's top secret release of When We Were Spies was sold out long before show date. This was a 'private booking', not shown in the Yardbird Suite program, but Ann's fans had no problems finding the show. The Yardbird Suite was an excellent venue for this latest release from Ann. She emerged from the darkness in trenchcoat and sunglasses to join her 'secret agents' on bass, guitar, drums and keys. Spies in the dark. I suspect they had a hard time seeing - the Yardbird is a very dimly lit venue.
Ann's latest CD has received rave reviews. Secret Agent Ann gave a visual, as well as a powerful musical performance, much enjoyed by the packed house. Her unique voice cuts thru the crowd noise. Complex lyrics beg another listen. At first, her music might sound like the latest 'pop sound', but you soon realize she creates an 'ann vriend zone' when she gives a concert. No-one else sounds like Ann Vriend.
--Tracy Kolenchuk
The Spies are Coming! Ann Vriend unleashes her new epic album of Espionage & Love
Written by Kindah Mardam Bey
One of the most gifted singer/songwriters in Canada, Ann Vriend has brought her stunning vocals, intelligent lyrics and compelling tunes to her third independently released full-length album When We Were Spies. AnEVibe sat down to a delightful interview with Vriend, as we mulled over the subjects of the secret service lifestyle, love, the record industry and ‘Hallowe'en'....
1. Hi Ann! It's great to speak with you today about your impressive new album When We Were Spies. What was the inspiration for the espionage theme?
Thank you Kindah, it's been a risky album to make! The inspiration for these songs comes from my experiences as a secret agent. Due to confidentiality I can't go into too much depth about that; all I can tell you is that I posed as a music journalist while actually doing some under cover work for a European agency.
These songs come from my struggle towards the end of my time spent as a spy; I had fallen in love with another agent, and was questioning the whole idea of trust and faithfulness in a relationship versus protecting myself and my own agency-- whom he was employed to sabotage, and vice versa. It was constantly hard to know if I should follow my heart or my head, or to know when he was and wasn't doing the same. And it was hard to know if sacrificing my personal life for my professional life was a good choice or not.
2. How did the new album evolve? Did you go in a new direction with When We Were Spies or did you expand your focus on the style of music we are used to hearing on your previous albums.
The album actually began with a song that didn't make it on the album, which opened with the line, "You were crying, I was hiding, like a spy." It revealed to me other songs I had been writing centred around this exploration I seemed to be having about how much vulnerability and trust and transparency you allow yourself to have in a relationship, from the level of an intimate, personal one, to political and social ones. Of course not EVERY song I was writing then fit under this umbrella, but a good handful of them did, and once I decided to go with this direction for this album, I wrote more around that concept and it started to be clearer how we wanted it to hang together.
Musically it began with my meeting Doug Romanow, the producer of the album; he met me when I played at the Horseshoe in Toronto. We sort of kept in touch off and on, and co-wrote demo-ed a couple of tunes together. Then I got some money from a radio station in Edmonton to do some recording, and Doug declared he really wanted to do the album with me, and I really liked working with him, so we plunged in. From the start I had said I wanted to make an album that was accessible to mainstream radio and audiences, but still very much the Ann Vriend of previous records; the quirky, literary, melodramatic singer songwriter that often plays solo folk festivals and house concerts. I guess the main difference with this album is that it is very big, very epic, it's passionate in a lush and multi layered way, and is less rootsy and acoustic, though there still are a lot of breathable, earthy elements in it. It's still a very far cry from Top 40 teen formula stuff, it falls under the category of Baroque pop, I've been told. I'm a big fan of really big sounding albums, of Brit pop bands like U2 in Achtung Baby era, or Coldplay, or Athlete, David Gray. Or even the Beatles, where they added instruments and layers outside the regular 4 piece band configuration. And while my album doesn't sound like these artists per se I did want that big, epic, cinematic feeling in the album, which took more layering than a roots/folk approach to production. I thought it would be interesting to contrast that with a very tender, breakable way of singing, and really bring out the fragility of the character in the songs.
3. A lot of your albums and songs are inspired by love, why is music so motivated by love (or the lack of sometimes)?
Ah. Well, I can't speak for all the writers of music, of course! But I think music is very, very emotionally direct. More direct than any other language, at least any written, spoken one-- you can understand the feeling of the music without knowing the language the writer of it speaks, you can "get" its cadences, its mood. And music is very powerful: If you watch a horror movie, or even a romance movie, with the sound off, without the music, you are much less impacted by the film.
So my guess is this is why music is often the arena in which to address the most heartfelt sentiments humans have. Not to say romantic love is the be and end all of human sentiments. But it's a really big part! With my writing, on the surface the lyrics are about romantic relationship, but oftentimes I try to get in more of a... well, for lack of a better word, "political" outlook; I try to convey how the characters in the song are shaped and affected by their economical and social and political environments-- though at the same time they're 2 people trying to relate to each other within the struggles of their environment. It's about love, but in a vacuum, not love on its own, but love in a place, in a time, and my hope is you learn as much about the place and the time as you do about the lovers.
4. Tell me a little bit about how the songs ‘St.Paul's' and ‘Hallowe'en' came about.
St. Paul is a song I wrote quite a while ago, and it came from my observation of a lot of people around me just sort of getting numb and giving in to the North American rat race, and not really feeling very alive anymore, or motivated to do things they know ethically matter. Which is very easy to do!
So, I didn't want to write a song criticizing that, because I'm part of that too, I get way too tired to join every social justice and environmental thing there is out there, you know, the struggles of daily life can really occupy nearly all of your waking hours some days. But I did see this emptiness in the eyes of people sometimes... people that were just looking for a reason to wake up and really stick there neck out about something they believed in and was risky-- but emotionally rewarding-- for once. The interesting thing is the first time I ever played this song live was at a speech given by Stephen and Avi Lewis. It couldn't have been a more appropriate place to unveil the song. It was an honour and really fit with the sentiment and the vibe of the speech. It ended up being one of the singles from the album, which came as a bit of a surprise to me; it's a fairly complex song in some ways, lyrically anyway. But it seems to really strike a chord with people.
Hallowe'en I wrote first as a poem, when I was touring in Australia. I was a bit homesick, especially because it was during Hallowe'en, and in Australia no one really does anything for Hallowe'en, it's not a big deal over there at all, there's no trick or treating, or getting dressed up, etc. In the meantime I was getting these emails from friends in North America about parties and Hallowe'en plans, and it just got me thinking about the absurdity of this bizarre holiday, and what its origins are. Because I was doing so much traveling and observing in general it hit me increasingly that a whole lot of things in our culture are pretty absurd, there are parts of it that are haunting and scary in real life, no need to pretend or dress it up. Doug did a great job taking this very raw, very simple song I laid down in one sitting at the Wurly-- I wrote the music to it one night after I got back home-and adding programming from top to bottom, and yet still keeping this really sincere, earthy vibe going on, really building toward the end. I was pretty thrilled about how it all came together.
5. As you play piano and sing, what comes first for you, the lyric or the tune?
It varies from song to song; there isn't really a formula to it.
6. You do a great cover of Neil Young's ‘Rockin' In The Free World,' why did you pick this song in particular? You also took it in an interesting direction, would you explain the ‘how' and ‘why' of that.
I'd been playing that in my live show for quite a while, and when it came down to putting the album together Doug and I were encouraged by a radio tracker (the one that broke Feist with her BeeGees cover, incidentally) to put a cover song on the album. We had enough original material that we hadn't thought of doing that, but he made a convincing case for it. So then there was the question of WHICH cover, and my partner suggested Rockin' in the Free World, and that I do it like the mournful, passionate lament I did in my solo show. At first that seemed like a weird idea, but it grew on me, and it's been interesting to watch the response to our version, it's really been all over the map -- understandably when you take a much loved, passionate song like that and change it up, there are going to be lovers and haters of your interpretation, especially when it is less low-fi rocky and done by a female in a non low-fi pop style. Regardless of that, for me, being from Alberta, the song really seems uncannily relevant, despite the fact it was written 19 years ago. Neil Young has this incredible talent of writing songs that never seem to stop being true-- quite infuriatingly and sadly so, in this case. I hope that bringing that song up in 2008, especially in my home province where I get a good amount of radio play, might make the occasional person think about that for a sec. If not, keep on rockin', man.
7. You are a big fan of Leonard Cohen, what is it about Cohen's music that is so inspiring to you?
He writes some absolutely exquisite lyrics that still remain consistently committed to everyday language. And though he's a really limited singer you really believe him when he sings, partly because the melodies are so logical and simple. He's just an astounding writer. When you listen to him you really get the feeling this guy knows you better than you know yourself, and yet simultaneously is one of the most fragile people out there. My one complaint is the unimaginative and cheezy production on his albums since the '90s, they sound like someone programmed them in 10 minutes on a Casio and thought no one would notice, I really don't know why that's happened, but the fact that his songs transcend that is testimony to how good they are.
8. What are some other artists or albums you love to listen to?
Royal Wood, Sigur Ros, the Beatles, Coldplay, Radiohead, Aretha Franklin, Alternate Routes, Cat Stevens, Sarah Slean, Bob Marley, U2, Queen, Athlete, Ray Charles, Manu Chao, Morcheba, Jacob Dylan, Katie Melua, Scissor Sisters, Billie Holiday, Nathan Wiley, Emmylou Harris,Lucinda Williams, Toots and the Maytals, Bill Evans, Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, I'll stop there but of course the list is endless.
9. You have a large fan-base in Australia, why do you think the Australian listening audience has embraced your style?
That's a good question. I think it's a combination of me just liking going over there, and a sizable amount of Aussies liking the more quirky, approachable artists over and above mainstream industry stuff; it's a place where Jon Butler, the Waifs, Kasey Chambers, Missy Higgins are from, you know? These are talented people but it's not all about glam or cult of celebrity with them. People just seem to appreciate raw honesty in music-- and in people in general-- in Australia. There is very little tolerance of pretension. And I'm the type of performer that can be pretty intense but I also break down the barrier between the audience and myself when I get on the stage, and that just seems to work really well down there.
10. You know the Canadian independent music scene quite well; tell me a little about your perception of it.
Well, it's a tough, tough thing. The Canadian weather, the large distances between towns, plus the fact lots of people don't have the time or money to go out, and the fact that there is less and less dollar value for recorded music with the whole downloading thing; these things combined make it really hard to carve out a living for yourself. And yet there are people out there who are really pumped about good music and good live shows, and I've managed to find some of them and some of them have managed to find me, all without the help-- and, in fact, the cold shoulder of the Canadian music industry, for the most part. It would be nice to not have to do everything by myself and in SUCH a grassroots, exhausting way all the time, but it seems to be the only option right now, and I have some really great people helping me out on an independent level. It's a little strange; when you consider that I've sold nearly 10,000 albums, that most of the industry in my own country is not remotely interested in working with me. I've pretty much given up trying to figure it out, and am just concentrating on the fans instead, who actually help put food in my belly, and who it's all for in the first place.
11. How does being a singer and musician from the Western part of Canada (Edmonton, Alberta) show itself in your music or your career? (or does it?)
Edmonton is a blue collar, dirty town where people work hard-- some of them make a ton of money from the oil boom, but the other people don't, and can barely keep up. And even the people who make tons of money still work a lot of hours. So, it's that sort of gruff "put your head down and work" kind of town, especially in the long winters. The genre of music I've pursued is a lot different from what blue collar towns tend to produce, such as punk, alt country, folk/roots, blues, all of which are really prominent in Edmonton; whereas literary, epic, layered Baroque pop albums are really rare. Maybe I write these highly charged, intellectual, lush, romantic, songs of longing in reaction to that, I don't know! But the delivery of my shows and my vocal delivery have a lot to do with being from this gritty, down to earth place, people are very turned off by pretence; there is a value I admire of people being sincere and honest. And, what's interesting is though I've never considered myself a country singer, people seem to be hearing a "twang" in my singing-- outside of Alberta, that is. So, there must be something in the water in Alberta, and I hope not just from the contamination from the oil extraction...you can't escape where you're from, I guess; you can just use your imagination to escape here and there.
12. What is the best advice you were ever gave? Or favourite quote?
I was in Australia with Corb Lund and some other Alberta songwriters, and it was during a particularly really hard period in my life, including economically. I was lamenting to them that I had been really foolish not to have a backup plan in case my music career didn't work out. Corb said, "Well, then: you're a lifer", and I sort of looked at him indignantly at the time, but I've realized you do find ways to survive in music when you have to, that's for sure. It's not always very glamorous or easy, but you do. Or you get out. It's that simple.
13. What are you listening to now?
Actually, the radio. I'm doing a lot of driving on this tour, and checking out new music and listening to the news that way at the same time. And to a whole bunch of other artists I've met on this tour, who has wanted to trade albums with me.
14. What are you reading now, or what is your favourite book of all time?
I really wish I had time to read more, but it's pretty dangerous while driving. And a bit disengaging to do while performing, and those 2 things are mainly what I'm doing these days! .. the last book I read was when I was in Germany, it was "The Unbearable Lightness of Being." I couldn't put it down (luckily I was mostly taking the train at that point). I also really love all books by Barbara Kingsolver, for starts.
15. Before we finish up here today, can you disclose any top secret agent information (I promise I won't tell anyone)?
Hmmm. This seems like a lot already... I'm afraid I must keep my end of the bargain I made when I defected.
Sunday, March 16, 2008, at The Wellington Street Theatre, I had the great pleasure of discovering Edmonton singer/songwriter Ann Vriend’s delightful brand of jazzy, lyrical, “baroque” pop songs when she played two charismatic sets to some very lucky listeners. Her distinctive, slightly nasal, airy, lilting soprano voice with its precise enunciation immediately reminded me of a cross between New York’s Nellie McKay and the pride of Tennessee, Dolly Parton. She’s an incredibly gifted songwriter and pianist who performs solo, duo or with a full band and on that night, she was by herself: a young, tall, willowy beauty with long, raven tresses, clad entirely in black except for red lipstick; her ensemble radically punctuated with a black spy hat and dark sunglasses.
Ann played seven songs per set from her latest album When We Were Spies as well as her sophomore effort, Modes of Transport (“Crowd Pleaser”, “Back Seat Driver”) and debut Soul Unravelling, including the Paul Simon inspired “The Only Living Girl In New York” and the gorgeous “Waterfront”, which much to her delight was highlighted on the recently released Party of Five DVD soundtrack. She took a short break in between to talk to her new fans, answer their questions and sell CDs. What you have to know about Ann Vriend is that her spectacular, poetic talent for storytelling and her intelligent, clever voice deserves a massive audience and you can start offering your appreciation by purchasing a copy of the sensational When We Were Spies either through her MySpace site or CD Baby.
Former Secret Agent Ann Vriend grew up listening to 70’s songwriters Paul Simon, Cat Stevens and Leonard Cohen. She’s a big fan of Tom Waits which is evident in her writing style and Aretha Franklin which is equally apparent in her singing. After posing as a freelance journalist to keep her spy status intact, Ann made the impossibly difficult and dangerous decision to defect and fortunately for us, convinced Juno nominated producer Douglas Romanow to produce an ode to her past, When We Were Spies: an album, in her own words, “centred around this exploration I seemed to be having about how much vulnerability and trust and transparency you allow yourself to have in a relationship, from the level of an intimate, personal one, to political and social ones.”
The lushly orchestrated When We Were Spies opens with its second single, the infectious espionage love song, “(If We Are Not) Spies” and slips effortlessly into the picturesque “Central Park Monday” before honouring Neil Young with a matchless version of “Rockin’ In The Free World.” The optimistic and upbeat “Start Over”, which strikes a Sarah Slean chord, is a declaration of willingness to give love another chance:
“I’ll take off my armour You drop your crown of thorns I’ll empty out a cartridge You put down your sword Baby, are you ready To suspend your disbelief Will you start over with me”
The enchanting, hypnotic “Radio” is a dramatic, passionate plea (akin to a Tori Amos torch ballad) for help in calling out to a lover. The first radio single, “St. Paul” embraces a mission, the singer daring to risk it all; while “Now The Lights” accedes the ending of a relationship. “Where You Are” has an enthusiastic, jaunty, carnival feel to it, carrying on the spy theme. “The Agreement” is a lovely, slower paced piano ballad of love and doubt, preceding my favourite tracks which coincidentally close the album, the poignantly profound “Halloween” and exquisitely plaintive tale of love at the end of a night in a bar, “Take My Hand.”
It is an absolute felony that Ann Vriend doesn’t have a prominent label behind her and the fact that this woman has sold over 10,000 CDs on her own is a testament to her ambition and determination to succeed in the cold and icy wasteland that is currently Edmonton…I mean the music industry!
Fans of Katie Melua, Coco Love Alcorn, Sarah Slean and Kate Bush will undoubtedly love Ann Vriend and I urge you to listen to her music. Purchase her wonderfully eclectic discography through CD Baby (http://cdbaby.com/cd/vriend3) and uncover her charms through Killbeat Music at www.killbeatmusic.com, her official website at www.annvriend.com (where you can really get to know Ann through Leaks To The Press) and at www.myspace.com/annvriend where you can send her some love first hand. This enigmatic woman is a Canadian music legend in the making.
c.bode@partyinkingston.com
ANN VRIEND - When We Were Spies
Written by Kindah Mardam Bey
Tuesday, 19 February 2008
Music Review
Artist: Ann Vriend
Title: When We Were Spies
Publicity: Killbeat Music
Released: March 11th 2008
4 1/2 Stars
Reviewed By: Kindah Mardam Bey
Ann Vriend drives me nuts; how can music be this good and she's not plastered on billboards from L.A. to N.Y.? If you haven't heard of Ann Vriend, take my mini tutorial as I reviewed her previous album Modes Of Transport and interviewed her last year Music In Spades: Ann Vriend . It can be a little unnerving to receive a second album of an artist you really enjoy, because there is always the idea that the first album was a fantastic fluke, but Vriend manages to show that talent has a great deal of constancy to it.
When We Were Spies is Vriend's third album (plus one EP) to her credit, which has an espionage theme, as Vriend takes on the persona of a secret agent:
"Ann Vriend is a former spy. She worked incognito for an undisclosed western European agency, posing as a freelance journalist, when she met someone who was also spy - but for the other side. Against all odds, they fell in love - thus entering an increasingly complicated game of torn loyalties, clandestine passion, and treacherous lies. It is these experiences which inspired When We Were Spies; the cinematic new pop album by former agent Ann Vriend."
So says her bio, but in truth, love is a lot like a secret agent game of cat and mouse, and Vriend seems to have explored that aspect of love amply on When We Were Spies. The theme aside, Vriend is an exceptionally talented artist with a strong comprehension of what her voice can do, an ear for orchestration and she plays the piano skilfully. So even though this album is very different in style from her previous album Modes Of Transport, it is still distinctly Vriend's signature sound. Where Modes was more of a soulful journey with excerpts of upbeat tracks, When We Were Spies is an orchestrated soundtrack that does indeed sound like it was intended for a big budget spy film. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking Goldfinger here, Spies is a complex album full of subtleties wrapped in memorable tunes.
Vriend is best when her songs are centered on her voice and her piano, such as at the end of the song ‘Start Over.' Her voice is serene with a great amount of precision to it, and yet wild at the same time, like unchartered, untamed vocal territory. It's mentioned that Vriend's voice is similar to Dolly Parton's but without the country, a little smokier like Parton with a spritz of Carly Simon perhaps. In truth Vriend is such an original, her vocals are hard to categorize.
When We Were Spies is also a little more rock infused than Modes, like the song ‘Radio' which has a great guitar solo alongside Vriend's crooning lyrics. You can still find Vriend's usual upbeat tracks such as the highly ‘spy' infused theme song ‘(If We Are Not) Spies' and ‘St.Paul' which is currently getting radio play. Vriend also does a brilliant cover of Neil Young's ‘Rockin' In The Free World' with her own delightful take on it. Possibly my favourite track would be ‘Hallowe'en' as it is a literate gem with a delicious subtext and is paired with poetic music, almost like an echo of sound pulsing throughout the track. Perhaps when Vriend has ended the Neo-Cold War, we can hear her explore a mystical or fairytale world as Tori Amos once did in Boys For Pele.
Whatever Vriend does after Spies, I would have to say buy it, in fact buy When We Were Spies and also buy Modes Of Transport. You can hear Vriend on her website at: www.annvriend.com and then do your best to support a new and inspiring talent, so that when she does become hugely famous you can say "Ann Vriend, oh yeah, I've known about her for years."
(If We Are Not) Spies
Central Park Monday
Rockin' In The Free World
Start Over
Radio
St. Paul
Now The Lights
Where You Are
The Agreement
Hallowe'en
Take My Hand
Ann Vriend Looks Back At When We Were Spies
Monday February 11, 2008
Ann Vriend
(Photo By Dustin Delfs)
Ann Vriend is keeping things mysterious with her new When We Were Spies, which will be scanned, fingerprinted and released independently on March 11.
Vriend — who sings, plays piano and writes — describes the album as a love story between herself, a "former spy" posed as a freelance journalist, and a "spy" for the other side.
Vriend started playing music at age three and continued throughout high school and college. Within eight months of graduating from Grant McEwan College, she was asked to record at Sony Studios in New York City. When We Were Spies was produced by Douglas Romanow at Toronto's Fire Escape Recording and has thus far pre-sold 800 copies.
"Hallowe'en," "(If We Are Not) Spies" and "St. Paul" can be heard on Vriend's MySpace page. You'll have to buy the album to hear her cover of Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World."
This is Vriend's fourth record since 2003, including last year's Clandestine EP. She has sold more than 8,000 albums and performed at music festivals in Germany, Australia and Canada. Her first album was financed by her first-place finish in the Sidetrack Cafe/Beta Sound songwriting contest, which took her to Nashville, Tennessee. She also had a song on the DVD release of the television show Party Of Five.
Though the album’s name and cover art provide ample indication of its overlying theme, it is the first line on Ann Vriend’s third album, When We Were Spies, that truly prepares the listener for the cinematic storyline that the budding Canadian singer/songwriter has built the release around. “Ducking into alleys in my overcoat, tracking from a random phone booth,” she sings over a steady rhythm section that is eventually supplemented by twinkling keys and a suave electric guitar. “Take the stairs, avoid the elevator, I’d do anything to get back to you.” If you still don’t get it, maybe a bit of background info will help (or as Vriend would call it, pre-mission briefing). Apart from being a songwriter that has attracted thousands of fans and a handful of major labels, Vriend admits to being a former spy. Yeah, that’s right… a spy. Though I cannot tell if it is some trendy promotional campaign, the straight-cut facts, or a mixture of both, she claims to have worked for an anonymous agency in western Europe. And what is a good spy tale without a touch of romance? While working as a spy, Vriend apparently fell in love with another spy, leading to an intricate game of “torn loyalties, clandestine passion, and treacherous lies”. The supposed plot has quite a similarity to the James Bond movie, “The Spy Who Loved Me”, but believing it all makes the listening experience better anyways. Also, considering that her astute lyrical prowess is reflective of someone with a background in English, her cover as a freelance journalist seems quite appropriate.
Even while the spy tidbit has to be one of the most unique characteristics of a new artist that I have heard in awhile, Vriend’s life as a songwriter was certainly more conventional before her mysterious western European pursuits. Born in Vancouver, it was immediately recognizable that Vriend had a rare form of musical adeptness. By age three, her parents had discovered that she could melodically identify nursery songs on a Fisher Price xylophone; not exactly a grueling task, but impressive for a three-year-old nonetheless. She continued to pursue music in school, with a performance at her high school talent show earning her a production deal in NYC. While there, she participated in the local scene by writing and performing in various bands. She left NYC a few years later to return to Canada and attend Grant McEwan College in Edmonton, where she studied pop and jazz for two years. She returned to NYC less than a year later when Sony Studios invited her to a recording session, with Paul Simon (her biggest childhood) tickets to woo her into the process. With funding aid from a songwriting contest she won earlier in the year, Vriend released her debut album, Soul Unravelling, in 2003, immediately winning over a diverse array of fans. She released her sophomore effort, Modes of Transport, in 2005 and put out an EP, The Clandestine EP, last year.
Vriend plans to release her third full-length album, When We Were Spies, on March 11th. It was produced by acclaimed Canadian producer Douglas Romanow and has already pre-sold nearly 1000 copies. The two headlining singles are the thematically appropriate “(If We Are Not) Spies” and “St. Paul”, both touching on the apparent dangers of mixing a mysterious and life-risking occupation with emotionally demanding aspects in the vein of romance, companionship, and morality. Both have already earned heavy Canadian radio play, with Vriend’s sights now set on a growing American audience. She also has a surprisingly large fanbase in Australia. “I’ve been to Australia four times now in the last two years. It seems exotic somehow because I am from the other side of the world,” she said. “They think you are renowned in your own backyard because you are travelling around the world to perform. You never really know where your music goes to.” Like a spy, the ideology may be manipulative, but Vriend truly deserves all the recognition she receives. To give comparative examples of the acclaim Vriend is receiving, critics have likened her voice to Kate Bush and Regina Spektor; even better, they compare her lyrical ability to the likes of Paul Simon and Leonard Cohen. The only issue, as she claims, is the distribution process, which makes it enduringly difficulty for listeners to receive new quality music. “The only thing that is a drawback about the music business is all the time it takes beforehand to actually get to the music,” she says. With her soaring vocals (they are surprisingly untrained), impressive songwriting ability, and multi-instrumental prowess, Vriend is truly an all-in-one package.
While listening to the album’s opening track, “(If We Are Not) Spies”, it should become quite apparent to listeners that Vriend has the doubtless potential to become a radio darling. She possesses the swagger and stylistic flair of a star in the making, with “(If We Are Not) Spies” being the most immediate proof of it. Backed by a grandiose chorus that is once again led by her empowering vocals, the topic of how emotionally demanding it is to be a spy is a unique but entertaining subject, entirely suitable when sung over an array of masterfully arranged instrumentation that is both suave and infectious in tone. “Cut me free, I can’t seem to get away from this job,” she sings during the chorus, demonstrating her stunning vocal ability in both range and genuine ardency. Like fellow Canadian songwriter Neil Young, Vriend incorporates a distinctive country twang into her vocal delivery while focusing on instrumental elements that are more alt-rock in nature. Appropriately enough, she attempts a cover of Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” and succeeds overwhelmingly. Though the chorus remains true in form to Young’s classic, the verse is now led by a series of strings and rhythmic progressions that are reminiscent of Vriend’s continuous spy theme. The bolstering strings recalls any likable theme song from a quality spy movie, with the peaking of strings creating a fulfilling sense of urgency until the guitar-led chorus of universal memorability. “St. Paul” is a touching gem that touches on the same spy-oriented subjects as “(If We Are Not) Spies)”, only this time being delivered primarily over keys and an acoustic guitar. Her melodic capacity is in full form here too, being of beautiful elegance in her seemingly natural ability to craft vocal-led hooks. When We Were Spies is Vriend’s most consistent release yet, with both her fantastic songwriting and vocal ability resulting in her best overall effort to date. If this album does not gain her some serious recognition outside of Canada, I would be absolutely shocked.
Written by Gurvinder Bhatia Monday, 10 December 2007
I’m lucky. My passion is also my profession. But wine and food are not my only passions. Great music also elicits the same strong emotional responses. Unfortunately, I am void of any musical talent. Growing up, I took the requisite piano, guitar and drum lessons, and while I could hear the music in my head and feel the music in my soul, it never quite sounded as good when delivered by my fingers. Oh yeah, I can’t sing either.
One of the greatest experiences of my life was owning a small blues bar ... being a part of the live-music scene, getting to know the artists and drawing inspiration from them as they pursued their passion. I have always “celebrated the small” when it comes to wine producers, but that philosophy holds true for music as well. I have great admiration for those talented independent artists that are following their dreams and inspiring their listeners. They do it because they love it and they have something special to share that enhances our lives.
What better way to celebrate both than to pair some of Canada’s great indie artists with unique, distinct wines from “indie” producers? Life is too short to drink bad wine, and as the motto of independent artist label Six Shooter Records very succinctly puts it, “Life is too short to listen to shitty music.” So, this holiday season, give the gift of music and wine. Many thanks to Aimée and Shauna for helping me bring both together.
Rich, bold, and deep with an edge. Hawksley’s a rocker, but he doesn’t need to yell. He does it with forceful grace and sophistication. Similarly, the L’Errante, made with dried Cabernet and Merlot grapes, is robust, intense, uplifting and penetrating. The tannins are deceivingly soft, but possess an underlying structure that gives the wine substance and meaning. Astounding how simplicity can evoke so much emotion!
(To rock with Hawksley, go to www.hawksleyworkman.com.)
Ann Vriend - Modes of Transport
Ruggeri Vecchie Viti Prosecco DOC 2006, Veneto, Italy ($38)
Ann and Ruggeri owner Paolo Bisol should get together and chat over a glass of Prosecco some time. They are both old souls in young bodies striving to create works of significance despite being surrounded by an abundance of generic, uninspired fluff in their respective industries. The Vecchie Viti is one of the most beautiful and pure sparkling wines that I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying. A perfect match for Ann’s music and lyrics — compelling, intoxicating, unadulterated and amazing.
(Prepare to be intoxicated at www.annvriend.com.)
Justin Rutledge - The Devil on a Bench in Stanley Park
Santa Maria la Palma Le Bombarde Cannonau DOC 2006, Sardinia, Italy ($17)
When life is hectic and you want to slow things down and don’t want to be disappointed — with both music and wine — you search for something soothing and comforting. Gentle and elegantly constructed with loads of character, richness, depth and a touch of spice. Down to earth and sincere, Justin channels wisdom far beyond his years, while the Cannonau possesses a gracefulness far beyond its modest price. Step out of the rat race for a few hours and let both put your mind and soul at ease.
(Chill-lax at www.justinrutledge.com.)
Royal Wood - A Good Enough Day
La Crema Pinot Noir 2005, Sonoma Coast, California, USA ($38)
Listening to the gospel-like, theatrical sounds of Royal Wood, I can’t help but be taken back to the voice of a young Billy Joel and the song style of Paul McCartney. Calming (in a lonely sort of way) and introspective … yet you can feel the angst and heartache. Love and heartache — sounds like the relationship most winemakers have with Pinot Noir. You nurture it, love it, give your heart and soul to it and it either blossoms into something wonderful and sensuous ... or it doesn’t ripen and stays green and bitter. Fortunately, the La Crema’s relationship with its winemaker is a clear example of the former.
(Contemplate life at www.royalwood.ca.)
Luke Doucet - Broken (and Other Rogue States)
Vina la Reserva de Caliboro Erasmo 2003, Maule Valley, Chile ($30)
Listening to Luke conjures images of a smoke-filled, back-alley club or middle-of-nowhere roadhouse where outsiders enter at their own peril, but where this balladeer is very much at home. His unique country-jazzy-rock-rootsy sound with engaging lyrics and captivating melodies definitely calls for something unfiltered from a winemaker that doesn’t play by the rules. Caliboro owner Francesco Marone Cinzano is rewriting the rules in Chile: dry farming, importing vines in quantities so large that the Chilean government has limited subsequent imports, macerating not for days but months and creating a wine so good that others are inspired to strive for greater heights. These two outlaws should go riding together on the plains of Chile (or Manitoba).
(Step outside the box at www.lukedoucet.com.)
Rachelle van Zanten - Back to Francois Col d’Orcia Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2004, Tuscany, Italy ($30)
Contemporary with traditional roots, never forgetting where you come from — holds true for both Rachelle’s music and the wines of Col d’Orcia winemaker Pablo Harri. Simply expressing in the bottle what the land and Mother Nature have given him, Harri’s Rosso is elegant with lovely cherry and dark-plum flavours with just a touch of earthiness. Medium-bodied with a silky mouthfeel and a longlasting finish. Honest, sincere and from the heart ... both Rachelle and the wine.
(Check out the real deal at www.rachellevanzanten.com.)
Emm Gryner - Asian Blue
Rabl Kaferberg Gruner Veltliner 2004, Kamptal, Austria ($32)
Delicate, intense, exotic and undeniably attractive; multidimensional, incredible depth and complexity with a compelling edginess. The wine’s pretty damn good too.
(Prepare to be swept away to a place you may not want to come back from at www.emmgryner.com.)
Raising The Bar
Loft concerts turn living spaces into intimate, artist-friendly micro-venues
Ann Vriend, support act Kirsten JonesFrancois Marchand, edmontonjournal.com December 06, 2007
Stephen Morrissey is busy setting up the amplifying rig.
Going through the motions of the final sound checks, he nonchalantly walks across the room and grabs a bite-sized appetizer from one of the trays laid out on the table before heading towards the door.
Sporting a "Don't Mess With Texas" T-shirt, a pair of slacks and no shoes, he casually shakes hands with some of the newly arrived guests who reserved a spot for tonight's sold-out show more than two weeks ago.
You'd think we were in some kind of upscale cafe or ultra-hip concert venue, but it's much simpler than that. We're in Stephen Morrissey's living room.
Six months ago, Morrissey and his partner Zoe Soykut started holding what they now call "loft concerts."
After the success of their first show, a CD release party for their neighbours playing in local band F&M, they realized there was demand for this type of event. Bands and labels started contacting them, asking for more.
So Morrissey and Soykut set up an account on MySpace and began gathering local performers who would come and play in their 107th Street loft once every six weeks or so.
Guests would reserve a spot to attend the concerts by sending Morrissey an e-mail. The events have mostly been "sold-out" affairs - the 35 to 40 spots available vanishing within a few hours of the announcement being made.
"I'd never been to a house concert, quite honestly," admits Morrissey, a 35-year-old social worker. "I didn't know other people did this kind of thing. The sense I'm getting from Googling 'house concerts' is that there's all sorts of different ways of doing it - some people do it in their barns, rent a community hall, in their garages. Whatever you've got, you work with it."
Advertising was mostly done through word-of-mouth, but soon enough the buzz was spreading farther and faster than they had anticipated.
"Next thing I know, I'm getting e-mails from people across Canada asking if major artists could play here - in our living room," says Morrissey, who hosted singer-songwriters Ann Vriend and Kirsten Jones last Friday.
The house concert trend is a bit of a fad, especially among singer-songwriters and folk performers.
For some artists, the concept is not necessarily new - a number of similar intimate venues having popped up across North America recently, and punk bands have been playing basements for years.
However, it remains a breath of fresh air in a landscape peppered with promoters, diminished guarantees and rowdy bar crowds.
"You get to really connect with people, which is why I think a lot of us like to play in this kind of place," says Jones. "We came all the way from Toronto to do this. I feel really lucky to be here. It's beautiful."
With an entrance fee of roughly $20 a person and few costs to bear by the owners - except for a few snacks and a small sound system (the events are usually BYOB) - most of the money goes directly to the performers at the end of the night.
"It's almost a reaction to the fact that venues are now putting all the responsibility of marketing and promotion on the artist," says Vriend, who also blames music downloads for a sharp decline in record sales.
In a city like Edmonton, where a dearth of venues has created a bit of "dog-eat-dog" mentality among promoters and performers, the advent of loft or house concerts can only be seen as a welcome addition to the local music scene.
The artists see these events as the perfect way to make a few bucks, sell their albums to a crowd that came specifically to see and hear them, and they have a good time interacting with their fans.
"This is such a nice atmosphere," says fan Diane Bailey, 46, "and I think it's ideal for this kind of music."
Is Morrissey and Soykut's idea something that could build into a wider trend?
"I hope it would," says Drew McKibben, 51. "It's cost-effective for the audience and it's cost-effective for the performer. It's a great venue. If you've been to a bar to see a concert, you know this is going to be a much more intimate environment and the sound will be better."
"Essentially, it's a party," says Morrissey, "and we're letting people come to our party."
Blog Entry, Sandra Sprounes, Edmonton Journal, Aug 31, 07
ANN VRIENDThe Clandestine EP()Rating: NNNN (4/5 stars)
She released her first record four years ago, but Alberta's Ann Vriend has yet to make a major mark on the Canadian music scene. Her last album, Modes Of Transport, got some raves, but the so-called piano pop laureate deserves more attention.
Her latest release, The Clandestine EP, won't do anything for her popularity – it's a limited-edition, five-song release – but it's a great precursor to what's sure to be a memorable third full-length album, whenever that comes out.
The EP, only available for sale on her website and through her MySpace page, finds the perfect balance between lush, radio-friendly pop and Alberta twang.
St. Paul, one of the better songs on the disc, features Vriend's smooth, rootsy vocals backed by CMT-approved instrumentation, while Hallowe'en's soft pop intro and passionate lyrics show off the songwriter's endless potential.
Ann Vriend plays the Rivoli Wednesday (August 29).
Bryan Borzykowski
CIUT 89.5 MHz - Toronto
Top 30 For the Week Ending: Tuesday, August 14, 2007
TW
LW
Artist
Title
Label
1
5
Metric
Grow Up & Blow Away
Last Gang
2
--
Love And Mathematics
Love And Mathematics
Independent
3
4
The Parlour Steps
Ambiguoso
Figment
4
1
Shitdisco
Kingdom Of Fear
Fierce Panda
5
15
Papa Mambo
Crooked Cha
Independent
6
24
The Russian Futurists
Me, Myself And Rye
Upper Class
7
26
Interpol
Our Love To Admire
Capitol
8
--
Chloe Hall
White Street
One Tree Hill
9
--
Ghost House
These Are Ghost House
Reluctant
10
--
The Undesirables
Doghouse Dream
Independent
11
--
The Winks
Birthday Party
Ache
12
21
Ketch Harbour Wolves
December
Independent
13
--
Ivy Mairi
Well You
Latent
14
--
Two Hours Traffic
Little Jabs
Bumstead
15
18
Raising The Fawn
Sleight Of Hand
Sonic Unyon
16
--
Sonic Avenues
Sonic Avenues
Ricochet Sound
17
--
The Tranzmitors
The Tranzmitors
Deranged
18
--
St. Vincent
Marry Me
Beggars Banquet
19
--
Carbon Dating Service
Polyentendrii
Teargas Recording Tree
20
--
Peter Katz
More Nights
Shape Of A Boy
21
--
The Aliens
Astronomy For Dogs
Astralwerks
22
--
Wax Mannequin
Orchard & Ire
Infinite Heat
23
--
A History Of
Victory Atlas
Noyes
24
--
Dub Trio
Cool Out And Co-Exist
Roir
25
--
The Hippy Nuts
Before The Fall Of Onions Or Tales...
Sandpile
26
11
The Verge
Good Love - All I Need To Put My Mind At Ease
Smashed
27
--
Ann Vriend
The Clandestine EP
Fire Escape
28
--
Various
The Gift: A Tribute To Ian Tyson
Stony Plain
29
--
Rosemary Phelan
Avalanche Lily
Independent
30
--
Saturday Nite Fish Fry
Dirt Road Blues
7 Arts
All Wrapped Up
Edmonton songstress and “piano pop laureate” Ann Vriend offers up her gift of music at the Ashcroft Opera House on Wednesday.
By Mikelle Sasakamoose
Staff reporter
Jul 29 2007
If you want it, Ann Vriend is giving it away.
The pop songstress avoids the mainstream, accusing it as being too commercial, preferring to gravitate toward a more generous genre.
“I want my music to be something that someone would want to play in their car when they’re going away on a holiday, or they want to put it on for a friend and dance around the house or listen to while painting a picture,” she said.
“It’s something people won’t feel is berating them from the radio where they’re being advertised to and at, but it’s more ‘here’s something for you — a gift from me to you. I hope you like it.’”
To share her work, Vriend will perform her unique style of popular music at the Ashcroft Opera House on Wednesday.
Compared by critics as a “piano pop laureate” and a singer-songwriter who has the creative fire to set the music world ablaze, the Edmonton-based artist admits her method of writing “is just that I create chaos.”
But as a scholar of music, she said, her final product is much more structured.
“I know music theory and I’ve studied music and I’ve also studied writing and literature in university, so I could very well be described as more heady, intellectual and academic both musically and lyrically,” said Vriend.
But as a musician on various levels, she works to create an accessibility that is still unfamiliar.
“I’’m trying to work on a number of layers musically and lyrically so that the teenie-bopper person who listens to sugary pop will like my music, and the person who likes more sophisticated music and lyrics will also like it.”
A vintage sound to some of her older stuff has a ’70s throwback feel, but Vriend said she’s heading in a different direction.
Back to the future, her newest album due out early next year, is more modern.
Influenced by a new producer, the Juno-nominated Douglas Romanow, the new album (not yet titled) is more contemporary than its old-school organic predecessors.
“As an artist, you explore ways to paint your picture, and with [Romanow], he’s really gifted at that . . . I still wanted my music to sound really intimate and sincere, but I also really kick ass, like not sleepy or old-fashioned,” said Vriend.
Tickets are available in advance by calling 250-453-9009.
For more information, visit www.ashcroftoperahouse.com or www.annvriend.com.
Music In Spades:
An Interview with Singer Ann Vriend
Wednesday, 11 July 2007
Vriend seems to have all the right skills for the music biz; talent, originality, and a sense of humour. Meet the music worlds' best card trick....
By: Kindah Mardam Bey, feature photo by Andy Learmont, Ghost Imaging
Ann Vriend was performing as part of the Alberta Songwriter’s Series last April when I spotted her remarkable vocals from sitting somewhere just above the clouds. Even from that distance, Vriend’s voice filled the room with Leonard Cohen’s ‘I’m Your Man’ with intent and emotion. Yes, Ann is a girls name and no singing a song as it was wrote does not a statement make. Vriend prefaced the song with her intent to sing the track as her role model Cohen had intended, but somehow oddly enough, Vriend singing ‘I’m Your Man’ sounded perfectly fitting and within the realm of ‘normal.’ I suspected early on that Vriend’s admiration of Cohen had something to do with his ever-identifiable vocals as Ann Vriend may not sound like Cohen’s deep and earnest voice, but they share a commonality in their distinctive and emotive singing. Vriend reflects on Cohen’s unique voice ‘Cohen has an honest voice, one that gets to our hearts. I want to have a voice that affects people like that. It’s not so much about the technique but more about the story behind the words.’
The Alberta Songwriter’s Series is intended to promote and showcase talent from the second most Western province of Canada. Probably more compelling then Vriend singing Cohen was Vriend singing her own songs. Vriend is a unique vocalist, with her own distinguishing set of pipes, so when I caught up with Ann in June for an interview I had to ask her how she discovered her voice was not only unique, but compelling as well. Aside from talent that reminds me of an early Sarah McLachlan who could both sing and write songs, and play instruments (known as an ‘all rounder’ in the biz), Vriend has a great sense of humour. If music never panned out for her, she could do a whole sketch about the music industry and have you rolling with laughter in the aisles. Somewhat self-depricated as her humour might be, Vriend explains that the horror of having to sing a song she’d wrote for her friend to sing in a High School talent show to her friend, was simply more overwhelming to Vriend then actually singing the song in front of the whole school; with that logic, who needs reason? It turned out that after performing her song to the school, she received more accolades for her voice than the song she wrote; a star was born.
Mind you Ann Vriend was working on her vocation much earlier than High School, she played violin for a time and she says ‘I dropped it, not literally, the violin I mean…I gave it up.’ Her Mother played piano in the Church, but even though Vriend came from an academic family her parents made music an important part of her childhood as she tells ‘Mum made all of us play some instrument at least.’ From that early age Vriend discovered she had a skill for making up melodies on the piano she says ‘apparently it’s abnormal to do that, I had no idea! I figured all the other kids having piano lessons were making up melodies as well.’
So when it was time for University, a natural inclination towards music led Ann to major in the subject ‘I found that the training was in classical music and that seemed less functional for what I wanted to get out of music. Oddly, I changed my degree to English and that seemed a better fit. It was only after I saw the Battle Of The Bands in Edmonton that the light bulb went off though. I moved over to a college program for music that seemed to fit into the type of music I was making. Now music is my full time job. It is a lot tougher then I ever imagined to make a career of music, but if you believe that it is possible and you think in creative ways, then I believe you can succeed. Don’t give yourself a plan B; never give yourself an escape route.’
Sinking her teeth into her debut album Soul Unravelling in 2003, Vriend’s kept up her enthusiasm for a second album Modes Of Transport in 2005, which is a title she attributes her father formulating. Modes Of Transport is filled to the brim with music that is compelled to be a Plan A with-no-escape-route only. Songs like ‘Where My Heart Lies’ are haunting and romantic, or songs like ‘Crowd Pleaser’ are up beat and whimsical. Vriend says ‘I wrote crowd pleaser about a friend and fellow singer from Australia. He is naturally charismatic and is always a personality in a crowd, and yet he writes such heartbreaking, sad and delicate songs. I guess I saw the contrast and thought that was a good theme for a song.’ With Vriend’s background in English she pays attention to the detail of her lyrics ‘I like to write a song, or find words that mean more than one thing. I’ll start with a quote or a phrase that has a lot of imagery around it; I want my music to stand on its own.’
Ann Vriend’s next collection of songs is a limited edition EP currently released called The Clandestine EP sold on her website (www.annvriend.com) and myspace exclusively; then a follow-up to Modes called Spies Like Us is scheduled for release in January of 2008. Vriend seems contemplative already about her next full-length album, she explains ‘spies in relationships, how we protect our hearts, the analogy espionage seems intriguing for me. Like Modes Of Transport had a lot to do with travelling both physically, but also emotionally as well.’
Although major labels have shown considerable interest in Vriend, she seems to be on the precipice of her true breakthrough in North America, but in Australia she has a much stronger following ‘I’ve been to Australia four times now in the last two years. It seems exotic somehow because I am from the other side of the world; they think you are renowned in your own backyard because you are travelling around the world to perform. You never really know where your music goes to. The other day I received an e-mail from a little girl in South Africa requesting permission to play one of my songs in her school talent show. The request wasn’t necessary, but the realization that my music is affecting someone in South Africa is wonderful to me.’
Possibly one of the most appealing attributes of Vriend is that she is a ‘Crowd Pleaser,’ she seems to have a naturally awkward and goofy stage presence that has the audience laughing at her jokes and wondering if she is staging this or it is real? Vriend informs me it is all adlib at her personal embarrassment ‘I am such a bad actor, I always look so rehearsed when I’ve….well, rehearsed something! Besides people don’t want rehearsed, they want an in the moment experience; whether it works or it bombs. When I sing, it’s like a different language to me, I have all this confidence, but when I talk on stage I focus so hard on what I don’t want to say because it will embarrass me, that I normally end up saying it!’ I suspect Vriend underestimates her stage presence as it is quirky and full of intelligent humour.
Vriend sees her career as a slow and cumulative progression towards bigger stages and audiences who are passionate about her music ‘I can really see it leading up to that point. The only thing that is a drawback about the music business is all the time it takes beforehand to actually get to the music.’
However, along this musical journey of Vriend’s her natural skill at music, her untrained but distinct vocals and her uncensored stage presence seems to be a combination that intrigues her audience and has journalists like myself, seeking ways to showcase that natural talent of Vriend’s. I suspect I’m at the start of the bandwagon, but still a part of the bandwagon no less, as Vriend appears to me to be the best type of performer; she’s got talent, she’s got charisma, and she’s doing it all…. unrehearsed.
To read Kindah Mardam Bey's review of Modes Of Transport and listen to 'Where My Heart Lies' from Modes click here
Kölncampus Chart (University Radio Cologne)
Rotation 6-8 plays per week June 18th to July 1st, Aktuelle Rotation
01. antonelli - ride on black train (ride on black train ep) karaoke kalk
02. aström, kristofer - just a little insane (rainaway town) v2
03. blonde redhead - top ranking (23) 4ad
04. clinic - magic boots (funf) domino
05. concretes, the – kids (hey trouble) licking fingers
06. digitalism- digitalism in cairo (idealism) emi
07. experimental pop band, the – hello (7'') triumphant sound
08. flesh, the - the cradle, the brothel, and the bible school (firetower) gern blansten
09. guitar wolf - jet generation (golden black) must destroy
10. holmes, a. j. - schloss lanke (the king of the new electric hi-life) pingipung
11. kiesgroup - ab in die ewigkeit (das leben als umweg zwischen nichts und nichts) lolila-records
12. kinderzimmer productions - das t (7'') rough trade
13. kinks, the - village green preservation society (hot fuzz – ost) interscope
14. koppruch, nils - komm küssen (den teufel tun) v2
15. lottergirls - never say never (right on) tnt – terranova recordings
16. mad caddies - tired bones (keep it going) fat wreck records
17. mahogany - supervitesse [extended mix] (connectivity) track & field
18. man no.9, the – nightclubgirl (brazillian barbeque ep) haute areal
19. modest mouse - we've got everything (we were dead before the shipeven sank) epic
20. ordinary boys, the - nine 2five (how to get everything you ever wanted in ten easy steps) universal
28. vriend, ann - crowd pleaser (modes of transport) ann vriend
29. wild billy childish & the musicians of the british empire- joe strummer's grave (punk rock at the british legion hall) damaged goods
30. zimmermänner, die - letzter tango in bad ems (7'') zickzack
AnE Magazine
Ann Vriend Modes of Transport
Produced By: Paul Brill
4 ½ stars
Reviewed By: Kindah Mardam Bey for AnE Magazine
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Vriend is a gale force of classic soul brought to light by a very youthful but sultry voice. In a world of Britney Spears induced growls and words plastered to heavy beat like her ex-beau Timberlake, Vriend is a comparative breath of fresh, clean and crisp air. This is Vriend ‘s second album and her third is soon to be released later this year, but I am strictly at a loss how this vocal talent has produced two collections without her being in more of a spotlight. Don’t get me wrong, Vriend is spotlight worthy and she travels the world with her collections of songs to audiences from the Rocky Mountains to the sandy beaches of Australia, but she seems to hover just off to the side of the spotlight…skirting it really, for the time being. She will emerge as a signature Canadian talent in time, akin to Sarah McLachlan’s rise to fame, I’ll bank on it.
This native Albertan has thrown caution to the wind against the corporate oil boom and added a quality of creative depth to the Western Canadian province. Vriend may have been born in white middle class Canada, but the girl’s core is in Jazz, Blues and the 1970s Soul Music. Vriend’s second album Modes Of Transport is a powerful collection of interesting and dynamic tracks.
So what is rave-worthy about Vriend’s music? Concisely put, she is a witty and poetic lyricist who cuts to the core of emotion with insightfulness clearly beyond her years. Vriend also has a knack for charming melodies (bordering into ditties at times) or sliding over to evocative and melancholia. Above her music and lyrics, is her unique and yet almost nostalgic vocals that are haunting, powerful, even resplendent at times. She reminds me of the great female singers of the seventies who brought power and mood to a song that even the music or lyrics couldn’t draw from. Vriend reaches the high notes with vocal strength, but then draws down to the low notes with equal depth.
Vriend is a talent beyond her youthful exterior. Songs like ‘Crowd Pleaser’ and ‘You Got Me’ are up beat and memorable tracks, but her true colours shine brightest when she is tackling the more retrospective tracks like ‘Where My Heart Lies’ (which brings thoughts of Nina Simone to mind) and ‘Don’t Cry.’ Whether you are in Australia, Western North America or anywhere in between, seek Vriend out, she’s well worth the search.
Ann Vriend
Brett Winterford, Jess Maynard The Basement, Circular Quay
06/02/07
….Nearly an hour behind schedule, the adorable Ann Vriend quietly slipped on stage. Although Vriend repeatedly stressed that she is from Canada, she has a voice that could have walked straight out of Nashville: strong and feminine, with a hint of underlying vulnerability. Her quirky take on contemporary jazz reminded me of New York oddball Nellie McKay, especially on numbers like Crowd Pleaser and The Invisibles (a song about Barbie and Ken as if they were real people). Or Regina Spector. Or early Tori Amos. When it comes to women with pianos, there are endless comparisons to make, but Vriend manages to stand out from the crowd.
She chatted sweetly to the audience between songs, telling genuinely funny stories about her travels in Canada, America, Australia and Spain. Although Vriend apologized repeatedly for how late her show was running, nobody objected to her playing until the candles guttered. She has been here four times in the last two years—if she makes another visit soon, you’d do well to go along.
Reviews-- CDs - Modes of Transport, Ann Vriend
South Australian Independent Weekly
Mar 3, 2007
David Jobling
There is a bright and fluent quality juxtaposed with some darker emotional depths in the original work of Ann Vriend. Her vocal sound is clear and smooth and she masters all those essential feel-good ingredients that are necessary to lift the spirit with the occasional quirk thrown in. Vriend constructs pop songs that sound a little like the excited scribbling you'd find on a postcard from a friend having a quiet epiphany somewhere distant and warm.
"Modes of Transport" is very fresh and at times almost giddy with happiness particularly with her song "Feelin' Fine". Midway through the ten tracks she shifts into a slightly more alternative musical style and proves her great competency as an original lyricist with "Don't Cry" and "No Stranger to Love". Such brief soulful moments are well delivered and express a mature artistry reminiscent of a Tom Waits and Joni Mitchell, but only in their qualities. Her style is her own.
A song like "Here We Are" tells the sad tale of breaking a heart in a way that doesn't depress, yet it is so well rendered it may cause a downcast eye and wrinkled forehead. But don't despair, Vriend ends the album with the well balanced "Backseat Driver" and lifts the lid on her bounteous spring of joy again. Although this is a studio album, Vriend and producer Paul Brill have captured the qualities of her intimate live gigs particularly well. Her Australian tour included gigs at The Basement in Sydney, Melbourne's Northcote Social Club and in Adelaide at the Grace Emily Hotel. Unlike so many artists who loose momentum on their second album, Vriend is gathering strength with this welcome release.
A Friend In Vriend
Drum Media
January, 2007 In Australia for her 4th tour in 2 years, to showcase her latest album, Modes of Transport, Micheal Smith caught up with songwriter and pianist Ann Vriend.
Australia first got to hear Vriend, pronounced Vreend (she has Dutch ancestors), when she came over early in 2005 as part of a tour showcasing the latest artists from the Canadian province of Alberta. Not that all Aussies were unaware of Vriend; Vicki Simpson from the Waifs had said on their website after catching Vriend at a festival, "I just sat on stage and was blown away." The Waifs are huge in Canada. So it was quite an accolade for a young, relatively unknown artist like Vriend.
While she might be working the singer/songwriter/folk festival circuit and playing indie/alternative clubs, Vriend’s music is firmly based in the realm of the well-crafted pop song in all its diversity, and Modes of Transport is as diverse a collection of songs as her debut album, Soul Unravelling.
"There is a fairly high growth period between records," Vriend admits, "just learning thing about being a songwriter, being a little more self-
editing and paying a lot more attention to the tight form of the pop song. The choice of songs for the album had a lot to do with what fit together thematically in terms of subject matter.
"The album title, Modes of Transport, comes from the fact that a lot of the songs alluded to travelling and journeying metaphors and imagery, and I tried to keep the diversity of the songs together that way. Having been on the road almost constantly for the last two or three years, it’s a natural expression too of how my life has been." Though Vriend has been writing and playing since she was a kid, it wasn’t until she got to university that the idea of making music a full time occupation began to seem a viable career option. Things started happening after she sent out a high quality demo in 2000 that won her a songwriting competition and attracted the attention of a number of producers, resulting in an invitation to record in New York. More recently, Vriend was invited to write a song for the Canadian athletes participating in last year’s Commonwealth Games, hosted in Melbourne.
"They only came up with the idea of me writing a song a month before going to Melbourne to perform it, and it had to be recorded and everything first so it was all a real rush. But it was really fun."
Don’t Expect Vriend to Pull a Mariah Carey
Edmonton Journal
Sandra Sprounes
January 11, 2007
Singing the national anthem is nothing new for Ann Vriend.
Singing it in her home and native land is.
The local soul-pop songstress has belted it twice—for Canadian athletes at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, and the Canadian embassy in Washington, D.C.
On Friday, Vriend will finally get a chance to sing O Canada on home soil—er, ice, that is.
She’ll get to be Paul Lorieau for the night and sing our anthem and The Star Spangled Banner when the Oilers host the Minnesota Wild.
"I’ll have to go really slow because there’s so much echo and people are singing along that if you go quickly, it sounds like a mess," says Vriend.
"So I’m going to have to try and remember that. This will be the first time I’m doing it a capella so there’s the hope you’ll stay in tune, which is different when you’re accompanying yourself on a piano. So I’ve been practicing."
It will be the first time she ever performs the American anthem.
"It has a pretty big range," she says. "You have to make sure you start low enough so that you don’t end up Mariah Carey-ing it at the end. That’s not very good for the people singing along, either."
Road Trips
Ann Vriend’s musical journey is just getting started.
Elle Magazine
August, 2006
By Egla Proscuta
Ann Vriend sings with the heart-stopping intensity of Aretha Franklin, plays piano with the ease of Norah Jones and writes songs as powerful in their simplicity as those of Paul Simon and Leonard Cohen.
Yet not many people outside of the Edmonton-based singer’s home province know about her. To boost her profile, this spring Vriend decided to hop in her stationwagon and set off on a cross-country tour to promote the release of her second CD, Modes of Transport (Independent/Spirit River Distribution). "I’m not much of a rock star," she jokes about her plain-Jane Ford Taurus. "But at least I don’t have to worry about speeding tickets!"
For Vriend, becoming a musician has been a lifelong dream. Although she started university as a music major, she recognized early on that becoming a classical pianist wasn’t for her. Vriend transferred to English literature, with a minor in music, but as graduation approached, she had a life-altering moment. While watching a battle of the bands from the rock, pop and jazz program at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, she told herself, "If that’s what comes out of this school, that’s where I want to go." Vriend auditioned that same week and got in, abandoning university. Before forming her band, The Dropouts, she sang with jazz groups as well as retro-funk and soul cover bands.
She’s hoping that performing in Europe this summer will jumpstart her career in Canada, the way it did for Feist and Hawksley Workman. "It’s funny," Vriend says philosophically, "how sometimes you just have to go away in order to come back and be better known at home."
Planes, trains and automobiles: Songwriter Ann Vriend's "Modes of Transport" is taking her around the world
May 26, 2006 Ottawa Express
Steve Baylin
Ann Vriend, Edmonton's own piano pop laureate of emotional conflict, has plenty to smile about these days. And why not? She has a sharp new record moving up the charts, a brief U.S. tour on the horizon and a European tour that includes a date at the International Leonard Cohen Festival in Berlin, and she's fast becoming a favourite in Australia. Sounds like good times all around, but some folks are hard to convince. "Someone I'd never met before called me up for an interview a few months back and the first thing she said to me was, 'Do you need a hug dear?'" laughs Vriend over the phone from Blind River. "I was like, 'What are you talking about?'" The mystery woman was "talking about" the heart-heavy subtext of Vriend's latest effort, Modes of Transport - the long-awaited follow-up to 2003's debut Soul Unravelling. Vriend is quick to note the bulk of the material was written several years back during a "time of personal turmoil" in her life: In addition to coping with the breakdown of a close relationship, her big American record contract fell apart, which she admits was "a big blow." "Actually, I was really looking forward to having the next album out a little earlier," says Vriend, "not to mention having the infrastructure and financial support of a label behind me. So it was a letdown, and a struggle trying not to be jaded about the personal and business side of things. But I'm okay now. Really! That was a while ago, and not all the songs are necessarily about me." Crisply produced by Paul Brill and recorded over two weeks in New York, the album, which at times rings like a lean, literate black and blue "tapestry" for a new generation, does indeed spin its fair share of vulnerable hard-luck tales: hearts are broken, trust is shattered, and things left unsaid threaten to become an all-consuming brushfire of discontent. The music, however, is a different story altogether. Unlike most introspective artists prone to soul searching, Vriend never falls into traditional mawkish song traps - specifically, long drawn-out bouts of "self-absorbed sadness." Rather, she favours a more eclectic, almost schizophrenic approach - a certain Zevon bravado - taking care to juxtapose the hard-luck narratives against fiery, frequently joyous sonic turns; there's everything from smouldering R&B/funk ("You Got Me") and brash pop ("The Invisibles") to Latin rhythms ("Backseat Driver") and sweet, uplifting soul ("Don't Cry"). "I really don't want to be 'ballad girl,'" says Vriend of her tendency to constantly mix things up. "Not that there's anything wrong with it. But I just didn't want to have a depressing, down-tempo record from start to finish. I always wanted to do more than that, to have more layers to the work. You can say more than one thing at the same time, by having the sentiments of your lyrics sometimes fly under the radar - that's something that I'm really fascinated with as a writer."
Ann Vriend lets her fingers do the walking
Living in Edmonton means songwriter logs a lot of miles to get her music
heard
JASON SCHNEIDER
(May 20, 2006)
Edmonton-based Ann Vriend will perform Wednesday at Guelph's e-bar.
On first listen to Ann Vriend's sophomore album, Modes Of Transport, it's easy to picture her as a contemporary of Carole King, composing irresistible pop gems for a New York hit factory. Or possibly hobnobbing with Brian Wilson on the beaches of California.
But both of those places are a long way from Vriend's reality. Living in Edmonton has mostly meant that Vriend has had to log many miles with her keyboard to have her music heard. It's something she has become accustomed to, and it's reflected on the general theme of the album.
"In the past year, I've spent a lot of time in Toronto, and then I recorded the album in New York, which led to a lot of bouncing back and forth between those two places,'' she says in the midst of packing for her current Canadian tour.
"I've learned how to prepare psychologically for many hours of boredom being on the road.''
On the other hand, Vriend is thoroughly excited about introducing audiences to her new material.
"So far I've received a great response from people here in Alberta, and also in Australia where I was touring. It's been three years since my last record, and it was getting a little tiring playing those songs. "I feel like I've become a better writer during that time, so these songs have a lot of energy for me right now.''
Vriend says her improvements have stemmed from a combination of experience, and taking a more organic approach to recording.
"My producer, Paul Brill, really sat me down and showed me where the songs could be more concise. I wanted this to be an accessible record, but I didn't want it to be so poppy that it sounded synthetic.
"Writing pop songs requires a lot of discipline, and I'm really grateful that I learned a lot about that making this record.''
Indeed, Modes Of Transport reveals traces of everyone from Norah Jones to Aretha Franklin throughout, making it immediately stand out among the recent glut of releases from navel-gazing female singer-songwriters.
Vriend seems content following her own path, and is looking forward to participating in a tribute to one of her other inspirations, Leonard Cohen, this August in Berlin.
"There's been a Leonard Cohen festival in Edmonton for the last couple of years that I've played, and this year I was asked to play the 'official' one in Berlin,'' she says.
"I'm not totally sure what's going to happen there, but in Edmonton they always had a guy who looked exactly like him walking around. I convinced my mother that it was actually him, but then she started swooning and I felt terrible.''
But until then, Vriend has to navigate the small club circuit on her own. ''I won't be bringing a laser light show, so I hope people won't be disappointed,'' she jokes.
"I don't mind travelling alone. There's obviously pros and cons to it, but a month feels just about right. This isn't music for loud bars, so being out there too long can be really draining.''
Ann Vriend Transporting Music Lovers
Calgary Sun June 2006
Mike Bell
When Ann Vriend reveals she spent 10 months out of 2005 touring, the title of her latest album, Modes of Transport, makes a great deal of sense.
"All of the songs were pretty much written on the road, and some are about being on the road and travelling," the Edmonton sing-songwriter says before laughing.
"It wasn't really that hard to figure out a theme. It didn't take a whole lot of to soul searching."
It's about the only thing on the album that is obvious.
The album, recorded in New York and completed, appropriately, while she was in Australia, receiving rough mixes via e-mail from her producer in NYC, is a gorgeous Kate Bushian jazz and piano pop record, glowing with warmth and intimacy.
It succeeds at Vriend's wishes to create something accessible, but without being overly familiar or, again, obvious.
And, it also shows none of the weariness you'd expect from someone living out of a suitcase since breaking onto the Canadian and international scene with her '03 gem of a debut Soul Unravelling.
"I think a lot of people get burned out and that's the sad thing about the state of music in our country -- independent original music, anyway," she says. "A lot of people understandably burn out before they get to their potential or their peak. As a culture it seems to me that we're probably missing out on the best we could probably have."
Those who head to the Ironwood tonight won't suffer that fate, as Vriend continues her natural ways by bringing her lengthy cross-country tour to town.
It's been a tour that's been both beneficial in getting her music out there, but also in, possibly, inspiring yet another album.
"I've really gotten to know myself a lot on this trip, I have to say," she says, noting it's been just her in a car for the whole tour. "It's kind of a trip of getting to know Ann Vriend."
Sharp Bend in the Road Ahead
Ed Magazine, Edmonton Journal September 24, 2005
by Tom Murray
A lost record deal. Odd jobs for cash. Gruelling tours. But for Ann Vriend, success is just around the corner.
For the longest time, I would only ever see Ann Vriend in other cities. Sure, we both lived in Edmonton, but between my constant travelling and her relentless touring we never had time for more than a passing acquaintance.
Last March we both ended up pillaging free food and drinks (courtesy of the Canadian government) at a small bar in Austin, Tex., watching Whitely Houston shake up a sedate SXSW party. Two months later in Ottawa for the Alberta Scene showcase, she filled me in on the domino effect of back luck she has experienced in the past year.
"Bewildering is a good word to describe this," she said at the time. "It’s been an emotional roller-coaster ride."
Last fall, after extensive negotiations with a U.S. label, Vriend thought she’d worked out a deal that would have taken care of recording and production costs for her newest albums. Then the deal fell through, leaving her to press on alone.
"Financially—thank God I never spent any of the money I was promised… I could have gone crazy. ‘Yoo hoo, record contract!’ It ended so soon after I was signed that I never got the chance."
In a way, Vriend should have seen it coming. She’s been waltzing with the majors at least since just before her debut album "Soul Unravelling" came out in late 2003. She’s always had the complete package as a singer-songwriter, but she’s resisted attempts to reshape her or her music.
It’s a tentative dance at best, with labels weighing her talent against her lack of malleability. Vriend wants the comfort of a major label, but not at the expense of being repackaged to current fashions.
Or, as was her experience, into the next Norah Jones. "I’m a girl, I have black hair and play the piano. Let’s see: what about guys with brown hair who play the guitar? Jack Johnson and Jimmy Page play the guitar but they’re not the same person!" She laughs incredulously.
"People sometimes listen with their eyes. I guess I shouldn’t be too shocked."
But going it alone takes its tolls in many ways.
For the past month or so, she’s been back in the city, on a bit of a break from a gruelling performance schedule. If all goes as planned, this year she’ll have performed slightly fewer than 100 gigs, from B.C. to Ontario to the U.S. and Australia.
So she’s home, yes, but still homeless, living half at her parents’ place, half out of a knapsack on friends’ couches. She watched my apartment for three and a half weeks; when she practiced, my neighbors would come to listen at the door.
Ever aware of mounting bills and lack of income, Vriend works odd jobs which she juggles between work on her new album and booking her tour.
"I always waitressed, but now I work at a laminate company—counter-top laminate," she says, emphasizing the words with exaggerated solemnity.
"I put up sample boards around the city in different offices… it’s really brainless. I like that, because I can save my brain for later, when I really have to go to work."
That work involves the many chores of DIY musician; buying or repairing equipment, making up and mailing posters, and the endless phone calls and emails to book her various tours.
At the moment, she’s juggling her second Australia tour (six weeks straight with very few nights off) and a Canadian tour (which launches in B.C., barely 10 days after her last gig in Sydney). Before she leaves Tuesday, she’s squeezing in one last show tonight as part of the Leonard Cohen Night at the Westin Hotel.
"Most of what I do is simply being a business person—you could be tone deaf doing this stuff."
Her new album, "Modes of Transport", is almost complete, with a tentative late fall release in the works. Recorded in New York with Paul Brill, the album represents a big step forward for Vriend, who cautiously left Brill to realize her folk-soul music with beats and loops. After she hangs up, Vriend will review some recent tracks, then return to the drudgery of tour booking and mail outs and advance press.
OUR VRIEND IN ALBERTA
Drum Media
February, 2005
Ann Vriend talks to Michael Smith
They’re calling it "Made In Alberta", a showcase of singers, songwriters, and musicians, who call Alberta, Canada home, the idea being to introduce Australia to the next generation from a country that has given the world some extraordinary artists already, from Leonard Cohen and Neil Young to Joni Mitchell and Sarah MacLauchlan. So, let’s meet Ann Vriend for starters.
She pronounces her name "Vreend", and her profession musical journey really only started four years ago, yet she’s already performed at a number of Canada’s major festivals, as well as in New York, Los Angeles and Nashville, where she was sent after winning a song competition. It was at a folk festival that Vicki from The Waifs spotted Ann and
wrote on the Waifs website diary that, "I just sat on stage and was blown away." Marvin Gaye’s biographer and the guy who wrote "Sexual Healing", David Ritz, commented on Ann’s songwriting resonating "with the clear ambiguity or lyrical poetry", a neat little oxymoron which perfectly sums up her style. In fact, she admits something of the sort herself in a way in the song "Reverberation", "There’s no way that what’s coming out could possibly be clear!"
"True,"she laughs. "My other pursuit in university before I went the music route was English Lit, that and travelling around."
Asan independent artist, Ann has had the luxury of having the time and freedom to find her voice musically without the pressure to come up with a hit, though it’s meant that her debut album, "Soul Unravelling", might be a little hard to pigeonhole.
"It’s pretty all over the place. It was so hard to pick what would go on the record, and eventually I just tried to pick it lyrically and not worry too much about there being such a variety of genres and styles. I don’t know if that was a good or a bad thing! I had so many leftovers and now it’s two years later and I’ve got a backlog that’s practically a flood at this point! I’m going back into the studio in May to do the second album, and I think it’s going to have a different sound and direction production-wise, but it’ll be fun."
Inevitably, Ann has been getting lots of Norah Jones comparisons, though her musical palate is far broader, embracing funk, reggae and even drum’n’bass, as well as the more obvious piano ballad.
"Between having black hair and playing the piano, of course everyone thinks I’m a jazz person exactly like Norah Jones, which I’m not, and I don’t sound anything like her, material-wise. And I wrote "Still Life #7", with that line, "there’s more to me/ than just what you see on the piano bench", long before that whole Norah Jones thing exploded, but I was playing that song a lot at the time, and it was like a "predict the future" kind of song for me. But I was really excited when her record did so well, because it demonstrated that so many people were ready to hear something different in mainstream pop."
Once she decided she wanted to be a mainstream musician, all thoughts of an academic life as a poet went out the window, she dropped out and enrolled in a pop and jazz school, graduated in 2000 and promptly set about gigging anywhere she could.
"Edmonton is all right, and actually has a pretty strong live music and art scene. It’s more of a left-wing liberal city, but it’s not Toronto or New York, it’s not a place people go specifically for the music scene, but it does have a decent scene and places to play. In Canada though, the population is so spread out in such a large country that you pretty much have to travel to reach a big enough market to survive. If you’re in Edmonton, there isn’t another large city for a good three-hour drive, and that’s Calgary, and then there’s nothing for 12 hours in any direction, really."
Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Which is probably why Australian acts do so well in Canada and vice versa. The advantage, perhaps Canadians have of course is that America is so much closer.
"I’ve been to New York quite a lot. As soon as I got out of that music school, I met a producer from New York at a festival, gave him my demo and he saw my song "Waterfront" as a big hit, so he started working with me, had me come down to New York and do some recording at Sony and his goal is to try and get me an American major label deal. I’ve been working with him on and off ever since, just doing lots of demos and recording and shows in New York and L.A."
Now Magazine
June 10, 2004
ANN VRIEND at Holy Joe's (651 Queen West), Saturday, (June 12), 10 pm. $8. 416-504-0744.
Soul powerhouse Ann Vriend is used to people saying her name like it rhymes with friend, but it's pronounced "Vreend." And with that voice of hers, she's used to suggestions that she do Canadian Idol. "I'm, like, 'Dude, it's just not me. It's not my thing,'" she laughs over the phone from her home in Edmonton, huddled over some tea. Vriend's thing is introspective song writing over production built from the piano up, as heard on her debut, Soul Unravelling. She's been a virtuoso since early days spent tinkling the ivories in her parents' basement. No surprise she quit university for music. "I just finally got the guts to do what I really wanted to do, and not what I sorta wanted to do," she says. Preparing to record album two and perform in Vancouver this summer, she puts her all into the live show. But she says she's still not used baring her soul onstage. "I'm still not fully comfortable with it, but I try to seem comfortable so my insecurities won't get in the way of a song," she says.
(11 votes, average: 3.82 out of 5)
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Hawksley Workman - Lover/Fighter
Ann Vriend - Modes of Transport
Justin Rutledge - The Devil on a Bench in Stanley Park
Royal Wood - A Good Enough Day
Luke Doucet - Broken (and Other Rogue States)
Rachelle van Zanten - Back to Francois
Emm Gryner - Asian Blue
ANN VRIEND
Although major labels have shown considerable interest in Vriend, she seems to be on the precipice of her true breakthrough in North America, but in Australia she has a much stronger following ‘I’ve been to Australia four times now in the last two years. It seems exotic somehow because I am from the other side of the world; they think you are renowned in your own backyard because you are travelling around the world to perform. You never really know where your music goes to. The other day I received an e-mail from a little girl in South Africa requesting permission to play one of my songs in her school talent show. The request wasn’t necessary, but the realization that my music is affecting someone in South Africa is wonderful to me.’ 
Vriend sees her career as a slow and cumulative progression towards bigger stages and audiences who are passionate about her music ‘I can really see it leading up to that point. The only thing that is a drawback about the music business is all the time it takes beforehand to actually get to the music.’ 