Jackie Bristow

Some recent press Quotes
"This album confirms a major talent.” – Graham Reid from Elsewhere.
“Bristow is a true original, well worth your attention.” Chet Flippo, CMT
"Bristow returns, and she's totally in control, Freedom is red hot. " ***** Waikato Times
"Freedom is a brilliant work of art, from a brilliant singer/ however more than just a singer, Bristow is a story-teller and she has many tales to tell. NZ Music.net.
- mixed

Australian Jackie Bristow's "Crazy Love'' CD on Indie BeanBag1.com/Craving Records out June 17 in North America is Next Success From the Production Team Behind "The Joni Letters''

Monterey, CA (Billboard Publicity Wire) June 2, 2008 -- Jackie Bristow's 12-song "Crazy Love'' CD was released in Australia during December 2007 by indie label Craving Records and will be released in North America on June 17 by indie label BeanBag1.com through Burnside Distribution at the suggested retail price of $9.99. The albums producer Helik Hadar and musical director Larry Klein are the engineer and producer of the 2008 GRAMMY® Award winning "The Joni Letters'' by Herbie Hancock. Bristow's CD received immediate critical acclaim:

"Jackie Bristow's ''Crazy Love" is a hypnotizing collection. Bristow is a true original and well worth your attention.'' - Chet Flippo, CMT Nashville Skyline.

"Crazy Love'' is superb musicianship, good hooks that flow naturally rather than being contrived, and awesome melodies. " - John Shelton Ivany Top 20.

''Bristow's voice is sophisticated and soulful. Lovers of finely crafted tunes combined with perfectly delivered vocals should definitely listen up" - The Press, New Zealand.

Three tracks from the ''Crazy Love" CD were chosen for inclusion on the Starbucks in-store radio, video, & download system. Jackie's songs were also used in the New Zealand TV hit ''Outrageous Fortune" and by New Zealand Airlines as their boarding video. Track 1, ''The World Is Turning," was awarded Honorable Mention at the 2008 International Songwriting Competition and the video charted as high as º38 on Australia's Country Music Channel Top 50 through February 2008.

Jackie Bristow, originally from New Zealand, will tour the United States starting with a CD release party on June 22 at Monterey Live in Monterey, CA, beginning at 8PM, and the next night, June 23, at Don Quixote's in Felton near Santa Cruz starting at 7:30PM. The tour continues through July 11 when Jackie will be opening for Phoebe Snow at Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia, and appearing on Long Island at Stephen Talkhouse July 13. Radio promotion and CD service for Jackie Bristow's ''Crazy Love" will be coordinated for the label by music veteran J.P. Mosoff, whose direct-line is 831-238-7425. Burnside Distribution will coordinate physical and digital distribution and can be reached at 503-231-0876. Bristow's manager David Bean can be contacted through the Monterey, California-based label's website, www.BeanBag1.com.

The BeanBag1.com label also has in release on CD, ''Kiss The Monster" by P. Hux, and former Grateful Dead manager Rock Scully's ''Summer Of Love Oral Archive," both manufactured and distributed by Voiceprint Records in the United Kingdom. Upcoming North American releases include, ''US1" by Barry Cowsill, the previously unreleased rock album finished by the artist with his band just before the tragedy in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

- 17th June 2008

- Strumming Kiwi of the Week

It seems that Southern California is something of a musical magnet for New Zealanders. So much so, in fact, that venues in Los Angeles are devoting entire evenings to contemporary musicians from the Land of the Long White Cloud. And with artists like Neil and Liam Finn, Bic Runga, and the gents behind Flight of the Conchords quickly making their way into the mainstream, it’s little wonder. Another name you can add to that list is Jackie Bristow. Like her aforementioned contemporaries, Bristow pens beautifully inflicting tunes, but she also has something over her country mates—a concert date in Santa Barbara.

After touring the United States in 2007, Bristow returned to her homeland. She released her album, Crazy Love, there in October and has been touring the continent extensively ever since. Shows with local luminaries like Renee Geyer and Christina Anu, and a special appearance with songwriting heavyweight Jimmy Webb, helped to further solidify her musical might. So, now that she’s conquered the southern hemisphere, Bristow has again turned her attention to the north.

“I opened for Phoebe Snow the other night in Washington,” said Bristow recently. “I listened to her back home when I was a teenager, and never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I’d be playing with her in America. That’s the thing about this place—it’s full of possibilities, and, around the very next corner, that one break that could make a difference could be hiding. I have found that to be such a strong motivation to give every opportunity my all.”

Not that giving it her all has ever been a problem for Bristow. In a career that has taken her from New Zealand to Australia to America, her success is no doubt the byproduct of true talent and some damn hard work. With Crazy Love now available locally, Bristow is not only preparing to give the release all the live support it deserves, she’s also turning her thoughts to the future.

“I think what has happen so far has really opened my eyes,” she explained. “And my writing has just gotten stronger because of that. I have so much great new stuff, and I can’t wait to start recording again!”

Jackie Bristow plays Goleta’s Mercury Lounge (5871 Hollister Ave.) this Thursday, August 24, at 9 p.m. Call 967-0907 for details. - The Santa Barbara Independent

Jackie Bristow - Crazy Love

Craving

This singer-songwriter got an early start in her home country of New Zealand's South Island as a choir singer with her sister at age eight. By age fourteen the Bristow Sisters were seasoned professionals.
In 1995 she moved to Australia. As of recently, still located in Australia, she recorded "Crazy Love" all songs with the exception of two were written on her own. With lyrics like "I don't feel afraid of loving you this way/cause your swimming in my head, in my heart, my soul..." you can really relate to what she was going through while writing these songs. This woman makes you feel as if she's talking to you the whole way throughout the album; storming heaven's gates taking no prisoners as she goes. There are love songs throughout which will leave you breathless. - Top 21

A CD that has totally occupied my car's CD player for the past week or so is from a New Zealand native. Jackie Bristow's Crazy Love is a hypnotizing collection of her original songs that conjure up a seductive world of, well, crazy love and other ethereal things. Bristow is a true original and well worth your attention. Think Joni Mitchell crossed with Dusty Springfield. She writes all of her songs and they seem casual until you listen to them again and again. Not many writers in any musical genres give the attention and depth to lyrics that Bristow obviously does. Quoting her lyrics out of context is obviously unfair, but here's a sample from "No Easy Way to Say Goodbye." "And I know what it's like to have my heart broken/You can leave a token/And I am missing you more than I ever dreamed I could/Words unspoken, feelings stolen/There's no easy way to say goodbye/No easy way to say goodbye. - Nashville Skyline

Under slate grey Scottish skies and a beaded curtain of constant precipitation, singer/songwriter
Jackie Bristow wrote the song “This is Australia.” The native New Zealander, who moved to
Australia in 1995, was traveling around Scotland with her sister when she started to miss the
warmth of the weather and people of her adopted homeland. “I think I was just homesick,” she says.
Later, Bristow decided to enter the number into the Song for Australia Competition held by the
nation’s tourism bureau. She won the contest, beating out 500 other entries. Following the big win,
Australian airline Qantas decided to play the song on all domestic and international flights. Bristow
says she had the surreal experience of hearing her own song piped in on the airline’s speakers
during a flight from the US a few years ago. Rather than elbowing the passenger next to her and
exclaiming that it was her song, Bristow didn’t draw any attention to herself. “I just sat there quietly
with my glass of wine and smiled,” she says.
Bristow grew up in Gore, a town on New Zealand’s South Island known for its illicit whiskey
production and country music. Throughout her childhood, the young musician would travel around
New Zealand and perform at wine and food festivals with her sister.
When she turned 21, Bristow relocated to Sydney to try her luck in the city’s music scene. “I moved
with absolutely no money or job,” she says, “but I had my guitar.”
After being signed to the Liberation Music record label, Bristow recorded her debut album, Thirsty,
in Sydney, Los Angeles and Nashville. She collaborated with the songwriting team known as the
Matrix—which is responsible for writing and co-writing hits for artists including Avril Lavigne,
Ricky Martin and the Backstreet Boys—on “Look at Me Now.”
“They were looking for a pop song to break me,” she says. “It’s a nice catchy song, but it doesn’t
represent who I am.”
Bristow, who is currently residing in Los Angeles, just released her follow-up to Thirsty, titled
Crazy Love. The CD features the songwriter’s airy vocals over polished pop with a slight country
tinge. For Bristow, Crazy Love is a step forward as an artist. “I think it’s a little more developed,”
she says.
Bristow is already halfway through writing songs for her next CD. She is hoping to make the
release “really earthy and not as poppy” as its predecessors. She says that one song, titled “Wild Child,” will describe her mother’s experiences as a young parent in New Zealand’s sometimes harsh
and rural South Island. Maybe the song will strike a chord with her native New Zealanders, but it’s
hard to imagine it becoming an airplane anthem.
- Monterey Herald

Jackie Bristow, a New Zealand native who’s making waves in her
adopted home of Australia, Bristow is a singer-songwriter with a
penchant for sweet melodies and hypnotic tones. She counts Patty
Griffin and Crowded House as favourites, and her style incorporates
a bit of both, blending Neil Finn’s airy pop smarts with Griffin’s
emotional directness and vibrancy. Bristow’s low soprano is seductive
and soulful; she never presses or wails, but instead lets her voice
deliver her probing, slice-of-life songs in laced silk. Her second
album, Crazy Love, just became available in America and she’s
making her first stateside tour, accompanied by Aussie guitarist Mark
Punch. 3rd & Lindsley – MICHAEL McCALL - Nashville Scene

Austin Daze – 8th May 2007
Jackie Bristow – Crazy Love

Some singers have voices that just hit you right away with the first
note. Ms. Bristow, with her soft sensuality, is one such artist. She
instantly blankets you with her vibe and gracefully leads you through
her thoughtful songs.

She was raised in New Zealand, later moving to Australia, where she
has already enjoyed some success touring with the likes of Daniel
Lanois, while having her music used repeatedly in Australian film and
television. She has now relocated to the U.S. Crazy Love is her
second record, and quite a mature sounding one considering the
stage of career she is in.

Well-textured and intimate, this CD had an emotional effect from the
first listen, and has become something I crave hearing now. I have to
admit that I’m hooked, and a girl like me never likes to admit that sort
of thing.

This is the kind of female singer/songwriter that can win you over
quickly, so fans of adult contemporary beware. Ms. Bristow is one
talent that could really be headed upward fast.

9 Daisy stars

Daisy’s favorite lyric: I’ve tasted love and the fire from above and
nothing else came near

- Austin Daze

http://www.mcguckinpr.com/mcguckin/jackiebristow/jbristow_aas051907.pdf - Austin American-Statesman

11/24/2007

Jackie Bristow has managed to bridge the gulf between two music capitals. Born in Gore, the centre of New Zealand's country music, the singer/songwriter is making a name for herself in Nashville - no mean feat...
...The result of redoing the entire thing with one producer is a very polished effort, sitting comfortably between the country slick of Nashville and the sunny radio-friendly sound of LA. Bristow sings pretty, a little like Shawn Colvin, plays guitar and cites Patty Griffin and Neil Finn as favourites.
Singing songs of heartache, loss and longing, she shares similar knack for melody with Te Awamutu's finest export.
The songs are all Bristow's, despite Crazy Love also being a title used by Ivan Morrison and Poco.
Looking like a cross between Kirsten Dunst and Elle Macpherson won't hurt her career one bit, either.
- Wairarapa Times Age, Steve Trotman

4 stars

Whoda known all those years ago that the girl from Gore would find herself here, a seriously credible songwriter with the soul of a poet.
Bristow's second album, Crazy Love, finds her in an introspective headspace, comfortable in her craft, unafraid to stare down her demons and vocally intimate.
Country crossover chick-lit of the Williams-Morissette-Crow style it may be, but there are plenty of signature elegant subtleties in her music and the album's sound is immediate and engaging. The relaxed tempo of these 12 songs puts Bristow's voice and lyrics in front and centre. She doesn't hide or hold back.
Despite the insecurities her optimism shines, the sure sign of a confident and accomplished singer-songwriter in a happy place, personally.
"I'm gonna kick my troubles around, there is beauty to be found," she breathes into the microphone on the track Innocence.
You'll find beauty right here in Crazy Love. - Southland Times - Chris Chilton