Adrianne

4.11.2000
Listening to Adrianne you feel like you're with her on a fire escape in Boston. It's a humid summer and your t-shirt is sticking to you. The rhythmic picking of her acoustic guitar and the breathy alto of her voice is floating out over a grimy and bustling city where cheap portable radios belt out Afro pop horns and passing Sport Utes radiate complacent waves of Soft Jazz: fretless bass and Fender Rhodes. And all of it's just kind of mixing in with the song: vibrant and ethnic and energetic mixed with soft buffed finish and new gentrification. And all that reads as just part of the song.
"("Marie") is itself about cover-ups and peeling away these layers but never quite getting to the final nakedness." Consider "Marie," a masterpiece of production whose blend of World beat, Urban Jazz, Ani-Difranco-style Folk-Rock and Adult Contemporary almost covers up the fact that beneath layers there is a very carefully written and somewhat subversive song. A song which is itself about cover-ups and peeling away layers one by one but never quite getting to the final nakedness. If you just listen to the breezy production though, you'd never notice that "Marie" is actually a story about one woman's desire for another, and how that desire is covered up and piled over with layer upon layer of societal restriction but still can't be snuffed out. Adrianne smartly envisions these layers as clothing.
"Strap on my bible belt / put too much makeup on / still...i feel something's wrong until my beloved lady undoes my buckle," she sings, tersely giving details of place (the Southern U.S.), culture (repressed, held-in), and dress (gaudy) in a few sentences and then infusing them with enough desire to fill side A of a Barry White album. But where most love songs are general, "Marie" is specific, and where most love songs end in consummation, "Marie" can't. The protagonist is "on the other side of the world, in [her] husband’s’ bed," with the bedclothes and blankets just another layer. And ultimately the two women can only touch each other in dreams and in memories. Meanwhile they "speak only when spoken to," and keep the false surface of their conventional lives smooth. "Where most love songs end the musical surface of the in consummation "Marie" song reflects this. It's easy to listen to. It's Adult Contemporary. can't." ' Smooth. But there's something going on here, something subversive (notice the male chorus backing the single female voice at the song's end), and also something hot and close and confused. Which brings us back to the fire escape, where that song mixes in the air with the smoothness and slickness of insulated society but also blends with those cheap radio horn sections. You can hear all of that in her song, and her breathy voice embraces it 'all. You'll want to embrace the feeling "Marie" gives you and hold on to it.

- AudioGalaxy.com by Harold Fine

10.17.03


Adrianne is the kind of female rocker with a sound that is truly all her own. Though similar vocally to Emm Gryner and Amy Fairchild, this raspy-voiced gal has a diverse collection of tunes about the various facets of life. "When She Takes" is a rather harmonious song about strength. "Dream of Rome" is a worldly song, which actually made me want to travel there because of her entrancing descriptions and the somber sound of the tune. In it, she sings of wanting to escape as she says, "Here, no one seems to think at all/They just go, and always need to take their car/And most of the time, I'm not sure if I'm even here." I've got a thing for female folkish rockers; and Adrianne certainly goes above and beyond this genre, adding her harder edge while maintaining a mature sound. This is music that challenges you, makes you think intelligently, and most of all – feel. I will definitely be picking up her next album, and am fervent for its release.
Favorite Tracks: Dream of Rome, Bring Me You
Rating: 4.5 stars
- DISCOVERING ARTISTS.COM

CD: For Adeline
Home: Boston, Massachusetts
Style: Folk/Pop

The songs on Adrianne’s CD “For Adeline” are both beautiful and painful. These songs of isolation, uncertainty, and betrayal are expressed passionately in a voice that Sarah McLaughlin fans will fall in love with. It rasps with accusation in “Destiny,” growls with determination in “Say ‘Em Strong,” and tells a scary story in hushed tones in “Scriptures.”

These are sweet, folk/pop melodies with sad messages. The lyrics are the primary focus. Adrianne is only in her early 20s, yet she sings like someone wiser than her years. In fact, I got so caught up in the words, I kept overlooking the music and having to play the songs again to get the full impact. In the lush pop song “Still Wish You’d Come Around,” I can feel the slap in the face:

“It was good to see you, good to meet her at last. Give me your number, I said, here’s some paper and a pen, But you declined, said, ‘Baby, you had your chance...’ When I lay tonight, I will erase our conversation in my head A million times till I forget every single word you said And I will boast about the freedom I have found But I’ll never admit that I still wish you’d come around.”

One of the themes that keeps coming up throughout the CD is the struggle with prejudice against homosexuality and the question of whether or not it is a sin. From “Adeline” : “The world doesn’t need any more bible-tearing outcasts...” And from “Marie”: “They say in hell I’ll burn the way I burn for her.” I hear the pain in her voice.

I also hear hope behind the pain. There’s a fighting spirit in these songs that keep searching for meaning and ways to deal with isolation. I love “New Kind of Cool,” in which Adrianne decides that if she doesn’t fit in with the cool crowd, she’ll be even cooler on her own.

I wasn’t surprised to read about Adrianne’s accomplishments in her press kit. She won the 1999 USA Songwriting Competition for “Say ‘Em Strong,” and has performed with none other than Jeff Buckley. She’s also performed with Pamela Means, another indie artist reviewed here at indie-music.com. Recently, MTV licensed this CD for unlimited use in several of their shows. If Adrianne’s managed to accomplish this much before she’s even turned 25, she’ll be getting a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys before she’s thirty.
- INDIE-MUSIC.COM

With unapologetically honest lyrics and guitar riffs that deliberately match her message, Adrianne is the type of artist that does not hesitate to reveal her musical truths if the circumstances are right. At Molly Malone's where the rustic furniture, candles by the stage and exposed brick walls create an atmosphere of living-room intimacy, this unabashed self-expression was evident throughout the show as Adrianne seemed right at home.
Adrianne began her set with "Strange" followed by "Feel You Breaking" both performed with a fierce intensity coupled with brooding melodies and tales of complicated love. With such a powerful opening, it was clear that Adrianne had enraptured the audience as was indicated by both raucous applause and the growing crowd that filtered in from the next room. Next was "Shooting Star" showcasing Adrianne's trademark ability to transition between styles from a bluesy ballad to the well-crafted guitar riffs of a rockin' love song.
From there, she launched into a cover of the Black Crows' "She Talks to Angels." The song is certainly a good choice for Adrianne as it highlighted her unusual ability to move seamlessly from soft, airy alto to hard-rocking diva. "Dream of Rome" is in Adrianne's own words "a song about wanting to be anywhere else than where you are." The song is mellow, poetic and somewhat heart-wrenching with lyrics like "So I'll disappear/ I see I'm not needed here/So I dream of home/I wish it Rome," and the dark simple guitar arrangement is wholly appropriate in this instance as less is definitely more. Next was "Bombshell," performed with rich melancholy vocals evoking Chris Martin of Coldplay. Adrianne closed the show with the dynamic "Didn't You Know," which proved to be an especially powerful vehicle for illuminating her deft guitar abilities. The set was short at just over thirty minutes but with talent like hers, we'll take what we can get.
Adrianne brings an atypical versatility to the stage cycling from pop to rock to blues and from light to dark with remarkable ease. While her passionate vocals are reminiscent of Chrissie Hynde and her ability to inject zeal into her multi-faceted songs calls to mind U2's Bono, she is neither. The songwriting abilities that won her the coveted grand prize at the USA Songwriting Competition as well as her exceptional vocal talents that have been recognized through numerous accolades have combined to create the music and stage presence that brought the classic "bottle clinking, chatty" bar room crowd at Molly Malone's to a state of enthralled hush throughout each piece followed by an exuberant show of appreciation.
Article by: Katie Wharton
Submitted: June, 2003
Photos: Artist's Website
Artist Website: www.adrimusic.com
Email: Katie_Wharton@hotmail.com
- LA MUSIC SCENE.COM

November 1998
By Neil Fagan

Adrianne “Old Leather”

Adrianne is a ball of intensity, emotion and 'tude. Lotsa tude, man. A student a t Berklee College of Music and SESAC award winning writer, Old Leather is her debut disc and it starts with a kiss-off. Bonus points! “Destiny” is the song in the same emotional vein of Alanis Morrisette’s “You Oughta Know”. Even has a four-letter word in it.
That’s not to say that Adrianne is not her own artist. Her deep, throaty voice and acoustic guitar grooves are refreshing and unique.
Though she often comes across as all bluster and badass, there’s a hint of vulnerability that traces its way through many of her tunes. “Destroying Cities” and “Lions and Bulls” all play on the tender/tough stance. “Experts see right through me/And my still, vague poetry,” she confesses in the latter.
“Who’s it Gonna Be?” is a monster groove built with just acoustic guitar, bass and congas. “Liquid” is an achingly lovely ballad of longing, as is the confessional “Clean and True”. The album closes with live versions of “Destiny” and “Who’s it Gonna Be?” and her aggressive guitar attack really stands out. In short, “Old Leather” is easy to slip into.
- Performing Songwriter

3/13/00
She may not be the first tunesmith to go by only one name -Beck and Jewel come to mind - but SESAC affiliate Adrianne just might be the most distinctive. At age 22, this Boston-based singer/songwriter has already racked up an impressive list of critical raves and accolades. She was still basking in the glow of winning this year's USA Songwriting Competition when the news came down that she'd been nominated for a Boston Music Award for New Singer/Songwriter, a distinction that holds special significance for the Miami transplant.
"Boston has really been a great launching pad for me," she says. "I don't think I'd have been able to get started the way I did anywhere else."
For Adrianne, an integral part of that Beantown experience was her time at Berklee College of Music, where, rather than concentrate solely on the more traditional musical disciplines, Adrianne majored in engineering and production.
"Emphasizing those things has made me more knowledgeable and able to get what I want both in the studio and when I play live," she says. "Berklee is very much an anti-fantasy world kind of place. It made me a well-rounded musician and prepared me for the music business and the world in general.
And the world had better be prepared for Adrianne, because ready or not, here she comes. Her intensely personal lyrics, innovative open tunings and riveting performing style have critics, industry leaders and, yes, even her former teachers, fairly gushing over her prodigious creative gifts.
"Adrianne has the raw talent and drive needed to make it in this business," says Berklee professor Henry Gaffney. "I haven't seen anything like this since Paula Cole was my student over eight years ago."
That's some lofty praise, but one listen to "For Adeline," her self-produced, self-released debut, confirms all reports and is aural proof positive that Adrianne's is one name we're sure to be hearing a lot.


- SESAC

MARCH 2000
FEATURED ARTICLE



If you can imagine a pure musical embodiment of soul- songs brimming with sumptuous vocals, lyrics that clearly bridge the mind with the heart, and instrumentation that delicately yet powerfully completes the picture, then step out of your imagination into a pleasant reality- for this is Adrianne. Her beautiful voice walks the wonderful balance of grace and strength- inherent passion revealing itself through her singing that brings to life each fiber of the words she writes. It is these words that have been bringing Adrianne distinguished accolades. Little did we know this gem of a performer was residing right here in Boston. During her time here thus far Adrianne has performed her brand of “accessible pop” in coffeehouses and clubs in Boston, has performed at the Newport Folk Festival, performed with Jeff Buckley, Melissa Ferrick, Lori McKenna, to name a few, and was a finalist in the 1999 Lillith Fair Competition in Boston. But these are words on paper. The thing that will inevitably turn your head is to hear Adrianne. I was immediately struck by her poise, professionalism, and sincerity- qualities that often belie and artist as young as she- young both in age and in experience. Upon hearing her music finally, I found the caliber to be just as high- the quality off the recording is impeccable; the musicianship top-level; and Adrianne…simply brilliant.

- SOUNDCHECK MAGAZINE