Annabelle Chvostek

The wealth of Canadian singer-song writing artists who regularly tour the UK certainly add a perceptive richness to the local live music scene. The lyrics, themes, stories and general musical prowess have a captivating aura to ensure any investment of money or time in acquainting yourself with their art form is more than adequately rewarded. Sitting very comfortably amongst the latest crop of exporting Canadian talent is Annabelle Chvostek who has returned to our shores once again to promote her latest release RISE. Having giving this record a favourable review nearly a year ago, I can gladly report that the live show is more than an equal to her impressive recorded output.

Many will recall Annabelle as part of the esteemed folk trio the Wailin Jennies but in the last few years she has concentrated on producing work as a solo artist albeit with many contributing accompaniments. The material for this evening’s twin sets was almost entirely drawn from her brace of post-Jennies recordings with virtually all the tracks off RISE making an appearance. The exception was the popular song ‘Devil’s Paintbrush Road’ which Annabelle contributed to the Jennies’ album FIRECRACKER.

Annabelle had added the name Ensemble to the credits of RISE to reflect those who helped on the recording and for this visit to the UK she was joined by Jeremie Jones on acoustic bass and Tony Spina on drums. The presence of this rhythm section augmented the song delivery and sublimely supplemented the guitar, fiddle and mandolin playing of Annabelle. The sound system was particularly good for a multi-functional venue and those present were certainly being exposed to high class music.

As we have become accustomed to, the stories, thoughts and shared experiences of a singer-songwriter was an integral part of the show. Annabelle doesn’t shy away from her political leanings on RISE and the background to the tracks ‘G20’, ‘End of the Road’ and ‘Rise’ were explained in clear detail. We learned about the Slovakian origins of her surname as part of the introduction to ‘Baby Sleep ‘Till Sturovo’, a song about the Danube flooding, and the track ‘Sioux’ gave us a flavour of travelling into the northern areas of Canada. To bring the subject a little closer to home ‘Hartland Quay’ drew its inspiration from the Devon landmark of the same name and climate contrasts between the UK and her Canadian homeland were a recurring feature.

Hailing from the city of Toronto, Annabelle wasted no time in introducing her hometown and involving the audience in the opening sing along to ‘Ona’ with the catchy chorus “in Toronto I get more hugs, in Montreal I get more kisses, in New York I get crazy, crazy”. The engaging side of Annabelle’s personality encouraged further outbreaks of participation, particularly the call and response number ‘I Left My Brain’, from those present which included local residents of Broseley and some drawn from further afield to specifically see the artist. The enthusiastic promotion has developed a neat niche of bringing high quality original music to a community not usually the domain of touring artists. This growing trend really taps into the ideals of genres such as country, folk and roots which historically have reached out to the people.

While Annabelle predominantly focusses on her own material, she added to this evening’s set a couple of covers which have both been recorded on her previous albums. She mourned the recent loss of Lou Reed with a version of ‘Some Kinda Love’ taken from RISE and from the RESILIENCE album the Ella Jenkins song ‘Racing with the Sun’. This 2008 album also provided a couple of the evening’s more subtle and thoughtful numbers ‘Resilience’ and ‘Nashville’ both possessing an inviting appeal.

Like all travelling musicians, the stop in any one location is brief but, with plans in place for a new record, a return to the UK should be a distinct possibility. Hopefully more promoters and venues in the Midlands will latch onto the talents of Annabelle Chvostek and give a deserved wider exposure to her live music. - Three Chords and the Truth, UK

Rise up and celebrate the power of musical protest.

Annabelle Chvostek offers us musical activism with her new album “Rise”. This is not an “in your face” angry delivery, but more of a serving of melody and charm; her protest songs packaged in beautifully wrapped gifts of eclectically arranged pieces.

Originally from Montreal, she cut her teeth composing for dance and film whilst playing on the Montreal, Ontario & New York circuit. Between 1997 and 2004, she released three independent albums and an EP. In 2004, she joined the award winning Wailin’ Jennys and remained with them for 3 years, giving her international recognition. This is indie, grassroots for the discerning listener. She recounts stories of protest with powerful political lyrics, referencing uprisings in both Canada and other parts of the world. This is an album about rising up, speaking out and empowerment. This is celebratory rather than angry; the songs containing clever, acerbic lyrics and performed using diverse instrumentation. The cover, in revolutionary red, belies the kid glove approach of her political convictions. All but two songs are written by her and each unfolds a story about social justice or observation. She recounts events with poetic skill and completely fulfils her musical and political objectives There are two covers, “Some Kinda Love” by Lou Reed and “Equal Rights” by Peter Tosh. The latter performed with “A People’s Chorus” of a dozen singers. This finale is nearly seven minutes of a tender rendition of this anthemic song of the people. The whole album is musical activism at its subtle best – accessible, melodic and honest. A must have. - Americana UK, 2013

Annabelle Chvostek's second solo effort since leaving the Wailin' Jennys is nothing short of captivating. The scrappy songsmith digs deep into populous discontent for the theme of the record without coming across as just another petulant folky inflating the value of protest songs (because whining about a problem is so much easier than doing something to address it). The Don Kerr-produced Rise features guest vocals by everyone and the kitchen sink: Bruce Cockburn, Oh Susanna, a crying baby and what's termed A People's Chorus, featuring Amy Campbell and a few other recognizable names. And, yes, some pots and pans are thrown in for good measure. The melodious sway of the goose-bump-inducing "Hartland Quay" (best enjoyed with your eyes closed) and perky fireside strummers like "Fox Tail" certainly help lighten the atmosphere. That being said, even the most provocative cuts, such as "End of the Road," "G20 Song" and Peter Tosh's "Equal Rights," manage to go down easy, thanks to Chvostek's quirky spunk and the most intoxicating sing-along choruses heard in years. The addition of clanging casserole pans on "End of the Road" (a Chilean by way of Montreal M.O. for street protesting) is the final touch, bringing the opening track to the height of perfection. Rise is a milestone for Chvostek and deserves to claim its spot on a number of year-end best-of lists. - Exclaim Magazine, 2012

“A powerful solo artist … gorgeous lead vocal and deft guitar playing … her new recording is a fantastic piece of work. Despite being acoustic, it rocks fiercely.”
Anna Maria Stjärnell, Collected Sounds, Sweden

"Just gorgeous … so musical … oh my."
Jane Siberry/Issa, Canada

“A contemporary urban folk alchemist … a persuasive vocalist and multiinstrumentalist, with a natural style unpolluted by attention seeking postures.”
Musicworkz, UK

“These are spiritual depths paired with beautiful vocals.”
Alooga Media, Germany

"...a unique blend of weathered character and lilting ebb and flow."
Deanna Radford, Herizons

"Fiercely talented... Chvostek has a sultry voice you can't and won't forget."
Suzy Malik, Xtra, Toronto

"Chvosteks songs are a deep drink. Her vocal range is spectacular, and her playfulness is very evident. ...the melodic splendour of Jane Siberry or a jazzy Ani Difranco."
Fish Piss, Montreal

"Annabelle doesnt fake the folk. She freaks it."
Tcha Dunlevy, The Montreal Gazette

"Annabelle made the hair on the back of my neck stand up."
"stunning free form folk..." "she can do everything, and does."
The Hour, Montreal

“Sensuelle, surprenante, de l’émotion qui swing, une voix de velour. Guitariste hors pair, ses compositions
sont hypnotisantes: sorte de folk-jazz chevauchant le folk-punk. Une présence de scène et un magnètisme qui séduit partout où elle passe.” Folquébec


- Various

By Josef Woodard, NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
November 14, 2008
ANNABELLE CHVOSTEK, with CHUCK PROPHET

"Grassroots" is a buzzword that won't quit in certain musical circles, and that's not such a bad thing. The term has multiple and revealing meanings when it comes to the intriguing and blissfully hard-to-classify Canadian singer-songwriter Annabelle Chvostek, who appears in the rustic splendor of the Maverick Saloon on Wednesday, as part of the "Tales from the Tavern" series.
Yes, the mandolin-handy Chvostek, a Montrealer by way of Toronto, has been a part of the adventurous "prog-grass" (progressive bluegrass) scene, as a player in the band Wailin' Jennys — with whom she recorded her popular tune "Devil's Paintbrush Road" — and on her own solo work. To boot, she has followed the currently fashionable and functional path of the grassroots-y artist, making her way at least partly on her own indie will and networking means. But the "roots" part of the equation also includes Chvostek's investigations into her pre-North American Slovak roots.
On her new album, "Resilience," Chvostek works her way artfully from genre to genre, and to places in between. Among other musical tools, she plays mandolin, guitar, accordion, violin and sings with gutsy boldness and emotional vulnerability. She moves easily and without apology between the bittersweet folk-pop air of the title song and the swampy humor of "I Left My Brain" (key line, "I left my brain by the side of the road").
In a recent interview, Chvostek explained that "the concept for the album evolved out of the songs that I happened to be writing. The title track, 'Resilience,' came out of this state of complete gratitude for the place I lived and the community in which I have grown. It's about love, sure, loving again, healing from being broken and thriving. But it also wells up from a sense of appreciation of the desire to make things happen.
"If I look at each song individually, whether the content is social or personal, there is a general working through of something, an arrival at some state, some understanding that releases or transforms challenge into celebration. At least, that's what I hope. Because that's the thing that moves me the most about this whole world —?the way hardship can inspire change, can bring us together, can transform pain into profound joy.
"Of course, I don't want to be too grandiose. My tunes are one little expression within a very big world. While I believe in a massive shift towards a global consciousness based on compassion and love instead of greed and fear, in reality, sometimes I'm still just singing about the joys and pains of getting it on."
While she spends time in her hometown of Toronto and in New York City, where part of the new album was recorded, she happily calls Montreal home these days, when home. "I love Montreal," she says. "Culturally, it's such a fantastic mix, both in its tensions and its unifications. The French, the English, the many other world cultures that retain identity yet mix together.
"It's a North American city with a strong European flavor. There's a lot going on. Creativity is free and experimental. I live in little Italy, a foodies dream, five minutes from the Jean-Talon market, one minute from the most fantastic cappuccino ever."
A prodigy, Chvostek, now 35, launched her musical career as an 8-year old in "La Boheme." Although she migrated to Montreal to get a degree in interdisciplinary fine art from Concordia University, her life as a multi-talented performer was beckoning. She launched her solo career with a debut album in 1997 and went on to a bigger spotlight as part of the Wailin' Jennys in the early 2000s.
In terms of influences and interests in music, she admits, "I'm a total sponge, I listen to a lot of music, pick things up, get inspired and I generally write music from a very unconscious, or subconscious place. What tends to come out is this great diversity of stuff, which makes it hard to actually try to articulate what kind of music I'm making.
"My roots are in there for sure —?the Slovak heritage from my dad's side, complete with the passion and melancholy, as well as the Scottish/Irish influence from my mom, who also carries a line of British loyalists via the states, who all got together with the Mohawks as North America shifted. So I feel very connected to my land, drawn to all these roots, and all these movements and historical struggles.
"The trick of putting it together? I just have to listen and practice. If it absolutely must come out, it does, and it does it the way it wants to. I get obsessed, and the puzzle starts to emerge, and then I piece it together."
Canada has long been a primary source for interesting twists on pop and folk music. The flow continues, from Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen and Neil Young through artists such as Bruce Cockburn (who makes a cameo on her new album), Jane Siberry and k.d. lang, and now bands on the bent "roots" music scene, incl - Santa Barbara News-Press

By Josef Woodard, NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
November 14, 2008
ANNABELLE CHVOSTEK, with CHUCK PROPHET

"Grassroots" is a buzzword that won't quit in certain musical circles, and that's not such a bad thing. The term has multiple and revealing meanings when it comes to the intriguing and blissfully hard-to-classify Canadian singer-songwriter Annabelle Chvostek, who appears in the rustic splendor of the Maverick Saloon on Wednesday, as part of the "Tales from the Tavern" series.
Yes, the mandolin-handy Chvostek, a Montrealer by way of Toronto, has been a part of the adventurous "prog-grass" (progressive bluegrass) scene, as a player in the band Wailin' Jennys — with whom she recorded her popular tune "Devil's Paintbrush Road" — and on her own solo work. To boot, she has followed the currently fashionable and functional path of the grassroots-y artist, making her way at least partly on her own indie will and networking means. But the "roots" part of the equation also includes Chvostek's investigations into her pre-North American Slovak roots.
On her new album, "Resilience," Chvostek works her way artfully from genre to genre, and to places in between. Among other musical tools, she plays mandolin, guitar, accordion, violin and sings with gutsy boldness and emotional vulnerability. She moves easily and without apology between the bittersweet folk-pop air of the title song and the swampy humor of "I Left My Brain" (key line, "I left my brain by the side of the road").
In a recent interview, Chvostek explained that "the concept for the album evolved out of the songs that I happened to be writing. The title track, 'Resilience,' came out of this state of complete gratitude for the place I lived and the community in which I have grown. It's about love, sure, loving again, healing from being broken and thriving. But it also wells up from a sense of appreciation of the desire to make things happen.
"If I look at each song individually, whether the content is social or personal, there is a general working through of something, an arrival at some state, some understanding that releases or transforms challenge into celebration. At least, that's what I hope. Because that's the thing that moves me the most about this whole world —?the way hardship can inspire change, can bring us together, can transform pain into profound joy.
"Of course, I don't want to be too grandiose. My tunes are one little expression within a very big world. While I believe in a massive shift towards a global consciousness based on compassion and love instead of greed and fear, in reality, sometimes I'm still just singing about the joys and pains of getting it on."
While she spends time in her hometown of Toronto and in New York City, where part of the new album was recorded, she happily calls Montreal home these days, when home. "I love Montreal," she says. "Culturally, it's such a fantastic mix, both in its tensions and its unifications. The French, the English, the many other world cultures that retain identity yet mix together.
"It's a North American city with a strong European flavor. There's a lot going on. Creativity is free and experimental. I live in little Italy, a foodies dream, five minutes from the Jean-Talon market, one minute from the most fantastic cappuccino ever."
A prodigy, Chvostek, now 35, launched her musical career as an 8-year old in "La Boheme." Although she migrated to Montreal to get a degree in interdisciplinary fine art from Concordia University, her life as a multi-talented performer was beckoning. She launched her solo career with a debut album in 1997 and went on to a bigger spotlight as part of the Wailin' Jennys in the early 2000s.
In terms of influences and interests in music, she admits, "I'm a total sponge, I listen to a lot of music, pick things up, get inspired and I generally write music from a very unconscious, or subconscious place. What tends to come out is this great diversity of stuff, which makes it hard to actually try to articulate what kind of music I'm making.
"My roots are in there for sure —?the Slovak heritage from my dad's side, complete with the passion and melancholy, as well as the Scottish/Irish influence from my mom, who also carries a line of British loyalists via the states, who all got together with the Mohawks as North America shifted. So I feel very connected to my land, drawn to all these roots, and all these movements and historical struggles.
"The trick of putting it together? I just have to listen and practice. If it absolutely must come out, it does, and it does it the way it wants to. I get obsessed, and the puzzle starts to emerge, and then I piece it together."
Canada has long been a primary source for interesting twists on pop and folk music. The flow continues, from Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen and Neil Young through artists such as Bruce Cockburn (who makes a cameo on her new album), Jane Siberry and k.d. lang, and now bands on the bent "roots" music scene, incl - Santa Barbara News-Press

She was briefly a Wailin' Jenny, which is good cred. She's also Canadian, which is good too - more likeable roots music is coming out of that joint than ever. This is actually her fourth solo album, although you can be forgiven for not hearing the first three. Her thing is ultra musical balladry. She's a bit artily oblique. The sound, though, is delicious. Chvostek has a beautiful burry contralto and a natural lilt that bends and clips her melodies into lovely shapes over meticulous semi-acoustic art-folk arrangements. Resilient music.
NC


- The Independent on Sunday, UK, Sept. 14 '08

Toronto born and raised, Annabelle Chvostek has a recording career dating back to 1997. Resilience (Borealis Records) has an acoustic dominance and takes in a variety of musical themes from traditional fiddle led roots to lazy jazz and maintains a modern, contemporary edge throughout. Chvostek's impassioned vocals are a constant high on a fine, eclectic album - Classic Rock Society, Oct/Nov '08

A truly awesome listening experience provided by Wailin' Jennys' member Annabelle Chvostek and her fantastic band.

Canadian Annabelle Chvostek made her professional debut at the tender age of seven with the Canadian Opera Company and hasn't stopped performing since. She has earned a degree in interdisciplinary fine arts at Concordia University, played in bands ranging from old-time to electronica and has travelled India and Japan as a journalist, camera girl and multimedia technician, all the while writing and performing. In 2004, Annabelle joined the Wailin' Jennys. Their Juno-nominated and much loved song Devil's Paintbrush Road can actually be found on her EP released in 2004 titled BURNED MY ASS, before it was taken to the Jennys.

Two and a half years after continuous touring with the Jennys and huge successes with them, Annabelle's solo album has been an anticipated release. Ten of the twelve songs on this album are self-penned and delve deep into the theme of resilience in human relationships – whether that be friends, lovers or merely a state of being and its impact on the surroundings.

Described in the press release as 'contemporary urban roots'; I couldn't agree more. The structure of this collection of songs, and the overall album, is fluid in content and rigid in idea and production. It doesn't stand alone to include acoustic solely but has branched out to encompass electronica ideas, incorporating programmed beats and at times electro-acoustic sounds. It comes across warm and live but is secretly something a lot deeper.

You can tell an ideas has been followed through and through – it's well structured and immediately comes across as a professional release. The songs, however, are variations on a theme – they come full circle and they are so very pleasing to the ear. The title track opens the album and discovers the human process of recovering from heartache, this continues to find songs that explore relationships and tracks such as Wait for It delve into the misreading of a relationship whilst Piece of You unearths one person's craving for another, all the while knowing they'll be gone in the morning.
Following this is Racing With the Sun written by Ella Jenkins and then The Sioux about 'the stories I heard from a passenger heading on up the line to Sioux Lookout . . . I listened deep to the hardships left in the wale of colonial occupation . . .'

This album provides a wakening of the senses, a truly awesome listening experience with fantastic musicianship, professionalism and talent. LB.

**** - Maverick, UK

The Wailin' Jennys' loss is the world's gain. Annabelle Chvostek, who replaced Cara Luft in that fabulous roots-folk trio, has struck out on her own and created a sensational solo album.

Chvostek is a ridiculously talented musician from Montreal by way of Toronto who plays guitar, mandolin, violin, organ, accordion and who knows what else. Vocally, she's up to any task, from pop highs to gritty blues lows.

On Resilience, Chvostek's original compositions are full of aching desire dressed in poetry and rendered with a musical imagination that seems to know no bounds. Her balalaika-like mandolin gives an exotic flavour to the heart-on-sleeve love song Piece of You, which has a melody that you simply melt into. More edgy is a thing called I Left My Brain that you assume is an ancient field holler or a cover of an obscure blues-gospel number that Chvostek discovered on a flea-market 78. Not so, it's original. It's awe-inspiring that the same mind can conceive both this song and its polar opposite, the irresistible, bright and sunny mandolin-strummer Wait for It. The Sioux, meanwhile, is an easy to listen to but incredibly sophisticated old time fiddle song with a geopolitical theme.

Even solo albums are group efforts, of course, and Chvostek had help here from a couple of folk legends. She co-wrote the duet Driving Away with Bruce Cockburn while Mary Gautier and Michael Jerome Brown are musical guests. Grammy-nominated Canadian Roma Baron and Vivian Stoll produced the album, which was recorded in New York and Montreal. There are at least a dozen musicians contributing to the project, making the achievement of the producers in directing all that talent even more impressive.

Resilience ends with a catchy, languid, twangy country tune called Nashville which asks "what would you do for the love inside a song?'' The answer is this album. -- FULLER - Star Phoenix, April 24, 2008

“A powerful solo artist … gorgeous lead vocal and deft guitar playing … her new recording is a fantastic piece of work. Despite being acoustic, it rocks fiercely.” - Anna Maria Stjärnell, Collected Sounds, Sweden

EDEN MUNRO / eden@vueweekly.com
In 2004, Annabelle Chvostek joined folk trio the Wailin’ Jennys after the departure of original member Cara Luft. Chvostek recorded one album, Firecracker, with the Jennys, bringing her skills as a singer and instrumentalist to the band; during her tenure, she also introduced four of her own songs into the trio’s repertoire.

While Chvostek’s songs were often singled out by critics as highlights of the group’s material, the songwriter says that she wrote more than four tunes during those years, and she felt that she needed a outlet for them. So, as much as Chvostek says that she enjoyed traveling the world with the Jennys, she knew that the time had come for her to return to the solo career she had begun with several records that she had released prior to joining the band.

“It was a really amazing experience, but at the same time I’m pretty passionate about my songwriting and within that band I did have a chance to play some of the songs that I’ve written in that context which was rewarding and exciting, but at the same time, over the two and a half years it was four of my songs within that show,” Chvostek explains of her decision to leave the Jennys and resume her solo career on her new record, Resilience. “And the band itself was pretty much a super full time commitment and I kind of thought I was going to be able to balance out my solo stuff with it and it didn’t end up being possible.

“As a crazy, obsessive artist or something I just sort of threw all sense to the wind in favour of giving more time to the creative side and being able to get more into my songs and my other work as a composer,” she adds, noting that in addition to her solo work, she has also composed for both dance and film. “If I don’t do it I start getting depressed and that started to happen, so I just needed to do it more and that was the choice.”

One major difference between Chvostek’s work with the Jennys and on her own is the level of collaboration involved. She says that within the band, each member took the lead when shaping direction of the songs that they brought to the table.

“My role in that was to do everything I could to support the others’ songs as well, as an instrumentalist and also as a singer,” she says. “But coming into [Resilience] the palette was wide—I could do whatever I wanted ... so I could really just explore in a very exciting way and not have to worry about what anyone else thought ... That was a really gratifying kind of process, and very freeing and enjoyable.”

On Resilience, Chvostek brings some of her earlier influences—she studied electro-acoustic composition in university and has manipulated sound for compostions she’s done for dance—back to the table, integrating them with the predominantly acoustic sound of the disc. There’s nothing obvious there, but if you listen enough times, turning over the musical stones, the atmosphere is altered by the barely-there sounds; it’s the sort of addition that can give an album a little more depth, offering up hidden treasures for repeated listens.

“For me that’s one of the arts of it and the joys of production,” Chvostek admits. “I mean, ultimately all those things are to support the song, and when I’m playing live I’m playing the song pretty much acoustically—at least I will be this time in Edmonton; I won’t bring a band, it’s just me and the tune—but when you get into the studio it just opens up this whole realm of possibility, of just subtle support, and I love that process and I find it incredibly creative. Diving into sonic possibilities, it just opens up a whole landscape that may be incredibly subtle, but I think makes it into more of a magical experience.” - Vue Weekly, Edmonton

An interview with Annabelle Chvostek, a Montréal-based folk singer and songwriter. She is currently working on her new solo album after recently leaving the popular Canadian band, The Wailin' Jennys. Her career has taken her across the ocean and back; her roster is filled with road songs attesting to her journey, as well as political pleas and tales of love. I had the pleasure of interviewing Annabelle after her show at Casa Del Popolo earlier this month.

[By Mél Hogan for Art Threat]

Art Threat: Hi Annabelle. You're show on Thursday night was amazing—great vibe and high energy. You played quite a few upbeat songs in a row—is this a new direction for your music?

Annabelle Chvostek: Thanks! Well, I’m certainly having fun with the more upbeat stuff. I’ve been fairly gentle in the music I’ve been putting out there for the last few years, so there’s part of me that has been dying to bust out and get a bit crazier or heavier, or louder. I still love the intimate contemplative beautiful stuff, but I also am liking the grooving and the catharsis.

AT: You played a lot of "road songs"—is this a sign that you are happy to stay put for awhile or will you be touring a lot this year?

AC: Well, I seem to be still moving around a fair bit, but not with the full speed ahead tour schedule that I had with the Wailin’ Jennys. The idea right now is to lay low until I have another record out, enjoy building my little home nest again, get some living happening, get to some universals and some basics that seem to disappear with road life. I love the road, but I hate it too. It’s a mix of feeling completely ungrounded and like life is constantly on hold or uprooted, and being elated by contact with audiences, new people and new scenery.

The road songs come out of that struggle, figuring out how to live within the flux, the shifts, the always being gone. I am actually very happy to be staying put for a while though, doing short trips out for shows and coming home again. I am loving soaking up Montreal. And visiting places for more than a day. It’s pretty luxurious actually, but something I’m letting myself indulge in. Who knows, maybe I’ll start writing songs about tulips and tomatoes soon. It’s the first summer in a while where I’m getting to garden. You write what you know. In nine months, when I have a record, I’ll hopefully start touring a lot again, but I will always incorporate more home time, and/or work towards sharing the road life with people I love.

AT: Having recently stopped playing with the WJ, how does it feel to be an independent solo artist again?

AC: It feels wonderful and a bit scary too. I am so happy to have the freedom to work on whatever the heck I feel like, to really dive into creation and development again, to take the time I want to soak up the world around me, to get strong and healthy. I’m also making my own schedule all of a sudden, which is tricky, and having to deal with all the business of things again, making my own machine to drive, instead of riding around on one that is already built. I love it. It feels very real.

I also feel like I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. But I think that’s life. You just have to make it up as you go along. Ultimately, the creative part is very fulfilling, and there is a more personal connection for me to the community that comes with my audiences and collaborators. I feel like a learned a ton from working with the Jennys, and it was such a fantastic and beautiful experience in so many ways, so coming back to my solo work, I have a better sense of how to make it work, how I want to do things, how I want to interact with people, and who I want to reach out to.

AT: What I really love about your songs is that they are fun, traditional in one sense but quirky if you pay attention to the lyrics. I love that a few of your songs are explicitly about love, and about women... which is still rare, especially in folk-genre of music. Does being "out" in your song matter or are you just writing what you know?

AC: Being out in my songs always feels a little nerve wracking, but is just a risk I need to take, and when I do, I am rewarded by the connections that happen. It is still pretty exciting to be identified. I don’t want to lie about anything. While I want to be able to speak to anyone without discriminating, I also know how much I myself need to see lesbian identity reflected in culture. So while I don’t make and perform music to be a big dyke, I still want it to be visible, and want to be a part of queer culture. Really though, the songs come from needing to express an experience or a story that I care about or fall in love with… and so there are girls in there, all mixed in with your basic being human.

AT: Some of your songs carry a political, social and environmental message—can you talk about these songs?

AC: In 2003 I put out an album called Water. While it was a mix of heart/body/mind songs and social reflection, it was unified b - ArtThreat Magazine, by Mél Hogan

“A powerful solo artist … gorgeous lead vocal and deft guitar playing … her new recording is a fantastic piece of work. Despite being acoustic, it rocks fiercely.”
Anna Maria Stjärnell, Collected Sounds, Sweden

"Just gorgeous … so musical … oh my."
Jane Siberry/Issa, Canada

“A contemporary urban folk alchemist … a persuasive vocalist and multiinstrumentalist, with a natural style unpolluted by attention seeking postures.”
Musicworkz, UK

“These are spiritual depths paired with beautiful vocals.”
Alooga Media, Germany

"...a unique blend of weathered character and lilting ebb and flow."
Deanna Radford, Herizons

"Fiercely talented... Chvostek has a sultry voice you can't and won't forget."
Suzy Malik, Xtra, Toronto

"Chvosteks songs are a deep drink. Her vocal range is spectacular, and her playfulness is very evident. ...the melodic splendour of Jane Siberry or a jazzy Ani Difranco."
Fish Piss, Montreal

"Annabelle doesnt fake the folk. She freaks it."
Tcha Dunlevy, The Montreal Gazette

"Annabelle made the hair on the back of my neck stand up."
"stunning free form folk..." "she can do everything, and does."
The Hour, Montreal

“Sensuelle, surprenante, de l’émotion qui swing, une voix de velour. Guitariste hors pair, ses compositions
sont hypnotisantes: sorte de folk-jazz chevauchant le folk-punk. Une présence de scène et un magnètisme qui séduit partout où elle passe.” Folquébec


- Various

JOSEF WOODARD, NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
November 22, 2008 8:54 AM

At the double-header Tales from the Tavern show Wednesday, in the cool and rustic Maverick Saloon in Santa Ynez, the evening amounted to a study in the familiar and the untested. Chuck Prophet and Annabelle Chvostek put in impressive sets, if moving in different stylistic directions, and from different junctures in their respective careers.
Mr. Prophet, veteran songman and bandleader hailing from San Francisco, is fairly well known and loved in these parts, having performed in the Tales series in 2005 and more recently at Lobero Theatre, courtesy of Sings Like Hell. He fits the bill for both series, with his literate and irreverent ways, mixed with underlying emotional warmth as a musician and an entertainer.
In some way, though, Wednesday's show was stolen by the newcomer, Montreal-based Annabelle Chvostek. In this, her area debut, Ms. Chvostek won our hearts and minds. She busily is making a name for herself as part of the progressive roots band Wailin' Jenny and also as a solo artist worth taking note of. Her Maverick show was one of those magical, chemistry-connected sets, with a sense of discovery attached.
Singing with pluck and precision (while backing herself up beautifully on guitar, mandolin and fiddle), Ms. Chvostek exudes organic musicality, whether when digging into folky roots music or art-pop turf, whether with original songs or the old Ella Jenkins' tune "Rising with the Sun." She served up a bit more carbonated comic relief than she needed to here -- with a singalong Slovak drinking song from her pre-Canadian root system and a throwaway confection called "Motels of America," back to back.
But she also got down to more serious business with the compelling "Resilience," the title track to her fine new album. With a sinuous melody line recalling the early work of fellow Canadian chanteuse Jane Siberry, this song drew the strongest response of the night, and rightly so.
Mr. Prophet sings with a kind of curled upper lip, and a similar attitude comes through in his lyrics, fueled by a ripe, punk-ish wit that might go back to his early days in the new-wave band Green on Red. But his tough surface sometimes disguises the underlying sentimental goo of his closet romantic self.
His between-song banter frequently was hilarious and, we assume, revealing. After playing the haunting "Would you Love Me" -- from last year's album "Soap and Water," he launched into confessional testimony, and said, in a breathless blur of words, "I spent my entire adult life in a state of perpetual adolescence, in a Ford Econoline van, sitting on a Twin Reverb and trying to read an Elmore Leonard book with a flashlight in the dark."
That compounded image says much about his frame of reference -- a smart rocker who has found a latter-day life as a solo singer-songwriter. His songs are invested with emotion, borrowed emotions and pop cultural references galore.
Among the highlights of his set, "New Year's Day" deals with the brief time he was forced by circumstance to move back in with his parents, and his tunes ranged from sweet to snarly, from "Long Shot Lullaby" to "Run Primo Run." The romantic within emerged with the penultimate waltz "The Heart Breaks Just Like the Dawn."
Next, Mr. Prophet stirred up a giddy rocking party favor, to close an altogether enjoyable evening in the song-enriched saloon.
e-mail: life@newspress.com

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