Bri-anne Swan

Bri-Anne Swan is coming back for more. After a sold-out show at local music hub The Singing Waitress Cafe in March, the Toronto folk-singer is set to return for a second concert on Saturday.
“It was such an amazing crowd,” said Swan of her last Border City concert.
“It was a really diverse crowd, pretty evenly split between high school, university age and then ladies from the local United Church.”
For her third Western Canada tour and second stop in Lloydminster, Swan said she hopes to see both new and familiar faces at her gig.
“I keep telling everybody who asks about the tour that they have to go to Lloydminster. It’s the best city in the country,” said Swan who plans to celebrate her bi-provincial concert in style. “I have a special dress for the Lloydminster show, I have this amazing Elvis dress. In The Singing Waitress I didn’t realize it until I got there last time that it’s all decked out in Elvis memorabilia.”
Since her March tour, Swan has been busy writing and performing. She hit the road for the MS Society of Canada, embarking on a month long fundraiser. Along with partner Jason Meyers, Swan performed a series of concerts along the Bruce Trail in Ontario while Meyers walked all 900 kilometres end to end – and at the very end they raised almost $11,000 for MS research.
Swan has also been paying homage to famous singer/songwriters on their birthday, a series she has been performing in Toronto and plans to continue this month on the road.
“Most of the major Canadian singer/songwriters that you think of like Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell are all born in November which is when I am on the road so a lot of the shows are going to be very Canadian singer/songwriter focussed and, of course, I will sing my own original material,” said Swan, whose final track, “You in Mind,” from her first album these are all my friends was recently featured in the Stonehenge Media documentary Cancers Below the Belt.
Performing in smaller communities like Dundurn and Outlook, SK is important said Swan, who is staying true to her rural roots.
“First of all, I just like them better. They are quieter and being directionally challenged, there’s less chance of me getting lost on the way to the gig,” said Swan, who grew up in a small farming community near Orilla, Ontario. “But also from a practical stand point, it’s an easier market to break through when you don’t have to compete against Lady Gaga or Elton John or some of these huge names that come through Toronto, Calgary or Vancouver.
“It’s just nice and I end up staying at people’s homes a lot of the time, they invite me to stay. It’s a much more personal experience.”
While Swan will tour throughout Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia this month, with plans to record a new album as well this year if “little funding grant gnomes shine their graces upon me,” Swan plans to explore Canada’s collection of “giant things” on her next tour in 2011.
“Next year I am going to be going across the country playing, it’s called ‘the really, really ridiculously big tour’ and we are stopping at every community that has giant things,” she said.
“Boissevain, Manitoba has a giant turtle and there’s a place in Alberta that has the world’s biggest perogy (Glendon) and Lloydminster has these huge stakes on the main street downtown. I’ve already started to go to Lloydminster, but these are all smaller communities and I’m using that to keep coming back to these small towns because I just love them so much.”
Check out Swan’s songs at The Singing Waitress Cafe, 4910B - 49 Street, on Saturday. Admission is $10 and show time is 8 p.m. - Lloydminster Source

Bri-Anne Swan is coming back for more. After a sold-out show at local music hub The Singing Waitress Cafe in March, the Toronto folk-singer is set to return for a second concert on Saturday.
“It was such an amazing crowd,” said Swan of her last Border City concert.
“It was a really diverse crowd, pretty evenly split between high school, university age and then ladies from the local United Church.”
For her third Western Canada tour and second stop in Lloydminster, Swan said she hopes to see both new and familiar faces at her gig.
“I keep telling everybody who asks about the tour that they have to go to Lloydminster. It’s the best city in the country,” said Swan who plans to celebrate her bi-provincial concert in style. “I have a special dress for the Lloydminster show, I have this amazing Elvis dress. In The Singing Waitress I didn’t realize it until I got there last time that it’s all decked out in Elvis memorabilia.”
Since her March tour, Swan has been busy writing and performing. She hit the road for the MS Society of Canada, embarking on a month long fundraiser. Along with partner Jason Meyers, Swan performed a series of concerts along the Bruce Trail in Ontario while Meyers walked all 900 kilometres end to end – and at the very end they raised almost $11,000 for MS research.
Swan has also been paying homage to famous singer/songwriters on their birthday, a series she has been performing in Toronto and plans to continue this month on the road.
“Most of the major Canadian singer/songwriters that you think of like Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell are all born in November which is when I am on the road so a lot of the shows are going to be very Canadian singer/songwriter focussed and, of course, I will sing my own original material,” said Swan, whose final track, “You in Mind,” from her first album these are all my friends was recently featured in the Stonehenge Media documentary Cancers Below the Belt.
Performing in smaller communities like Dundurn and Outlook, SK is important said Swan, who is staying true to her rural roots.
“First of all, I just like them better. They are quieter and being directionally challenged, there’s less chance of me getting lost on the way to the gig,” said Swan, who grew up in a small farming community near Orilla, Ontario. “But also from a practical stand point, it’s an easier market to break through when you don’t have to compete against Lady Gaga or Elton John or some of these huge names that come through Toronto, Calgary or Vancouver.
“It’s just nice and I end up staying at people’s homes a lot of the time, they invite me to stay. It’s a much more personal experience.”
While Swan will tour throughout Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia this month, with plans to record a new album as well this year if “little funding grant gnomes shine their graces upon me,” Swan plans to explore Canada’s collection of “giant things” on her next tour in 2011.
“Next year I am going to be going across the country playing, it’s called ‘the really, really ridiculously big tour’ and we are stopping at every community that has giant things,” she said.
“Boissevain, Manitoba has a giant turtle and there’s a place in Alberta that has the world’s biggest perogy (Glendon) and Lloydminster has these huge stakes on the main street downtown. I’ve already started to go to Lloydminster, but these are all smaller communities and I’m using that to keep coming back to these small towns because I just love them so much.”
Check out Swan’s songs at The Singing Waitress Cafe, 4910B - 49 Street, on Saturday. Admission is $10 and show time is 8 p.m. - Lloydminster Source

This Wednesday night (September 22nd) I had the pleasure of seeing Bri-Anne Swan, a Toronto singer-writer (you can read our review of her album here), begin her Birthday Series of concerts with a tribute to Leonard Cohen.

To quickly explain the Birthday Series of concerts, it is a set of shows spaced out between now and next August which pay tribute to famous musicians, with the show being on their birthday. Her next planned show is in honour of Tom Waits, and will be performed on December 7th.

Over the course of two hours, with one break, Swan, along with the backup of three other band members playing keyboards, bass, mandolin, electric and accordion (not all at the same time, of course) played a great selection of one of Canada’s most famous and talented songwriters.

Swan did her best to represent Cohen in all phases of his career, and she did a really great job of this. She began her set with “Suzanne” and ended her set with “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye.” She played other great songs such as “Hallelujah” and “So Long Marianne.”

There were two things I absolutely loved about the show. The first was her and her band’s dedication to the music. While it’s really easy to take a tribute show lightly, it’s very obvious that Swan and her band put a lot of time and effort into crafting their sound to its perfection. Every strummed guitar chord seemed to have a purpose.

The second thing I loved was her absolutely pure voice. Much like her instruments, her voice never missed a note, whether she was reaching high or low on the register. In fact, listening to her at times gave me chills.

Over the night, she did sing one new song of her own called “We All Fall Down” from her next album, and “Dear Sir” from her debut These Are All My Friends… She also gave a sneak preview of her next show with a song by Tom Waits.

Swan also provided some good banter in between songs, at one point saying “So I’m drinking tea on stage, because that’s the kind of rock star I am.”

Overall it was a very enjoyable evening, and it seems like Swan is doing a really great good thing with this Birthday Series. For more information on the series you can go to this page. - Grayowl Point

By Katie Ryan
Bri-anne Swan thinks people are great. And given her latest, upcoming project, they really are.
Following her Western Canada tour which she begins today, the musician will then take to the road once more with her boyfriend and complete The Bruce Trail.
“He’s the walker and I’m the rocker,” said Swan of her boyfriend who has embarked on Spain’s Camino, B.C.’s West Coast Trail, among other famous treks. “I just couldn’t walk with my guitar.”
Swan, who will be in the Border City on March 23 to play at the Singing Waitress Cafe, will meet up with her boyfriend at each of her concerts during the 885 kilometre journey, which kicks off in Niagara Falls on April 18 and wraps up in Tobermory, on the shores of Lake Huron. It’s a walk with purpose, explained Swan, with all of the proceeds raised through donations and by her shows destined for the MS Society – half to the national office and the rest to local chapters. Already they have raised $5,000 of their $10,000 goal.
“We are really excited and the response has been astronomical. He always knew he wanted to do this walk and we realized being able to do the shows along the way is something that might make it more special,” she said.
Prior to their charitable jaunt, Swan will set up shop in Lloyd during the middle of her Western Canada tour. Having never ventured west of Brandon, Manitoba, Swan is excited to hit the road and perform.
“My head is spinning, just trying to think of all the things I need to do,” said Swan during a phone conversation on Tuesday. “I end up in Lloydminster which is apparently both Alberta and Saskatchewan – dual personalities. This is the farthest west I’ll be going, I am heading all the way out to British Columbia. I am really looking forward to seeing the mountains.”
An indie/ roots/ folk musician, Swan will be touring in support of her debut album entitled, these are all my friends.
“When I have been booking shows, I have been describing the sounds as Regina Spektor and Joan Baez meeting for drinks and then going to visit Gordon Lightfoot in the Canadian woods for a late night jam session,” she said laughing.
“It doesn’t really fit into any one genre. The record itself goes from country, to really organic folk, to indie pop with horns and stuff. When I am solo it is hard to get all of those instruments – I only have so many limbs that I can work with – when it’s just me solo it’s much more acoustic.”
After she gives her all on stage, Swan wants to keep giving by inspiring others with her music, imbuing them with optimism.
“I really want my music to touch people, I don’t mean that they need to be weeping,” she said. “Although, I do seem to have a specialty at making grown men cry. Somebody mentioned in a review of the album that after you listen to it a sense of hope is sort of hard to deny and that is sort of the feeling I want to leave after the performance – that the world ain’t so bad.”
Hailing from the same hometown of Orillia, Ontario, as her hero – Gordon Lightfoot – Swan is eager to make new friends on the road and share her music.
“I’d like to think that I sound a little bit like him,” she said, referring to Lightfoot.
“(The album is) a bunch of songs that have been mostly inspired by characters in literature, sort of Old Testament, biblical stuff as well as pretty standard ‘love gone wrong’ songs, because you need to have a couple of those on every album.
“I like it, my Mom likes it, other people seem to like it. My brothers give out copies to their university buddies, so I kind of feel like if my brothers like it, it can’t be all that bad.”
The album features 10 original songs Swan penned, which she’s come to refer to as her “friends,” hence the album’s name.
“I was realizing when I was putting the CD together that a lot of the songs dealt with certain archetypes and certain characters that come up again and again, and as I was going through the recording process I started talking about each of the songs as if they were real people,” Swan said.
The album title was further confirmed by four dreams she had, which countered the original title, Milk and Honey, in favour of these are all my friends.
“If my dreams are telling me then that’s what the record should be called,” she said with a laugh.
Swan, who once wrote for Orillia’s newspaper, said plunging into the music scene was an “organic” process. She started by performing in coffee houses at open mic nights, was soon asked to open for other artists and then to headline her own shows. Swan took the ‘why mess with a good thing’ approach and ditched her day job.
“I realized that I was so much happier doing this than any of the other jobs or school work I was doing. I made a five year plan, because I like plans and I like spread sheets, and decided to just go for it,” she said, adding she is in year three of five year plan and so far so good. “Everything is going forward instead of back, which is nice.”
Check out Bri-anne Swan at the Sin - Lloydminster Source

Bri-anne Swan wouldn't mind a little more company in the recording studio.

Like, say, a few dozen bar patrons enjoying a beverage or two and listening to her sing.

"I'm not thrilled about it," the Coldwater, Ont., native said about working on her first album. "I love playing live. I love feeding off an audience. When there is no audience I kind of get a little lost and don't know what to do."

And just how is the Toronto-based singer coping with work on a debut disc she hopes to have out late this year? "I sing to my producer."

Jann Arden has earned a reputation for between-song banter that can be as enjoyable as her music. Swan has earned plaudits for her humorous interludes, too. It's recognition that, while she appreciates, strikes her as a bit odd.

"I'm thrilled that someone thinks I'm funny because nobody in my real life thinks I am," she laughed.
"People are there to be entertained. Here with my geekiness, if they find that entertaining, then that's awesome because that's just who I am."

Audiences might want to keep an attentive ear on Swan's music, too. The singer, who went to high school in Orillia, Ont., has heard there are shades of Gordon Lightfoot in her music. Lightfoot is an Orillia native. "My producer was saying (Lightfoot) has really affected the way some times I choose to sing, which is odd because he's a guy," said Swan. "Sometimes the melodies I choose to sing people will say, 'Oh, that's very much like Gordon Lightfoot.' He might be insulted by that, I don't know. It's also just given me a stronger, perhaps, folk sensibility than perhaps somebody who's grown up in Timmins and had to listen to Shania Twain all the time." Swan and Shawn Sage play Loplops Wednesday. Her website address is www.bri-anneswan.com
- The Sault Star (Jun 8, 2007)
- The Sault Star

Ready to release her debut album "these are all my friends…" , the singer/songwriter (we say this in one-breath as though it is no large feat, so take a moment to realize how large it is) Bri-Anne Swan is essentially looking out at the horizon with a golden-spun sunrise to greet her. Enlisting this sort of imagery is fitting for the playful and soulful woman whose album cover shows her wearing a whimsical birds nest in her hair.

In fact, the beguiling lyrics of her songs greet your ears as though they were tiny pieces of a bird nest which may have inadvertently (though fortuitously) fallen out along her passing. Rather than let vulnerability cause her to blush, she simply gives a knowing smile, hoping you will find a way to appreciate and add the words to your own nest of thoughts. As a singer and songwriter, she is here to share with us. And what she has to offer is a splendidly-crafted delight.

Her voice is as strong as a siren’s beckoning call, and as sweet as the angels in your most private moments of longing and reverie. Her lyrics are advocating ambassadors that honor the spirit within the most tender and poignant of feelings. After listening to her album, a sense of hope is hard to deny.

Bri-anne’s debut album will be released on September 29th, 2009.

“So we throw all our cards on the table
Instead of counting birds on the wire
While all the kings horses and all the kings men
Keep drawing their lines in the sand” – We All Fall Down ; Bri-anne Swan - Sofa Chip

Bri-anne Swan "grew up going to the opera house."

On October 15, the 20-something Oro-Medonte native returns to the grand old building as the star attraction

"The opera house and Massey Hall, those are the two venues I'd love to do," she says over the phone from Toronto, her home for the past several years.

An upcoming concert in the intimate Studio Theatre marks Swan's first local appearance since the release of her debut CD, "these are all my friends..."

Produced by Mitch Girio, the album draws on the myriad of musical influences that inspired her passion for songwriting and performing. "It just comes from so many varied places," says Swan. "I grew up listening to so many different kinds of music. My dad is really into ZZ Top and Classic Rock. My mom likes that stuff, but she's also into musicals and Celtic music, and folk music as well"

A graduate of Park Street Collegiate Institute, Swan studied theology at the University of Toronto before pursuing a career in music.

Along the way she earned a living working a variety of jobs, though her chosen profession was never out of view. "A lot of my songs I've written when I should have been doing other things, like spread sheets and other tasks my employers were paying me for," she adds with a laugh. What began as an occasional performance on open-mic nights in her school days grew into multi-province tours that included Canada's east cost, northern Ontario and Manitoba, as Swan pursued her calling full-time.

"It's awesome to be able to play a little place like Matheson with a population of a thousand and there are a hundred people at your show," she says. "To have 10 percent of the population at your show is wild."

Buses and trains are the preferred mode of transport to remote outposts like Kapuskasing, where Swan drew an appreciative audience to the local United Church.

Her voice has been heard closer to home, too, at St. Paul's United Church just weeks before musical hero Gordon Lightfoot played for the local congregation. Swan, a devout fan, hopes to one day open for him. "It would be so incredible, I wouldn't know what to do with myself." - Orillia Today

I always get really, really excited when I’m able to review the first album of an independent artist, and such is the case for this roots/folk singer from Toronto.

These are all my Friends… is a ten track album which is characterized by the strong vocals and lyrics of Swan. The album shows that there is more to a love song than just “I love you” or “Take me back”.

“Lucidity,” the album’s opening track is a great example. Some people who listen to this may have to consult a dictionary to better understand what the song is talking about. Lucidity means a sort of clarity, something that is completely understandable. It makes sense, especially when she sings “He made me take my mask off” and ends with “Then I stood up to thank you for helping me see.”

The album is generally comprised of many melodic, slower songs, but she still keeps things fresh with a few faster songs such as “Vast Misconceptions” and “Stars are Falling (& I’m Hungry)”. Not to say that her slower songs are bad- “Dear Sir” is a song which spans about six and a half minutes, a sort of “open letter” to a lover who didn’t behave like he should have.

Interestingly, one of the songs on the album is a traditional French song, “En Haut ces Montagnes” and Swan sings it perfectly, without any sort of hesitation over the French words. It is a great thing to see Francophones singing in English (such as Winter Gloves do) and it is equally pleasing to see an Anglophone singing ocassionally in French.

Though the love song is getting old and there are only so many songs that can be written, Swan’s intelligent lyrics and poetic devices make the record an enjoyable listen to say the least. Swan has a great amount of potential, and makes me wonder what she will do in the future.

Top Tracks: “Vast Misconceptions”, “Stars are Falling (& I’m Hungry)”, “Lucidity” - Grayowl Point

The St. Andrew's Church in Matheson is celebrating its 100th Anniversary in 2006/2007. To kick off the beginning of the celebration they invited singer Bri-anne Swan to perform at their church the evening of Tuesday, September 26th.

Swan, who now lives in Toronto, was born and raised near Coldwater, Ontario where she attended public school and then attended high school in Orillia.

More than 60 people crowded the church. She explained that her first song would be one written by Gordon Lightfoot called "If You Could Read My Mind". Accompanying herself on the guitar, she sang in a clear melodic voice to the hushed audience. Many appeared to be startled as this small, young girl could sing in such a rich, carrying voice. She received a very large round of applause from the audience.

Bri-anne explained to the audience that although she enjoyed singing songs others had written, she also liked to sing songs she had written herself. "Some people even like them and clap," she smiled. She then sang a beautiful song titled, "But I Love You".

"That is one of the songs on my CD, which I have for sale at the end of the evening. I will be talking about it during the program," she warned jokingly.

"My next song is titled 'Pretty Things'. It was written by Shawn Sage, a singer/songwriter and friend, who says he thinks he wrote this song for me to sing before we met."

This was followed by "Hallelujah". "I love this song," she smiled. "It took six years to write and has 16 verses, but I won't sing them all for you this evening". After the applause quieted, intermission was called.

....

When the last, clear, rich note was sung, there was silence in the church, followed by a standing ovation and even louder applause.

The audience was rewarded with one last song. "This is the first song I ever learned how to play. It's one my folks used to sing, called Vincent." Bri-anne closed this show with a song about a starry, starry night.

On speaking with Bri-anne we learned..."I really like to sing and entertain" she said. "This year I decided to quit my full time day job and travel...." Although Bri-anne has performed at larger centres to the South, she decided to travel by train and bus to the North to perform.

Bri-anne, who has recently received recgnition not only as a performer, but as a beautiful songwriter in her own right, has begun working on her debut album, which will be released this year. I am sure once one has heard her rich, vibrant voice, accompanied by her guitar, they will want to hear much, much more. - Iroquois Falls Enterprise

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c162/Ophelian/KapuskasingNews-1.jpg - The Northern Times

When Bri-anne Swan was a babe in arms, her mother had a serious thing for Willie Nelson. So much so, that by the time Bri-anne was about six months old, her Willie Nelson records had been played so much they had to be out away for a while.

Two years later, something kinf of neat happened. One day, with Bri-anne now a toddler, Mrs. Swan pulled out a Willie Nelson album for a nostalgic spin. And wouldn't you know it; Bri-anne, who had only recently begun to talk, instantly knew all the words.

"I guess I was singing before I culd talk," said Swan. "I've always had a thing for music."

On Saturday, October 14, the Toronto-based folksinger will perform at St. John's United Church. her show will combine original material with several cover songs by the likes of Leonard Cohen and Gordon Lightfoot. She'll also play a few "folked up" versions of songs not usually heard on the coffeehouse circuit.

Swan is looking forward to the show, since most of her Toronto gigs take place in bars where alcohol usually shares top billing with the music.

"I prefer small towns," she said. "The shows are much more intimate and I love working with community groups."

A Coldwater native, Swan spent many hours watching her brothers play hockey in the Creemore Arena; now, she's excited to bring her musical talents to the area.

"Small towns have been good to me," she said. "I'm in Toronto now, but my heart is really in places like Creemore."

Bri-anne Swan will take the stage at St. John's United Church at 7:30pm on Saturday, October 14. Tickets are $12. For more information, call 466-3422.
- Creemore Echo - Brad Holden