Caressa

Listen to a great little promo spot about Homer's First Annual Songwriters Review organized by Caressa's production company Alaska Independent Music featuring Caressa and 6 more of Homer's best loved songwriters - Kbbi Radio

Listen to a great little promo spot about Homer's First Annual Songwriters Review organized by Caressa's production company Alaska Independent Music featuring Caressa and 6 more of Homer's best loved songwriters - Kbbi Radio

Kickstarter.com helps a young star rise

• Local singer/songwriter Caressa uses fundraiser to finish recording project

By Naomi Klouda
Homer Tribune

The days are past when artists enjoyed a kind and bountiful benefactor, but the idea lives on among individuals who want to contribute to a certain artist’s success.
Who wouldn’t want to be able to say they helped Van Gogh, or the Beatles?
Thanks to Kickstarter.com, there’s now a way to do secure online fundraising. Singer/songwriter Caressa Bohrer, a Rasmuson Foundation award winner who has gained notice around the state, signed with Kickstarter.com in order to finish putting together her recording studio.
Touted as a new way to “fund and follow creativity,” supporters sign up on the website and pledge a certain amount toward a particular project and receive rewards in return, like signed compact discs, T-shirts, house concerts, even cookies baked by the artist.
“This gives the public a part of the ownership in a project, and they will be rewarded in a number of possible ways. I could Skype a guitar lesson, or sing a song for them. They can then say ‘I helped make that happen,’” Caressa said.
Already recognized for a body of achievement even at the young age of 26, Caressa was chosen for an Individual Artist Award in May. She has a degree in anthropology and linguistics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2007, and is working on her second album. The $5,000 award was used to purchase state-of-the-art recording equipment for her own work and community projects.
“Homer is pretty limited when it comes to some resources, like professional music studios and engineers, and it is our hope that this recording equipment will not only be a boon to my own music, but that it will also benefit the many other talented musicians living and working here in Alaska that also lack access to professional recording opportunities,” she said.
She’s just moved into her new studio on Bear Creek. There she has her piano and other instruments, sound and recording equipment.
“Now that I have a dedicated space, it will be a lot easier to do my own recording. I now have the major components,” she said.
The problem of access has long hampered aspiring musicians, which today’s digital age mitigated somewhat. “You never see a woman in a room full of studio equipment. It’s usually older white men who had it. That’s what I wanted to change by increasing the access to recordings.”
With the kickstarter project, fundraising is done in a designated amount of time. Caressa set up a six-week window to raise $6,000. Now the objective is to get the word out. She has a show at the Down East on 9 p.m. Thursday.
Get more information and listen at http://caressastarshine.com or www.sonicbids.com/caressa. - Homer Tribune

Kickstarter.com helps a young star rise

• Local singer/songwriter Caressa uses fundraiser to finish recording project

By Naomi Klouda
Homer Tribune

The days are past when artists enjoyed a kind and bountiful benefactor, but the idea lives on among individuals who want to contribute to a certain artist’s success.
Who wouldn’t want to be able to say they helped Van Gogh, or the Beatles?
Thanks to Kickstarter.com, there’s now a way to do secure online fundraising. Singer/songwriter Caressa Bohrer, a Rasmuson Foundation award winner who has gained notice around the state, signed with Kickstarter.com in order to finish putting together her recording studio.
Touted as a new way to “fund and follow creativity,” supporters sign up on the website and pledge a certain amount toward a particular project and receive rewards in return, like signed compact discs, T-shirts, house concerts, even cookies baked by the artist.
“This gives the public a part of the ownership in a project, and they will be rewarded in a number of possible ways. I could Skype a guitar lesson, or sing a song for them. They can then say ‘I helped make that happen,’” Caressa said.
Already recognized for a body of achievement even at the young age of 26, Caressa was chosen for an Individual Artist Award in May. She has a degree in anthropology and linguistics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2007, and is working on her second album. The $5,000 award was used to purchase state-of-the-art recording equipment for her own work and community projects.
“Homer is pretty limited when it comes to some resources, like professional music studios and engineers, and it is our hope that this recording equipment will not only be a boon to my own music, but that it will also benefit the many other talented musicians living and working here in Alaska that also lack access to professional recording opportunities,” she said.
She’s just moved into her new studio on Bear Creek. There she has her piano and other instruments, sound and recording equipment.
“Now that I have a dedicated space, it will be a lot easier to do my own recording. I now have the major components,” she said.
The problem of access has long hampered aspiring musicians, which today’s digital age mitigated somewhat. “You never see a woman in a room full of studio equipment. It’s usually older white men who had it. That’s what I wanted to change by increasing the access to recordings.”
With the kickstarter project, fundraising is done in a designated amount of time. Caressa set up a six-week window to raise $6,000. Now the objective is to get the word out. She has a show at the Down East on 9 p.m. Thursday.
Get more information and listen at http://caressastarshine.com or www.sonicbids.com/caressa. - Homer Tribune

Alaska-based indie-folk artist Caressa is currently working on a new album to be released next year and subsequent tour with the help of a Project Award from the Rasmuson Foundation to aid in funding, but her debut album Wanderlust, self-released last November shows a confident finger style acoustic guitarist and a singer-songwriter coming into her own, poised to break out. Caressa, who also goes by the stage name Caressa Starshine, has clearly been influenced by female folk greats Joni Mitchell and Ani DiFranco, but she possesses a unique, adventurous spirit that is infused into her music. And her very outward and aggressive guitar style belies the inward, intimate vulnerability of her lyrics which also sets her apart from her contemporaries as well as the coffee shop balladeers. Originally from Los Angeles, a visit to Alaska at age ten prompted her to move to Alaska at the age of seventeen to study anthropology and to play music. It is apparent that her Alaskan lifestyle and its boundless beauty have influenced her artistically, as nature seems to nurture her rich, organic and introspective brand of soulful, jazz and punk-inflected folk pop.
“All Of Me” opens with steady acoustic guitar strumming with a rich, earthy tone that combines with a buzzing cello to drive the rhythm and is cut by layers of finger-plucked banjo and fiery vocal harmonies delivered with the slight snarl of a punk rock spirit that also reflects her wandering spirit. Along the same road, “Livin’ Free” is just a touch over six minutes in length but the song passes by in no time with a brisk, front-porch acoustic guitar riff invoking the rustic charm and warmth of the confines of an Alaskan cabin on the coldest night. The album’s first appearance of drums and bass on ”Empty Nest” provides a propulsive blues rock groove with just a touch of funk and a loosely strummed guitar riff along with a swaggering vocal performance on the stand out track. Another stand out, “Northern Sky”, is the perfect vehicle for Caressa’s fancy fretwork which has won her numerous accolades and also spotlights her soulful, soaring vocal melodies delivered with a bit of an attitude, like an old-time Jazz singer in a dirty punk club.
The punchy “Silver Bells And Salty Seas” continues on the blues rock trail with a stop and start rhythm that features a fiercely funky slap and pop bass line and distorted guitars that really showcase Caressa’s broad range of talent and songwriting ability. Caressa slows things down on the emotional and yearning “Disaster” with an almost talk-sung verse accompanied by not much else but a raw yet graceful guitar riff. The aptly titled title track, “Wanderlust” features a restless spirit with a shuffling beat complete with clattering percussion and flickering banjo figures along with a soaring, skyward chorus that just yearns for freedom from your speakers. The eight-song album closes with “Postcard From, Homer” which acts as both an ode to the artistic seaside Alaskan town she calls home and a homesick note to her previous home, with the humble confidence of a “Hey, look at me now!” attitude. Homer is also where she recorded the album in a small cabin with assistance from noted local musicians Atz Lee who played acoustic bass and Milo Matthews who contributed electric bass, along with Matt Farnsworth who provided the percussion and also played some bass.
Wanderlust with its intriguing mix of nuanced, introspective singer-songwriter faire and upbeat, full band numbers has set the bar for Caressa’s career and her highly anticipated sophomore album that will only set her on the path to becoming Alaska’s favorite daughter and most prized export!
- Ariel Publicity

A sassy, independent woman from Alaska makes a bid to have her voice heard across the nation. Sound familiar? In this case, the sphere isn’t politics but folk music. Caressa Starshine is a young singer-songwriter, originally from L.A., who relocated to the small seaside town of Homer, AK. There in a cabin she recorded this debut album. Wanderlust is a testament to the miracles of modern technology, which affords the ability to create studio-quality recordings at home. Caressa’s powerful alto and acoustic guitar take the spotlight, but bass and drums (uncredited) accompany her on most tracks. The arrangements sound rich and full, and it’s refreshing in this era of manufactured pop divas to hear Caressa’s powerful alto and graceful falsetto hit all the notes without benefit of autotune.
Female singer-songwriters traditionally choose from a handful of pre-circumscribed roles for themselves in their songs: The victim, the virginal princess, the sexual predator. Caressa epitomizes today’s modern woman, perfectly willing to hook up but only on her terms. On the opening “All Of Me,” she lays out her dreams and desires and suggests that she “might just follow” her wooer home if – and only if – he meets her standards. She invites her prospective mate to dance with her, dream with her, burn with her, if he’s willing to make that commitment. Caressa’s lively fingerpicked guitar style here mimics the sound of bluegrass banjo, and in so doing deflates another stereotype: That girls can sing but can’t really play their instruments. Caressa’s style incorporates folk, country, blues, and a hint of jazz, not unlike early Joni Mitchell.
“Livin’ Free” burns with a bluesy fervor, channeling the spirit of Janis Joplin and recalling recent American Idol winner Crystal Bowersox. Themes of nature and embracing the sea and earth run through much of Caressa’s songwriting, and on this track she’s spreading her wings and reveling in the beauty around her. But she finds that the joy she feels is fettered by the fact that she has no one to share it with, and loneliness will also become a recurring theme in these songs. The gritty edge to her vocals juxtaposes nicely to her free-flowing acoustic guitar.
The addition of bass and drums fills out “Empty Nest,” which isn’t about parents losing their children to adulthood but rather how the onset of adulthood has left Caressa alone and struggling with the challenges of independence. “I don’t know what I’m doing but I’m doing my best,” she wails on the chorus.
That theme is repeated on “Northern Sky,” a country-western flavored rocker with thumping bass in which Caressa bemoans that she’s “just about as alone as alone gets” in Alaska, far from her home and praying to the Northern sky for solace. But there’s no trace of self-pity in her confident and life-affirming vocal; when she sings “I’m alone” at the song’s crescendo, she crows as if she’s proud of her independence.
The funky, hard-rocking “Silver Bells and Salty Seas” adds some distortion to Caressa’s vocal, as she gets down and dirty declaring her love to choppy riffs and pounding drums. This is far and away the most aggressive and angriest track on the album, as Caressa embraces her inner Britney Spears to snarl and purr to her lover.
“Disaster” slows things down and strips the arrangement back to just acoustic guitar. Caressa’s gliding vocal describes an ill-fated love affair, and again the theme of growing up and exposing oneself to life’s rigors assesses itself: “I thought I was learning how to live, but I guess I was just inviting disaster,” Caressa sings, her voice aching with regret and anguish. Her powerful vocal is accentuated by the doleful minor key melody hammered out on acoustic guitar.
Set to a sprightly waltz tempo, the album’s title track, “Wanderlust,” deals with the longing for freedom that brought her to Alaska. “Wish that I could write a happy song in the face of all this angst,” she sings. “Cause this need to be free is something of a drug, and I want more.” But again, there’s no sense of sorrow; instead, her uplifting voice embraces her restlessness.
The nearly eight-minute “Postcard from Homer, AK” really strikes a Joni Mitchell chord; just voice and acoustic guitar, Caressa hammers out blues chords to a wayward lover; “I never want to see you again unless it’s all the time.” Like a short story, the song eschews verse/chorus/verse conventions and simply unfolds like one of Bob Dylan’s early talking blues. The girl has a lot to get off her chest, and this is the song where she does it. The lyrics fade out and Caressa lets her guitar do the talking for the final few minutes of the track, letting the music communicate the urgency, longing, and passion of her feelings.
Caressa’s Wanderlust introduces an inspired songwriter, an excellent singer, and a gifted musician to the world; fans of traditional folk as well as latterday female troubadours like Ani DiFranco and Melissa Et - Ariel Publicity

Caressa has played in Homer for the past few years. She used to call Fairbanks her home, and before that, Los Angeles. Her friendly voices invites you into the world of her songs. This album was released in 2009, but I only recently got a copy when she came up here and played some shows with me.
There are intricate guitar picking rhythms and commendable performances from her rhythm section on this record. Her playful flirtation comes across in lyrics such as, “If you talk to me sweetly, I just might follow you home.” Illustrations of Alaska are in the poetry of her lyrics, local bars, trailer trucks, ocean waves, winter, wind and mountains are used as characters in her songs. The production is most exciting on Empty Nest, which is busy, but gives lapses in intensity and allows the rhythm to be fluid to bring
Jazzy drums from Matt Farnsworth and banjo by Caressa herself on Wanderlust bring more fascinating textures and sonic accouterments. In Postcard from Homer, Ak, she demonstrates that she can balance tenderness and fury, “I never want to see you again, unless its all of the time.” In the last minute of this song, Caressa lets go of rhythm and plays some wild Kaki King-like guitar pyrotechnics. I hope a future album would explore these directions. I know she can play some wild stuff, and hope she doesn’t dismiss that kind of playing as “messing around.”
She has a percussive rhythm guitar style and carefully enunciates her delivery of clever lyrics, in these ways she has been compared favorably to Ani Difranco. It’s a good comparison if it helps more people listen in, but I like Caressa better.

- Isaacparis.Wordpress.com

FAIRBANKS - Alternative folk rocker Caressa calls Homer home, but her Alaska roots began in Fairbanks. And even though she lives in Los Angeles, Alaska is where her heart is.

Caressa (who goes by her first name only, but is otherwise known as Caressa Starshine) first fell in love with Alaska on a summer Kenai River vacation when she was 10. Green was her favorite color, and while in Alaska she saw combinations of green she never thought were possible.

In 2003, she moved north to study at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She graduated in 2007 with a degree in cultural anthropology with an emphasis in ecology and moved to Homer shortly after that.

“I had this love affair with the ocean,” she said.

“I couldn’t handle being 350 miles from the ocean.”

In Homer she connected with the vibrant arts scene, inspiring her to write songs. Last year, her first album, “Wanderlust,” was released with the help of local musicians Matt Farnsworth and Atz Lee Kilcher. When she tours, it’s a solo affair, but don’t expect just a girl with a guitar singing Alaskana music.

Alaska influences her work, but the songs focus on the ocean, the land and love and loss. You won’t find a cliché about Alaska life.

“It changes, it very much reflective of whatever I may be going through and processing at the time,” she said. “It’s how I create them as I matured and moved and had different life experiences.”

These are not simple acoustic songs. Caressa doesn’t think her music fits into one specific genre. “Alternative folk” is her best description, but her songs bend genres. Her rich, husky voice plays easily over both up-tempo acoustic guitar and grungy punk rock. At her performance, Caressa will perform tracks off “Wanderlust” but also a few new songs.

She has been participating in the national “February Album Writing Month,” which encourages artists to attempt to compose 14 songs in 28 days. At press time, Caressa had two songs written with seven days left, but she said she planned to crank them out quickly — especially with the help of an external mic connected to her iPhone.

“(I) just step out of the box of how I create stuff,” she said. Caressa is excited to return to Fairbanks and share her music. She hasn’t been up since graduation.

“I hope people come out,” she said. “I can’t come up here often, but I want Fairbanks to know that ‘I super love you!’”

Contact features writer Suzanna Caldwell at 459-7504.

IF YOU GO

What: Caressa

When: 10 p.m. Saturday

Where: The Marlin, 3412 College Road

Tickets: $5

Information: www.caressastarshine.com


- Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Here is the full list of 2011 Rasmuson art award winners:

Distinguished Artist Award ($25,000)

Ray Troll, visual arts, Ketchikan

Fellowships ($12,000)

Kate Boylan, bead artist, Homer

Steven Godfrey, ceramics, Anchorage

Deborah Head, basket weaver, Craig

Allie High, traditional artist, Wrangell

Bobby Itta, traditional artist, Barrow

Rosemary McGuire, writer, Cordova

Mavis Muller, impermanent basket maker, Homer

Jeff Silverman, filmmaker, Anchorage

Project Awards ($5,000)

Earl Atchak, carver, Chevak

Megan Behnke, actor, Juneau

Ruth Biden, visual arts, Fairbanks

Caressa Bohrer, composer, Homer

James Brashear, ceramics, Fairbanks

Sarah Cohen, visual arts, Homer

Ryan Corarro, puppeteer, Juneau

Jill Flanders Crosby, dance, Eagle River

Brandon Demery, actor, Juneau

Nicholas Galanin, visual arts, Sitka

Andrew Heist, ceramics, Juneau

Eowyn Ivey, writer, Palmer

Alexander Lewandowski, jewelry, Ester

Erica Lord, performance and visual arts, Fairbanks

Elena Lukina-Shelt, composer, Anchorage

Kylie Manning, visual arts, Juneau

Michael McIntyre, composer, Bethel

Melissa Mitchell, composer, Anchorage

Kay Parker, traditional arts, Juneau

Patrick Race, media arts, Juneau

Mollie Ramos, writer, Valdez

Lacie Stiewing, visual arts, Fairbanks


- Anchorage Daily News

FAIRBANKS - Alternative folk rocker Caressa calls Homer home, but her Alaska roots began in Fairbanks. And even though she lives in Los Angeles, Alaska is where her heart is.

Caressa (who goes by her first name only, but is otherwise known as Caressa Starshine) first fell in love with Alaska on a summer Kenai River vacation when she was 10. Green was her favorite color, and while in Alaska she saw combinations of green she never thought were possible.

In 2003, she moved north to study at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She graduated in 2007 with a degree in cultural anthropology with an emphasis in ecology and moved to Homer shortly after that.

“I had this love affair with the ocean,” she said.

“I couldn’t handle being 350 miles from the ocean.”

In Homer she connected with the vibrant arts scene, inspiring her to write songs. Last year, her first album, “Wanderlust,” was released with the help of local musicians Matt Farnsworth and Atz Lee Kilcher. When she tours, it’s a solo affair, but don’t expect just a girl with a guitar singing Alaskana music.

Alaska influences her work, but the songs focus on the ocean, the land and love and loss. You won’t find a cliché about Alaska life.

“It changes, it very much reflective of whatever I may be going through and processing at the time,” she said. “It’s how I create them as I matured and moved and had different life experiences.”

These are not simple acoustic songs. Caressa doesn’t think her music fits into one specific genre. “Alternative folk” is her best description, but her songs bend genres. Her rich, husky voice plays easily over both up-tempo acoustic guitar and grungy punk rock. At her performance, Caressa will perform tracks off “Wanderlust” but also a few new songs.

She has been participating in the national “February Album Writing Month,” which encourages artists to attempt to compose 14 songs in 28 days. At press time, Caressa had two songs written with seven days left, but she said she planned to crank them out quickly — especially with the help of an external mic connected to her iPhone.

“(I) just step out of the box of how I create stuff,” she said. Caressa is excited to return to Fairbanks and share her music. She hasn’t been up since graduation.

“I hope people come out,” she said. “I can’t come up here often, but I want Fairbanks to know that ‘I super love you!’”

Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Alt folk rocker Caressa returns to Alaska roots
- Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Consider for a second the many names people have tried to give the oddity of Homer. Whatever it is, it's accompanied by an ever-changing population of rovers on the hunt. Consumed by the desires to see who and what is really out there, one singer/songwriter embodies that migrant search with an ageless voice through the get-together she calls "The Wanderlust Lounge."
However, don't assume she's lost just because she's searching — she knows exactly where she is.
Caressa, (who goes by just her first name as a performer), came to Alaska from the bowels of Los Angeles — escaping the intensity of California for the quiet authenticity, freedom and space of Alaska. It's a place she sees plenty of possibility as she meets people and plays her music. She has a penchant for it. She's with it and aware. She's an idealist who sees real possibilities in just about everything and has a lot to say.
"I see my music as an outlet for the truth I'm constantly searching out," said the 22-year-old. "I have a strong belief in my capacity to create joy. I feel I can do a lot with this short life."
Each Thursday, Caressa pulls together musicians for casual play at the Down East Saloon. Last week's Wanderlust featured Caressa and the only local musician with his very own fan club, Matt Farnsworth of Three Legged Mule and Yellow Cabin. Before they played, Caressa fed her audience Jewish cuisine — a rare chance for most to pair a knish with beer. As far as authenticity goes, Caressa said growing up Jewish has helped shape who she has become so far. Religion is nothing she's ever tried to escape, and she keeps in touch with her roots. However, it's undoubtedly not the lens through which she views the world. Her lens is constantly changing — sometimes faster than she can keep up with, she said. And following what she sees through that lens, this hedonistic and whimsical songwriter, along with her dog "Chloe," do what they want, when they want.
The whole idea of Wanderlust was to continue to meet as many interesting people as she can while she's here.
"I want to make as many beautiful connections as possible, to share my individuality. I want to make fulfilling music that makes people look inward," Caressa said.
"I do have the potential to do awesome things, and to benefit others and myself," she said. And through her pursuit, she wants to inspire others to pursue their own greatness.
Her songs are thick enough to stick a fork in and eat. Her lyrics inflame buried recollections, and recover them from your subconscious. Those songs are often brought on by love, Caressa said. Love affairs with people and the places she travels are catalysts of her creativity.
Big influences at an early age included The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Bessie Smith. She's newly inspired by punk rock, and wears a pin that boldly claims, "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." As a young adult and songwriter through wartime, Caressa sees an opportunity to try and make sense of it all by taking a stance.
"The punks demanded change. Our world is in a state where it's really up to individual people to get off their asses," she said.
Caressa has recorded scores of her songs, some of which can be heard at www.artistlaunch.com/Caressa.
There, she offers this; "I don't want to convince anybody of anything — I just want to present beautiful possibilities where perhaps someone didn't see any before."
Wanderlust Lounge: Down East Saloon on Thursdays. - Homer Tribune