Carrie Elkin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, September 27, 2010
Contact: Ellen Stanley, (651) 644-4161, promotions@redhouserecords.com

RED HOUSE RECORDS SIGNS CARRIE ELKIN

St. Paul, MN -- Red House Records is pleased to announce the signing of Austin, TX singer-songwriter Carrie Elkin. Called "spellbinding" by BBC Radio, her insightful songwriting, soulful vocals and lively performances have won her fans across North America, Europe and the UK. Her 2007 self-released album, The Jeopardy of Circumstance, received rave reviews and landed her official showcases at South By Southwest (SXSW) and the International Folk Alliance. Hot on the heels of her recent success, comes Carrie's new album Call It My Garden. Produced by fellow Austin artists Danny Schmidt and Colin Brooks (The Band of Heathens), the release is scheduled to come out in early February 2011 and is sure to be a hit with folk and Americana fans.

Carrie keeps a rigorous tour schedule, performing solo and with such notable acts as Jesse Winchester and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band as well as Red House artists Greg Brown, John Gorka, Storyhill and Danny Schmidt. For her full tour schedule and more info about her music, visit www.carrieelkin.com. To set up an interview, contact Ellen Stanley at (651) 644-4161 or - Red House Records

THE MUSIC ALWAYS COMES FIRST, of course. But for me, the difference between a great live show and just a plain old good concert has a lot to do with whether the performers genuinely seem to be having a good time. If they seem bored and slightly indifferent, I always take it personally. If they're genuinely excited, well, so am I. There were Crosby, Stills and Nash in 1977 at the Chicago Auditorium; Joe Walsh [at Milwaukee's Summerfest]; The Grateful Dead in Des Moines; the Boss, performing on the shoulders of a fan in the crowd at the old McNichols Arena in Denver...Bonnie Raitt at the old Capitol Theater in Madison, Wis.; Muddy Waters in the UW field house, Susan Tedeschi laying down some smoldering blues at Howelsen Hill; and most recently, Carrie Elkin and the Loose Men making believers out of a packed house in the DepotArt Center in Steamboat Springs. Carrie Elkin and the Loose Men? You'd better believe it. Rarely have I witnessed an artist bare her soul as completely as Elkin did Saturday night before a sometimes rowdy audience that was heavily salted with friends, family and even a few strangers. Nobody paid a cent to get in the door. Was she excited to release her new CD "the Waltz," in front of a live audience? If human auras were visible, Elkin would have had a blue buzz of electricity surrounding her body, and sparks would have been flying. If she hadn't been anchored to some veteran side men...her feet might have left the ground. Elkin could have floated away, she was so excited. However, she wasn't nervous, at least I don't think so–otherwise, her pure voice could never have conveyed the power it did Saturday night. Elkin, a native of Cleveland, who resides in Steamboat by way of Taos, confessed she'd had a sleepless night Friday out of anxiety that no one would show up at her free show. She even told the audience that she dreamed her head fell off and her teeth fell out. Yikes! She needn't have worried. Elkin's band Saturday night was a hybrid–the result of joining members of two local bands, Loose Change and Worried Men. They could have called themselves Worried Change, but that name doesn't have the same symbolism as Loose Men. So, it was an easy choice, and the band was smokin'. Elkin deliberately attempted to horrify her mother (who was tending bar during the concert) by announcing that she was perspiring heavily (I think she might actually have used the word sweat) and could use a towel to wipe her armpits. The audience laughed its approval. [I]t was as though she was sharing personal secrets with her therapist, only she was standing in front of hot stage lights and at least 150 noisy fans. [I]f Elkin can come across with the kind of stage presence she showed Saturday night on a regular basis, she's going to achieve widespread acclaim. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that in November 2004, Elkin's artistry is on a par with that of Bruce Springsteen and Bonnie Raitt. Not yet, anyway. But she is a serious songwriter and a gifted vocalist. And with a veteran band behind her, Elkin is going places. Just wait and see. Or better yet, don't wait. Plan to see her next public performance. But because her next local date hasn't been booked, you could trot over to All that Jazz and pick up a copy of "the Waltz." Monday, November 15, 2004 - Steamboat Pilot & Today written by Tom Ross, Staff Reporter.

Carrie Elkin’s fourth release resounds with a sense of warm, earthy poetry that combines a strong folk/soul framework, her own sweet-toned but characterful vocals and quietly offbeat writing that never seems wilfully eccentric. The all-original collection was recorded in Austin, Texas, but significantly Elkin herself has lived and worked variously in Ohio, New Mexico, Colorado and now back in Austin. At times it’s hard not to draw comparisons with the subtle, rootsy eclecticism of Devon Sproule, particularly on the lightly jazzy Did She Do Her Best, which also showcases Elkin’s rich, rounded accent. Her compelling musical range also takes in the sparse, fragile piano-led opener Obadiah, as wispy and tremulous as anything by The Last Town Chorus, the pretty, child-like folk of Questions About Angels and the beguiling Celtic-influenced roots lilt of Roots & Wings, with its gutsy guitar twang and soaring melody. The album highlight must surely be the bittersweet country-blues bar-room anthem Ode To Ogallala, with its easy melding of co-producer Colin Brooks’ lap steel and a spirited chorus of backing vocals. Elkin’s loose, conversational lyrics trip easily off the tongue as she states, ‘It’s the end of the Texas trail, and it’s where I begin / A town too tough for Texans; Lord I think I’ll fit right in’. The tone takes a more melancholic turn with the brittle, darkly resonant ballad Year Before the War and Black Lung, a bleak but soulful tale of a miner’s early death. Elkin skilfully handles a redemptive conclusion however, and the uplifting album closer Gospel Song is soaked in laid-back bluesy charm. Mention must also be made of the fearsome multi-instrumental talents of Brooks (Dobro, lap steel, guitars, piano, dulcimer, bass, percussion, organ, background vocals) and co-producer, engineer and mixer Mark Addison (percussion, organs, mellotron, melodic, bass, bouzouki, guitars, piano, harmonium), whose colourful tones make an essential contribution to an instantly likeable, clever and rewarding roots album. HC - Maverick Magazine

Carrie Elkin displays the kind of likable and accessible acoustic country and folk pop that has already established the careers of lesser talents. The Jeopardy of Circumstance, her fourth album, while disappointingly weighing in with only ten tracks, happily gets the duff number over with at the off (the spacey “Obadiah”). That out of the way, Elkin then sets out to thrill with a series of perfectly formed musical vignettes, where her county accented voice swoops, soars and excels. Accompanied in the main by Colin Brooks and Mark Addison, Elkin presents herself as one of the most accomplished of America’s songwriting breed. - Rock-n-Reel Magazine

This album is an absolute treasure trove of riches: the songs, the singing and the music all have complexities that take time to explore and offer new possibilities of appreciation and interpretation each time round. Broadly country in character, but not shackled by any genre constraints, 'The Jeopardy of Circumstance' is an impressive collaboration between Carrie Elkin, songwriter and singer, and her production team of Colin Brooks, Mark Addison and Amy Burchette.

Colin and Mark play an impressive array of instruments between them - drums, guitars, keyboards, lap steel, bouzouki - and each song seems to get a separate combination of these elements.Mostly, the arrangements are quite full with lots of detail as one instrument after another appears for a few bars. Even the songs that sound sparser, such as 'Black Lung' - about her father's death from a mining related disease - have a surprising number of instruments deployed, though this song retains its stark dignity throughout. Another song, 'Roots and Wings', has an arrangement that reflects the title quite magnificently. Having laid its roots in a simple, understated melodic construction, the song steadily takes wing with soaring guitars before being brought back to its roots as Carrie quietly re-states her opening stanza.

Throughout, the music surprises; never quite doing the obvious thing, or at least not just the obvious thing. This is true of Carrie's singing, too. Her style is pretty straightforward and unaffected but can move from a delicate fragility to a strong, vibrato-rich forcefulness as the occasion demands. Best of all, she is fantastically expressive, adding so much to the words that appear on the page - an actor's facility for making the lyric come alive. Her lyrics are observations of ordinary lives, quite oblique at times; I mentioned that 'Black Lung' was about her father's death but given that at least two songs, written in the first person, are about men, it could be that she just feels more comfortable constructing her stories as if she's living them herself. Each song is nicely constructed, not obviously conventional but, like The Band's songs of old , having a clear idea of shape and rhythm that is so satisfying to listen to. I'm not sure quite how long she's been playing music, but this is her fourth album and reflects an accumulated skill in achieving on disc the song in her head. These are songs that grow on you and have it in them to become well-loved friends = excellent stuff. - Whisperin' & Hollerin'

One Night at Momo's

Three Straight Sets, Connections Galore
And A Kerrville Twist

Austin, Texas

By Arthur Wood

The original plan was simply to go see Danny Schmidt, a 2007 Kerrville Folk Festival Songwriting Contest winner, sing some tunes in a "round" at an Austin, Texas, venue called Momo's, which is located on West Sixth Street in the heart of the city. The date was Tuesday, May 20, two days before the 2008 Kerrville festival was scheduled to spring into action one hundred-plus-miles away at the Quiet Valley Ranch out in the Texas Hill Country. Sixth Street can be a wonderful and diverse trip if you are in any way musically inclined, with just about every genre imaginable purveyed nightly in its clubs, bars, and restaurants. The entrance to Momo's is located just off Sixth Street on Rio Grande and involves ascending a flight of stairs to the club's extensive indoor and outdoor floor areas.

I had contacted Schmidt a few weeks prior to leaving this sceptred isle for my 2008 Kerrville/Texas sojourn, and closed my initial communication with the enquiry, "Is woman who rocks in her chair while singing, headed Kerr way this year?" His reply amounted to, "Actually she's singing at Momo's later the same night as my show, if you feel like staying up late. She'll be with her band...it should be good." Schmidt's reply confused me somewhat and with no time prior to my departure for further communication, I concluded, "The woman must have hit the big time." The truth of the matter proved to be somewhat simpler. Carrie Elkin had simply relocated from Boston to Austin and recruited locally based players - but more of that later. Proof of her presence in Austin manifested itself within a few minutes of arriving at Momo's when I found myself, standing at the bar, in conversation with Carrie Elkin.


Danny Schmidt, Betty Soo, and Richard Bowden

I guess you're wondering what the specific thrust of this piece is going to be. What it's not going to be is a blow-by-blow account of the shenanigans that unfolded onstage at Momo's over the ensuing handful of hours, but rather a synopsis of what I saw and heard entwined, with reviews of the latest recordings by the artists who performed that evening. Sitting in the middle of the stage, as it were, between two roses, Schmidt's in-the-round companions were, to his right, Vanessa Lively, and to his left, Betty Soo. Lively opened the first round followed by Schmidt and Soo. While introducing her first song Soo mentioned that the guy sitting in to her left, with his back against the wall (at that end of the Momo's stage), was "Richard." Now Richard was wearing shades, but if you are sitting on the stage of an Austin club holding a fiddle, then you have to be Richard Bowden. And if you are at all familiar with top-notch, Texas-born fiddle players from the closing decades of last century, Bowden comes from the top of that heap.

Okay, back to the round. We reviewed Danny Schmidt's most recent release, Little Grey Sheep, back in mid-January this year [click HERE to read the review]. A Chain Unbroken is San Antonio-born-and-bred Vanessa Lively's sophomore recording. Strange to relate, particularly for an Austin-based musician, Lively's second album was recorded over a two-month period during the winter of 2007 in a studio in Mossley, a suburb of the city of Manchester, in North West England. Stefan Pope, an Englishman that Lively befriended in Ecuador while recording her debut, Let Me Rise, assisted Lively to produce both releases. A Chain Unbroken features ten Lively-penned originals, plus a cover of Oaxaca, Mexico-born, Lila Downs' hypnotic, Latin-flavoured "Dignificada" (translates as "Dignified"). The latter lyric relates how Digna Ochoa, a human rights lawyer, was assassinated in her Mexico City office during October 2001. Released earlier this year, highlights on A Chain Unbroken include "The Only Day There Is," "Before Her Time," and the saxophone-propelled album closer "Alleluia." Lyrically, Lively's songs feature repeated references to love, grey skies, and the wind, but rarely possess tangible storylines. The album liner consists of basis fold-over that, artwork apart, mainly features track-by-track details of the session players, studio, etc. The song lyrics are posted on Lively's website (vanessalively.com).

On a typically blowtorch-hot Hill Country afternoon, four days after my Momo's escapade, sheltered under the relatively new corrugated metal and timber canopy that tops the Kerrville campgrounds located Threadgill Theatre, as a finalist in this year's New Folk Songwriting Contest, Betty Soo performed "Glass Heart" and "Never The Pretty Girl." Some thirty hours later Soo was, deservedly, confirmed as one of this year's half-dozen New Folk winners. A week earlier Soo enjoyed similar success in the Singer/Songwriters Contest at the Wildflower Arts & Music Festival, held annually in Richardson, Texas. A Korean-American, Soo grew u - Folk Wax Review by Arthur Wood

One Night at Momo's

Three Straight Sets, Connections Galore
And A Kerrville Twist

Austin, Texas

By Arthur Wood

The original plan was simply to go see Danny Schmidt, a 2007 Kerrville Folk Festival Songwriting Contest winner, sing some tunes in a "round" at an Austin, Texas, venue called Momo's, which is located on West Sixth Street in the heart of the city. The date was Tuesday, May 20, two days before the 2008 Kerrville festival was scheduled to spring into action one hundred-plus-miles away at the Quiet Valley Ranch out in the Texas Hill Country. Sixth Street can be a wonderful and diverse trip if you are in any way musically inclined, with just about every genre imaginable purveyed nightly in its clubs, bars, and restaurants. The entrance to Momo's is located just off Sixth Street on Rio Grande and involves ascending a flight of stairs to the club's extensive indoor and outdoor floor areas.

I had contacted Schmidt a few weeks prior to leaving this sceptred isle for my 2008 Kerrville/Texas sojourn, and closed my initial communication with the enquiry, "Is woman who rocks in her chair while singing, headed Kerr way this year?" His reply amounted to, "Actually she's singing at Momo's later the same night as my show, if you feel like staying up late. She'll be with her band...it should be good." Schmidt's reply confused me somewhat and with no time prior to my departure for further communication, I concluded, "The woman must have hit the big time." The truth of the matter proved to be somewhat simpler. Carrie Elkin had simply relocated from Boston to Austin and recruited locally based players - but more of that later. Proof of her presence in Austin manifested itself within a few minutes of arriving at Momo's when I found myself, standing at the bar, in conversation with Carrie Elkin.


Danny Schmidt, Betty Soo, and Richard Bowden

I guess you're wondering what the specific thrust of this piece is going to be. What it's not going to be is a blow-by-blow account of the shenanigans that unfolded onstage at Momo's over the ensuing handful of hours, but rather a synopsis of what I saw and heard entwined, with reviews of the latest recordings by the artists who performed that evening. Sitting in the middle of the stage, as it were, between two roses, Schmidt's in-the-round companions were, to his right, Vanessa Lively, and to his left, Betty Soo. Lively opened the first round followed by Schmidt and Soo. While introducing her first song Soo mentioned that the guy sitting in to her left, with his back against the wall (at that end of the Momo's stage), was "Richard." Now Richard was wearing shades, but if you are sitting on the stage of an Austin club holding a fiddle, then you have to be Richard Bowden. And if you are at all familiar with top-notch, Texas-born fiddle players from the closing decades of last century, Bowden comes from the top of that heap.

Okay, back to the round. We reviewed Danny Schmidt's most recent release, Little Grey Sheep, back in mid-January this year [click HERE to read the review]. A Chain Unbroken is San Antonio-born-and-bred Vanessa Lively's sophomore recording. Strange to relate, particularly for an Austin-based musician, Lively's second album was recorded over a two-month period during the winter of 2007 in a studio in Mossley, a suburb of the city of Manchester, in North West England. Stefan Pope, an Englishman that Lively befriended in Ecuador while recording her debut, Let Me Rise, assisted Lively to produce both releases. A Chain Unbroken features ten Lively-penned originals, plus a cover of Oaxaca, Mexico-born, Lila Downs' hypnotic, Latin-flavoured "Dignificada" (translates as "Dignified"). The latter lyric relates how Digna Ochoa, a human rights lawyer, was assassinated in her Mexico City office during October 2001. Released earlier this year, highlights on A Chain Unbroken include "The Only Day There Is," "Before Her Time," and the saxophone-propelled album closer "Alleluia." Lyrically, Lively's songs feature repeated references to love, grey skies, and the wind, but rarely possess tangible storylines. The album liner consists of basis fold-over that, artwork apart, mainly features track-by-track details of the session players, studio, etc. The song lyrics are posted on Lively's website (vanessalively.com).

On a typically blowtorch-hot Hill Country afternoon, four days after my Momo's escapade, sheltered under the relatively new corrugated metal and timber canopy that tops the Kerrville campgrounds located Threadgill Theatre, as a finalist in this year's New Folk Songwriting Contest, Betty Soo performed "Glass Heart" and "Never The Pretty Girl." Some thirty hours later Soo was, deservedly, confirmed as one of this year's half-dozen New Folk winners. A week earlier Soo enjoyed similar success in the Singer/Songwriters Contest at the Wildflower Arts & Music Festival, held annually in Richardson, Texas. A Korean-American, Soo grew u - Folk Wax Review by Arthur Wood