Raison D'Etre

The three hyper-talented women of Folk trio Raison D'Etre have been astounding audiences with their gorgeous three-part harmonies for more than a decade and a half; regular visitors to the Cincinnati Museum Center will know them from their frequent appearances as a musical adjunct to various historical exhibits. With five albums and a shelf full of awards to their credit, Raison D'Etre will Folk your world.

You'll Dig It If You Dig: The Roches tribute the Andrews Sisters at an Emmylou Harris/Linda Ronstadt all-night backyard Folk slam. (Brian Baker)
Brian Baker - CityBeat/Midpoint Music Festival Preview (Sep 26, 2007) - Brian Baker, CityBeat

Today's Indie Artist Suggestion: Raison D'Etre
Posted at 02:20 AM on April 14, 2010
This month's Themed Show is "Women in Harmony", and who better to represent that than the 3 women of Raison D'Etre. Hear two of their songs online today on the show (3-7 PM EST, noon-4 PM PST) at www.womenofsubstanceradio.com. A simple folk melody with lush, complex harmony is this Kentucky trio's trademark. Violet Rae, Vickie and Roberta each bring something valuable to the creative process; each is an award-winning songwriter, accomplished instrumentalist, and talented singer. The women profess that singing together is thier reason for being, which is why they chose the name Raison D'Etre (meaning "reason for being" in French). Although they are best known for charming folk tunes with down-to-earth lyrics, they throw in the occasional swing tune like "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" or "In the Mood" which lend themselves splendidly to the trio's tight three-part harmonies.
Bree Noble - Women of Substance Radio (Apr 14, 2010) - Women of Substance Radio

Queens of "Hearts"
Northern Kentucky's Raison D'Etre has released its latest CD, Hearts Content. The trio performs Sunday at 8:15 p.m. as part of the Leo Coffeehouse music series at Old St. George in Clifton Heights. Friday, the band participates in a benefit for Women's Way at the women's retreat center, Grailville (grailville.org), in Loveland. The group performs at 7:30 p.m., followed by Katie Laur and her All-Girl Bluegrass Band (call 513-923-1414 to reserve tickets).

The Folk/Americana-flavored group features the accomplished vocal and instrumental skills of area musicians Roberta Schultz, Violet Rae Downey and Vickie Ellis, who offer some of the finest three-part harmony singing you'll likely ever hear. On Hearts Content, the trio mixes well-selected covers with their own equally effective compositions. The loose theme of the album is "love," be it for a person, a book or a simple cup of coffee. With an unfussy mix of lilting piano and acoustic guitar (plus the occasional bass, banjo, mandolin and light percussion), the troupe's harmonies glow unimpeded. Highlights include Downey's strident "I've Got the Heart," Schultz's gorgeously melancholic "No Blues On a Mandolin" and beautifully executed renditions of Neil Young's "After the Goldrush," Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" and a divinely stirring A Cappella take on Stephen Foster's "Hard Times Come Again No More." Local fans of the trio albums made by Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris will be happy to know that there's a comparable version in their own backyard. (raison3.com) - Mike Breen, CITYBEAT

Our Review:

Sweet! Raison D'Etre, which in French means "the reason for being," may just give you reason to listen to holiday music this Christmas season. Raison D'Etre is also an extraordinary women's trio(Vickie Ellis, Roberta Schultz, and Violet Rae Downey) from Northern Kentucky. In Christmas Belles, these women offer voices that are crystal pure and harmonies that are bright, tight, and bursting with beauty!

These artists sing with a warm folksy feel, but deliver pristine clarity. I have tremendous admiration for these women--their craft is extremely difficult, and they excel at every level. For the most part, they sing a cappella, which forces every vocal wart to the forefront, but Raison D'Etre (so far as I can tell!) is a delightfully wart-free group. Their voices blend in virtually seamless precision, and their harmonizations are liquid gold.

The 16 holiday selections err on the side of traditional folk music and are mostly well-loved carols. This album is jam-packed full of crowd-pleasing moments; for example, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" has an excellent chorus, with lower harmonies dropping in deliciously on "Shall come to thee, O Israel..." The vocal blends in "Light of the Stable" are also priceless, and the spiritual numbers, like swingin' stars, shine especially brightly here ("Sweet Little Jesus Boy," "Mary Had a Baby," and "Go Tell It on the Mountain").

In the end, you can just sense that these women LOVE what they are doing, and that emotion permeates every note. Such fun! Although life perpetually raises perplexing questions with few answers, Raison D'Etre's Christmas Belles may give you reason for being well-satisfied, musically speaking, throughout the holiday season.

--Carol Swanson


More about:


From the liner notes:

Raison D'Etre:
Vickie Ellis: vocals, keyboard
Roberta Schultz: vocals, guitar
Violet Rae Downey: vocals, guitar

All arrangements: Raison d'Etre
Bruce Ellis, engineer

From the Website:

Three women who know their reason for being: they live to sing together.

Raison D'Etre is a women's group from Northern Kentucky specializing in tight vocal harmonies, introspective original songs, and a performing repertoire featuring everything from Shaker to swing.

The trio features Violet Rae Downey on vocals, acoustic guitar, and percussion, Roberta Schultz on vocals, acoustic guitar and percussion and Vickie Ellis on vocals, keyboard, (occasionally adding mountain dulcimer and autoharp.)


- Christmasreviews.com/Carol Swanson

Band: Raison D’Etre
Release: “Heart’s Content”
Label: Detremental Records

Northern Kentucky all female folk act Raison D’Etre have been recording music together for the past decade. Their experience shows on their fifth album, 14 tracks of awe inspiring folk inspired original and cover songs. The group shines on covers of Michael Nesmith's "Some of Shelly's Blues", Neil Young's "After the Goldrush", Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” and Jesse Winchester's "Nothing But a Breeze" by adding their own classically trained voices to the uniquely arranged songs. However, the groups beautiful voices and skilled musicianship doesn’t truly begin to show until originals tracks “Heart’s Content” and “Broken Radio” unleash their haunting, soulful vocal melodies. Feature guest musicians Danny Wilson on electric bass and Randy Brewer on mandolin merge seamlessly with the trio’s use of piano, guitars, banjos, and six-string mandolin to create heartwarming, folk-laden songs perfect for a cold winter’s night by the fire.
Genre: Folk
For fans of: Dolly Parton, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Folk music, and a Capella three-part harmonies
Web-site: www.raison3.com
- Cincypunk.org/Adam Rosing"No Use"

Raison D'Etre ~ Hearts Content
Date: Saturday, April 05, 2008 @ 14:22:05 EDT
Topic: Reviews


Artist: Raison D'Etre

CD: Hearts Content

Home: Wilder, Kentucky

Style: Folk

Quote: "Like a less quirky version of the Roches, their melted chocolate harmonies pour over everything."

By Jamie Anderson

This is a pleasing mix of covers and originals from a trio of women who lean toward folk with an occasional nod to country and swing. Like a less quirky version of the Roches, their melted chocolate harmonies pour over everything and frankly, if they did nothing but sing I’d be happy. In fact, one of the best cuts on the disc is an acappella version of Stephen Foster’s “Hard Times Come Again No More.” Each of their voices is distinctly different but yet they have a sweet blend. Roberta Schultz has a rich alto and Violet Rae Downey is a soprano with a lovely Patsy Cline ache. Vickie Ellis has a higher voice too, one that blends well for harmonies. (At least that’s what I think. It was hard to tell from the liner notes.)

“I’ve Got the Heart” is great for Violet Rae’s lead vocals. That, combined with a few country licks on Vickie’s keyboards and damn, it’s a nice little country arrangement. The bongos seem out of place though. A drum set or no drums at all – for a more traditional feel – would have set up the song better.

“Broken Radio” is the best written of the originals, with wistful lyrics about classic top forty, even including snippets of the lyrics. The liner notes on this are great (as are many of the songs). They say, “Roberta used to sleep with a transistor radio under her pillow tuned to a program called Moon River. It changed her circuitry.” A lot of us would nod our heads in agreement.

A couple of my favourite tunes, “Java Jive” and “Some of Shelly’s Blues” (Michael Nesmith) are included here and I’m sure they’re popular at their live shows.

“No Blues on a Mandolin” is cute and reminds me of Steve Martin’s comedy routines where he joked about how you could only play happy songs on a banjo. Somewhere there are mandolin and banjo cops who will write you a ticket for any scofflaw who dares challenge the status quo. On the next cut you won’t hear sirens but you’ll hear Randy Brewer playing some pretty fine blues licks on a mandolin in a short snippet titled appropriately “Blues on a Mandolin.” They should have included him on more cuts.

The calmness of the title cut is appealing, with lyrics extolling the virtues of a place where you can go to get away from it all and sort things out.

The ladies would have benefited from a good producer, because the arrangements all start to sound too much the same with their parallel harmonies and straight ahead instrumentation that never really heats up. I would’ve loved more syncopation on “In the Mood” and a hot solo or two on any of the songs. Some of the tunes are done too slow. While the vocals on “After the Goldrush” are pretty, they drag the song down. A faster a cappella version would’ve raised the roof.

Raison D’Etre is perfect for country fairs and folk coffeehouses. I’ll bet their live show is full of wonderful sing alongs and great stories. - Indie-Music.com