Rebecca Pronsky

Rebecca Pronsky's album Only Daughter is beguiling and enjoyable. Following 2011';s strong Viewfinder, she has hit the mark again with Only Daughter. Pronsky has a voice that's full of character, sensitive and rich, and her songs — many of which have a rare modern quality of being short and sharp —are stimulating and catchy...Only Daughter is a complex and enjoyable album. - March 19

“Rebecca Pronsky could probably sing the phone book and bring out subtle nuances in the listings with her penetrating voice. Her guitar-slinging husband Rich Bennett would throw in some rhythmic leads to bolster them too. The two of them, and a few friends, have been making beautiful music together on three albums (plus a few EPs and live disc) by using the best qualities of pure country and singer-songwriter styles.” - May 2013

The performance itself was sublime. On stage in layers of cardigan –red & white for the fashion note takers- and thick tights and boots on a freezing cold night, Rebecca was more than ably supported by guitarist and foil Rich Bennett. His playing was a feature of the evening. Sporting a hairstyle that would not look out of place in a Johnny Cash band from the ‘50s, he provided a musical wash over proceedings that slotted perfectly with the imagery of Miss Pronsky’s lyrics. Playing, lead, rhythm, wah wah you name it he could do it.

Then Rebecca herself. She has one of those voices that reaches deep into your soul as she draws you into her world. Her songs which, even she admits, fall into two camps. There are the political finger pointers like Cold Hard Cash or Hard Times here dedicated to Bernie Madoff and “growing up songs” which to me are her strength, such as Better That Way, Best Game In Town and the sublime Day Of The Dead. Another sign of a great artist is to make other peoples songs her own. This Rebecca did to great effect on Lucy Wainwright Roche’s Mercury News and Glenn Tipton by Mark Kozelec from The Red House Painters.

Leaving us with a new song aptly called Snowing Sideways the audience didn’t really care what category she did or didn’t fit into. They knew that that they had just witnessed a wonderful performance. - March 2013

4 STARS

The lighter songs are the ones where she only gets depressed sometimes is a nice, self-deprecating line from Rebecca Pronsky.

She's joking, of course. As a marketing strategy it would give entirely the wrong impression because although there's a certain wariness, and indeed weariness, in Pronsky's lyrics, she presented a great variety of musical moods to the denizens of Jordanhill, who packed into a room where Pronsky previously played to an audience she could have counted on her fingers.

Word about the singer-songwriter who has traded in her Brooklyn cowgirl country style for a more all-encompassing Americana approach had clearly got out, and she repaid the promoter's faith with a couple of absorbing sets that were enjoyable not just for the musical partnership between Pronsky and her husband, guitarist Rich Bennett, but for her ditzy humour and entertaining between-song chat.

Bennett's superb electric guitar work has to take a lot of the credit for the duo's ability to switch between folky-pop songs with a cutting lyrical edge through vintage Brill Building-esque songcraft and echo-haunted rockabilly into the sort of rawkin' out that fills stadia, let alone lounge bars, on The Garden from Pronsky's latest album, Only Daughter.

It's Pronsky's writing that invites such scope, though, and she creates strong images with words she wraps in direct, easily digested melodies and sings with both warmth and steely conviction. Big City Lights had the audience turning into a choir but for an example of Pronsky's class as a writer it would have been hard to beat Fragile World, with a languid, loosely Latin-American vibe that could have been tailor-made for a Stan Getz tenor solo. - March 2013

(4 STARS) Viewfinder gives rein to Pronsky's country leanings on a superbly crafted set of descriptive and atmospheric songs. With a jazz-trained voice that's capable of delivering plenty of convincing emotion to her material, Pronsky's performance stands head and shoulders above most of her contemporaries, especially in combination with her superlative writing skills. Pretty close to perfection, the whole package is nicely paced with a well-judged balance of subject matter that deals with the familliar themese of love and loss without recourse to cliche. An album that comes into sharper focus with each hearing. Viewfinder reveals Pronsky to be an outstanding lyricist with the ability to stop you in your tracks. - May/June 2011

Brooklyn singer/songwriter Rebecca Pronsky shuffles through the dark territory where old-fashioned rock n roll, country, and folk come together. It's roughly the same territory where Neko Case and Kelly Hogan operate, and any accusations of carpetbagging are shot down by both the conviction of her songs and the strength of her voice.
- February 2010

This Brooklyn native should be a household name as far as we’re concerned... ‘Viewfinder’ is a superb record by an accomplished musician - it’s obvious she’s playing music since the year dot ... on track to become one of America’s foremost modern folk songstresses. - February 2012

4 STARS. Her clear strong expressive vocals also have an appealing languorous feel that only seems to enhance the strength of these beautifully written songs. If not totally dark many of the songs are at least marked down with an air of gloom, although a beautiful gloom, fighting back against lifes kicks but with a realisation that all this is doing is just stemming the tide! Overall they almost give a nicely balanced down to earth view of life that seems quite realistic but without any great optimism, more in hope than anything else. Despite hailing from Brooklyn she seems to have come naturally to her rural earthy feeling music with it’s emotional flow and fluidity that seems, just as you think a little optimism might be about to be revealed, to hold back! People often describe particular artists music as being ‘real’ and this certainly is. In a strange way that slightly dark haunting feel of the album is made more so by it’s beautiful sounds of Rebecca’s exquisite vocals and the gorgeously tuneful lead guitar rather than it’s strong themes. An album of rare beauty that demands repeated listening sessions! - January 2012

(4 STARS) This is 'proper' country music, not the sort that harks back to the past, but the sort that's urban as it is rural, not afraid to be sophisticated. This is a light and airy album that comes out of the speaker like the first spring breeze, blowing away the cobwebs and breathing new life into everything it touches. Pronsky is the complete package: interpreter, writer, singer and (together with guitarist Rich Bennett, whose licks and leads are a critical part of the music) producer. A great way to start the year. - March/April 2012

2011: Viewfinder, Rebecca Pronsky's third full-length, gets off to a strong start with "Hard Times"; its galloping pace, brooding pedal steel and firm vocals set the tone for the darkness to come. But the disc's first peak comes just a song later, with "Day of the Dead." By the time she reaches the album's other side, she's been on the wrong end of a breakup, the wrong part of town and the wrong point of a love triangle. So when Viewfinder rolls to a close with the grateful, loping "Good Life," you know she's earned it.

2008: TOP TEN ALBUMS OF THE YEAR CRITIC'S LIST -- Rebecca Pronsky struck a deep chord on last year's Departures & Arrivals, with a little twang and a lot of empathy. - March 2011

Rebecca Pronsky knows her way around a metaphor, and though residing in Brooklyn, she sings like she has Nashville in her blood. She can easily remind listeners of Neko Case, both in terms of her ability to belt the lyrics and the way she stands out above the sea of thoughtful women with guitars. The songs follow a tension-and-release set-up much like traditional country music, but her writing and that voice keep them from sounding standard. Pronsky seems the type of singer whose pipes can cut through the background noise at the bar and lure listeners to the stage, where her lyrics sustain interest for a whole set. - July 2010

Pronsky is an allusive, poetic lyricist who isn't interested in providing clear, linear meanings so much as impressions, dreams, and moods. Pronsky makes observations in a clear, resonant tenor, strumming her acoustic guitar over a rhythm section, while Bennett provides the musical color on lead electric guitar, piano, mandolin, and organ. Whatever the dissatisfactions the singer expresses, Bennett's playing provides a counterweight; life may not be good, but the music can be. - AMG April 2011

"In 'Hard Times,' the opening track from her fine new album Viewfinder, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Rebecca Pronsky addresses the struggles of a generation attempting to get by. Over a propulsive beat and a wash of noirishly twangy guitars, Pronsky echoes sentiments familiar to many: "Numbers used to be so small: pennies, nickels, dimes / Now, the same collectors call, fallen on hard times." As is frequently the case with the best topical music, "Hard Times" feels personal, anecdotal and emotional rather than devolving into a didactic indictment of the institutions at fault. A commanding, low-register warble, Pronsky's voice conveys the wisdom of experience without crossing the line into defeatist world-weariness. To the contrary, Pronsky's song is more rallying cry than lament: "Get yourself together," she implores, "'cause it's hard times." - NPR Music April 2011

One of the finest singer-songwriter records of 2011. The opening song, "Hard Times," is an instant attention-getter and country hit. It aptly introduces the album’s solid country influence and overall theme of lost innocence, cold reality, doubt and relationships. - April 2011

It's quality! 'Hard Times' rocks along like a 50s honky tonk thing. 'Aberdeen', another fine tune. Definitely wanna keep an eye out for her - April 2011

"Talented local folk-pop songsmith Rebecca Pronsky explores a country-tinged sound. Her writing is literate, passionate, and wry." - Live preview, runs often

Her third album, 'Viewfinder' is music for the generation; largely a reflection of recession, war and loss and how it has affected our lives. However, to read between the lines and decipher the abstract and metaphorical content of her words is to take heart. She is an optimist. Her heart is strong but tender. Her words are at first disillusioned but then point to a better future, her melodies both exhilarating and haunting and her delivery immaculate... It’s clear that this lady’s crooning chords have been honed to perfection. And it’s not for the ipod shuffle setting either. Although there are potential hits at every turn something about the gradual unravelling of her perceptions makes this more of a start to finish in a comfy armchair listen, or indeed a dimly lit basement bar with a gin and tonic. Its thinking music while so many of her contemporaries remain background... Currently touring the UK (I caught her at Camden Town’s Green Note), it seems she is finally ready to take us by storm over here. - April 2011

If you're any sort of a country music fan, the opening bars of Viewfinder will have you drooling with pleasure. There's at least a couple of songs here, Hard Times is one and Aberdeen, with it's driving bass line, is the other, which ought to pick up plenty of radio play - memorable and distinctive enough to ensure that she's much better known by the end of the year. In her songs here there is a persistent air of loss of innocence, of being aware of becoming a grown-up. Whether it's the financial collapse, the nation at war or the emotional growing up of learning to live with loss, this feels like the literate voice of a generation coming of age in the new millenium." ~ John Davy, No Depression - March 2011

In "Hard Times," the opening track from her fine new album Viewfinder, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Rebecca Pronsky addresses the struggles of a generation attempting to get by. Over a propulsive beat and a wash of noirishly twangy guitars, Pronsky echoes sentiments familiar to many: "Numbers used to be so small: pennies, nickels, dimes / Now, the same collectors call, fallen on hard times."

As is frequently the case with the best topical music, "Hard Times" feels personal, anecdotal and emotional rather than devolving into a didactic indictment of the institutions at fault. A commanding, low-register warble, Pronsky's voice conveys the wisdom of experience without crossing the line into defeatist world-weariness. To the contrary, Pronsky's song is more rallying cry than lament: "Get yourself together," she implores, "'cause it's hard times." - NPR.org

"She has her own unique sound... it grabs you and doesn’t let go. She’s got great songwriter qualities and her supporting band is excellent... Rebecca delivered such a great piece of music, that we are very much looking forward to her concert in Belgium and her upcoming album release."

- Concert Preview - Belgium

A huge voice with songs to match: file under talent yet to be discovered. The songs all showcase a fabulous voice that has echoes of so many – Patti Smith, Loretta Lynn, Chrissie Hynde, Carole King, Neko Case, Bonnie Raitt, Natalie Merchant and even Mari Wilson. There is something very familiar about the vocals and that familiarity is born from the power and sensitivity of the delivery. The song writing plays to obvious strengths; jazzy inflections and pop/folk tunings designed to highlight... This is a definite grower as the songs reveal their secrets with repeated listens... a cut above your average female singer songwriter... I bet she’s phenomenal live. - Departures & Arrivals review

Her poetic depth would be enough for me, but that voice! If you're half as blown away by Rebecca Pronsky as I was, you'll still never forget her. - Knoxville, TN

Listening to Rebecca Pronsky’s new EP, The Best Game in Town invokes probably the strongest feelings of western nostalgia you could possibly experience in the comfort of your Brooklyn home. Despite her NY roots, her passionate vocals and textured sandy tones vibe a southern belle who just wandered off the range to find herself eye-level with a mic... Her heart-lorn loneliness combined with her openly friendly and observational disposition draw the listener into her graceful lyrics.... Once again, Rebecca Pronsky has proven that songwriting is her game and she knows how to deliver it best – through impressively simple production." [Rated A] - EP Review, 2009

"Rebecca Pronsky has a little extra twang in her step. Departures & Arrivals [is] her most polished effort yet with a distinct country-pop flavor... With slicker, ballsier vocals and jazzier progressions than your average folksinger, she bridges the gaps between folk, Americana, jazz, and indie pop." - Advanced press for "Departures & Arrivals", August 2007