Rose Paradise

Rose Paradise – “Bloom” (album premiere)

by Hollie Daugherty

The lyrics of “California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade” from The Decemberists’ debut album set the scene for our introduction to this new artist. “Take a long drive with me / on California One / from Golden Gate to roaring cliff-side” calls to mind picturesque vistas while driving on that famed stretch along the California coastline. The highway cuts through the small seaside town of Stinson Beach, which happens to be the hometown of emerging singer/songwriter Rose Paradise.

When we first heard her music, we wondered if perhaps she had been inspired by that song during a long drive herself. Then we realized this new talent was born a year after The Decemberists recorded their Cutouts and Castaways album, so she isn’t old enough to drive yet.

That’s right: Rose Paradise is barely a teenager, and she already has two albums in her discography. The thirteen-year-old multi-instrumentalist released her debut LP in 2014; her latest, Bloom, is out tomorrow. It further explores the themes she knows and loves: nature and the beauty found in its elements.

Growing up along an idyllic California beach has given young Rose an exposure to ample sunshine. Its brightness and energy feature prominently on this album of piano-focused indie pop. With crystalline vocals and poetic lyrics, Rose Paradise seems poised to join the pantheon of her female pianist/singer predecessors. The music here has the playfulness of Fiona Apple or Regina Spektor while her vocals (especially her falsetto on the second track, “Mountainside”) are reminiscent of Sara Bareilles or Sharon Van Etten. She even tips her hat to an icon of female singers with her cover of Stevie Nicks’ “Wild Heart.”

The album’s standout track, “Sand and Snow”, shimmers with delicate strings and breezy vocals. Just as sun rays dance across water, this song floats with a graceful, mellow warmth. Its extended length (7:28) makes it ideal for long sunset drives along any scenic route, no matter how far you might be from California One. Rose Paradise finds inspiration in her surroundings and that harmony with nature is evident in her songs. The 13 tracks on Bloom (one for each year of her life) were recorded at Panorama House north of San Francisco where My Morning Jacket recorded their latest album, The Waterfall. The scenic beauty surrounding the recording studio was a perfect fit for Rose Paradise, the new voice of California’s youth and beauty brigade.

Bloom is available April 15 from iTunes. You can follow Rose Paradise at her social media links below.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Soundcloud - The Revue

Press Play: Rose Paradise fills debut album ‘Bloom’ with songs of young love

By Paul Liberatore, Marin Independent Journal


This week: “Bloom,” Rose Paradise, independent, iTunes, $9.99

Hear her live: “Best of the IJ Lobby Lounge,” 8 p.m. April 22, Showcase Theater, Marin Center, San Rafael, $20.


Rose Paradise, the youngest performer to date in the IJ’s Lobby Lounge video concert series, has just released her first full-length album, “Bloom,” an apt title for a blossoming young talent.

Rose was just 11 when she sang a couple of her original songs for her Lobby Lounge show two years ago, accompanying herself on piano. Now 13, she shows with this auspicious collection of coming-of-age songs just how much she’s grown as a singer and songwriter since her debut EP, “Pacific Blue,” in 2014.

Blessed with a distinctive voice, she owns a resonant alto that stands out from the crowds of melisma-manic female pop stars. All you have to do is hear her sing a few notes and there is no doubt you’re listening to Rose Paradise, an advantage that can serve her well in the competitive world of popular music.

It’s a little unusual for a girl barely in her teens to pen an album of a dozen love songs, but Rose manages to convey the uncertainty, the questioning, the frustrations of young romance in songs like “Let Her Know,” with its advice to a youthful boyfriend: “If you love her/You can’t let it go/You’ve got to let her know.”

She expresses the same impatience with an inexperienced potential paramour in the song “Mixed Signals,” singing, “Can’t you give please give me a clue because, boy, I’m into you?”

Oddly enough, one of the strongest tunes on the album is “Old Love,” which goes to show that even teenage relationships can get stuck in a rut. “I’ve been trying to forget about you,” she sings, “but I’m stuck in our old love.”

The album is attractively packaged with photos of Rose at sunset on Stinson Beach, where she lives with her family. It was recorded in the Panoramic House studio in Stinson with Rose on piano and keyboards, Joe Boyle on guitar and bass, Michael Pinkham on drums and percussion and Joe Kyle on violin. Amber Pastor added background vocals on “Old Love.” Rose’s mother, Ruth Paradise, served as executive producer.

Rose includes one cover, “Wild Heart,” penned by Stevie Nicks, an obvious influence. But it’s superfluous. Rose’s songs are so compelling in their own charming, power-girl way that this sophomore record doesn’t really need a song by anyone else. - Marin Independent Journal

Young performers from the IJ Lobby Lounge video concert series will take to the stage at Marin Center’s Showcase Theater in April for a show that will make newspaper history.

The video concert series and now the live show, “Best of the IJ Lobby Lounge,” are a first for the Independent Journal, which is producing the show in partnership with Marin County’s Department of Cultural Services.

Since March 2014, the IJ has produced more than 20 video concerts in the newspaper’s lobby — and soon in the studio of the Community Media Center of Marin — showcasing the talents of young Marin singers, songwriters and musicians, most of them teenagers.

And now, on the second anniversary of the Lobby Lounge series, the IJ will present some of those popular performers. The event is set for 8 p.m. April 22 at the Showcase Theater.

The lineup includes Tamalpais High School graduate Matt Jaffe and his band, the Distractions; Redwood High School’s high-powered High Tide Band and the Novato rock and reggae group Ridgway.

The Lobby Lounge discovered some extraordinary singer-songwriters who will now make the leap from our virtual music venue to the live Showcase theater stage. They include teenage sensation Carolyn Sky, Redwood High’s Noa Z, 13-year-old Stinson Beach star Rose Paradise, Nashville’s Keeley Valentino and recent Redwood High grad Nick Lopez.

We have recently added the multi-award-winning teen a cappella group ‘Til Dawn to the lineup, and there are more to come. Paul Liberatore, the IJ’s music columnist, will emcee. Buy tickets here. - Marin Independent Journal

Press Play: 11-year-old Rose Paradise's phenomenal 'Pacific Blue'

By Paul Liberatore

liberatore@marinij.com @LibLarge on Twitter
Posted: 12/04/2014 03:19:53 PM PST# Comments

Rose Paradise "Pacific Blue"

At 11 years old, Rose Paradise remains the youngest singer-songwriter we've presented in our IJ Lobby Lounge video concert series. And now the Stinson Beach girl has a debut EP that is as phenomenal as the show she did for us back in April, accompanying herself on piano.

Her eight-song EP, financed by a successful Kickstarter campaign, includes three of the original songs she performed in the Lobby Lounge, including "Maybe," an environmentally conscious tune inspired by a German company, Little Sun, that makes solar-powered lamps.

Rose has the ability to write melodic, age-appropriate songs about the natural world and the people around her that adult songwriters would be wise to emulate. On "Storm Clouds," for example, she uses turbulent weather as a metaphor for the rain that falls into everyone's life. She wrote the heartfelt title track, "Pacific Blue," about the struggle of a whale that washed ashore in Stinson Beach last fall.

"You're last dying breath and your struggle to survive brought tears to peoples' eyes," she sings in what she calls a "bluesy coastal California" style that can only become more distinctive as she gets older.

On "Gravity," she employs nursery rhyme references to once again discuss the human condition. And the tune has an ear candy hook that could be a hit on pop radio.
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Listening to this extraordinary little album, it's hard to imagine that this girl isn't even a teenager yet.

"I feel lucky to have discovered my talent and passion for making music early in life," she told us when she appeared in the Lobby Lounge.

With her parents, she toured California this summer in a vintage Scotty trailer, playing festivals, farmers markets, house concerts, and busking for audiences up and down the state.

Joe Boyle and Ethan Okamura mixed the songs in Bolinas and filled out the sound, adding guitar, bass and drums, It was mastered by Robin Livingston.

Of course, it's too early to predict what Rose will do with her talent as she gets older. But if she stays on this musical path, it's a good bet that some day we'll be proud to say we knew her when.

To learn more about Rose, go to facebook.com/RoseParadiseMusic.

The IJ Lobby Lounge is a new program of the Marin Independent Journal. We invite local musicians, many of them young and up-and-coming, to perform in our newspaper's lobby and record those mini-shows for our readers to watch online.

To see Rose Paradise and our archive of other Marin musicians, go to marinij.com/lobbylounge.

This week: "Pacific Blue," Rose Paradise, independent, CD Baby, CD $12, $7.50 download - Marin Independent Journal

Our youngest performer so far, 11-year-old singer-songwriter Rose Paradise, is next up in our IJ Lobby Lounge, singing a set of her original songs and, appropriately enough, a cover of Tom Petty's "American Girl."

Rose lives in Stinson Beach and describes her sound has "bluesy coastal California."

"I feel lucky to have discovered my talent and passion for making music early in life," she says.

Accompanying herself on piano, she recently won "best performance" at the West Coast Songwriters show at the Fenix nightclub in San Rafael. Rose writes haunting melodies and inspiring lyrics. For example, one of the songs in her Lobby Lounge set, "Maybe," was inspired by a German company, Little Sun, that makes environmentally conscious, solar-powered lamps.

With the help of her mother, Ruth Paradise, Rose launched a Kickstarter campaign to help finance her debut EP, "Pacific Blue." The title track is about the struggle of a whale that washed ashore in Stinson Beach last fall. Here's the Kickstarter link.

Rose reached her goal of $1,800 in a matter of days, and she has already recorded one song for the EP, "Storm Clouds," at a studio in Bolinas.

With her parents, she'll be touring California this summer in their vintage Scotty trailer, playing festivals, farmers markets, house concerts and busking for audiences up and down the state.

But you'll see her first in the IJ Lobby Lounge.

The new Marin IJ Lobby Lounge program features talented Marin musicians who perform in the newspaper's San Rafael lobby. For details and previous performances, visit www.marinij.com/lobbylounge.

Contact Paul Liberatore via email at liberatore@marinij.com - Marin Independent Journal