Sillken

Congratulations – Sillken has reached the target!
This week starts with great news for our community – just now, SellaBand artist Sillken has reached her funding goal of € 3,000.00! Curtains up for Sillken, hailing all the way from Canada! The concept behind her album project will evoke emotion yet cutting edge folk pop that will rouse our senses and hopefully get our feet tapping! With haunting electric violin, unique vocals and harmonies, her EP will definitely present a fresh perspective on the indie music scene. We wish Sillken all the best of luck for her recording session! - Sellaband

URB has had a few hip-hoppers and electro cats from Canada on the Next 1000.....but...folk?
That's right. Sillken is right out of Canada with acoustics and violins
as smooth as the wind. Michele and Ken, the two brains behind Sillken,
manage to capture a sound similar to that of The Dirty Three, with
vocals to back it all up. As if you were listening to a soundtrack of
your life, Sillken is there to calm your body and clear your head.
Check out "Adios Barcelona Adios".


- Reviewed by Ben Meredith

"Home" - Really nice and intimate vocals. Great sounding track.

"Way Of Life" - Great sound and musical emotion going on. Excellent work and vocal delivery.
- 16th Annual Billboard Song Contest review

"Michele writes reflective lyrical ballads, always charged with a message, which may keep you thinking for days or minutes - her writing transcends time. She has a unique vocal styling that provides a strong clean delivery for her tunes."--Brian Gladstone, Renaissance Cafe, Toronto. - Brian Gladstone

"A couple of Michele's songs have been playing in my head since I last heard them. I find her music gentle with an edge and provocative; its like the total is more than the sum of the parts; it wants you to come closer and feel it; and the feeling gets you high."--Tim Mar, Little Mountain Neighborhood House, Vancouver. - Tim Mar

VANCOUVER — When singer-songwriter Michele Schmidt became ill last year, she found Cody.

A three-month-old abandoned German shepherd/Husky cross, Cody was just sitting there, "grooving away" in his pen at one of Vancouver's BC SPCA shelters, waiting for someone to give him a hug.

"It was love at first sight," Schmidt says.

Over the past year and a half, Cody became a big part of Schmidt's life, helping her through her recovery period, keeping her company and giving her an opportunity to get some fresh air as they went walking around the Burnaby Mountain trails.

"He is the best dog," she says enthusiastically. "Everybody who sees him loves him. They just want to take him home."

Schmidt and her husband Ken Cade form music duo Sillken, a melancholy folk act that will be performing at St. James Hall this weekend alongside a variety of local singer-songwriters found on the fourth instalment of the Very Vancouver Christmas CD series.

The album series, which also features artists such as Gillian Hobbs, Olga Osipova and Ranj Singh, is the brainchild of producer Jenn Ashton and Rave On Studios and, for the past four years, has served to raise funds for the BC SPCA at Christmas time.

"I think it's an important charity simply because animals can't speak for themselves," Ashton says.

"Animals are as important as children for a lot of people, so it's a charity that touches everybody."

Ironically, Ashton contacted Sillken to be part of last year's CD and concert around the same time they adopted Cody, which gave the duo a special reason to jump on board.

"Maybe she saw the picture of our dog on our website and thought it was a great match," Cade says with a laugh.

"We just jumped at the opportunity because it was a subject close to our hearts and Jenn is a very community-oriented person. She's very good at bringing people together. It's a privilege to work with her."

For Ashton, the concert does much more than raise awareness for the BC SPCA and the animals it rescues: It is also a great way to give some local rising stars an opportunity to get more visibility.

"The album is not only to give money to charity, it's also to introduce local performers to a wider audience," Ashton says. "So we're hoping that this show will introduce these artists to a whole other group of people.

"It's an all-ages event, so we're hoping families will come — I'm thinking there's going to be some kids there, which is great because, funnily enough, a lot of these people have a 'closet' kids' song."

Cade adds the Christmas period is always a great time to showcase the BC SPCA's work, since it is a time when many families consider purchasing a pet as a gift.

"Unfortunately, because of that, a lot of people end up giving them back. They take them for the wrong reasons," he says, adding that going through the adoption process gives people a greater understanding that owning a pet is also about being able to meet the needs of the animal.

"It's the people that go to the SPCA that are willing to put the commitment in."

For Schmidt and Cade, life with Cody has brought nothing but joy, and you can often see the young pup (who is now almost two years old), tagging along when the band performs, making new friends and inspiring its owners.

"I'm just so thrilled that the SPCA is there," Schmidt says, "that there is a place for rescue animals and an opportunity for individuals and really give them a new lease on life."

fmarchand@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun - Vancouver Sun

SOME GREAT LOCAL PRESS!
Larry Wright/BURNABY NOW
Category: Music
http://www.canada.com/burnabynow/news/artsandentertainment/story.html?id=411fca7c-2745-4383-b40f-1192de4fdb2e
Christmas CD helps animals in need
Nice Price, BURNABY NOW
Published: Saturday, December 06, 2008
Video: Christmas CD...
The Christmas spirit of Lower Mainland artists has been captured by a Burnaby studio and released on a Christmas CD.
The third volume of A Very Vancouver Christmas features 13 original Christmas songs and was produced at Rave On Studio in Burnaby.
A Very Vancouver Christmas is raising money for the B.C. SPCA.
All proceeds from CD sales go to the B.C. SPCA.
Producer Jenn Ashton said she was excited about the new release, which surpassed previous volumes.
"This is the best year so far. We've really got some good names on board," she said.
The project started three years ago when Ashton and a friend thought of putting a CD together for charity.
She thought that a charity CD would achieve twin goals of promoting the artists and helping a good cause.
A longtime dog owner, Ashton chose the SPCA as the charity to benefit, and then the hard work started.
"The first one was kind of tough. A lot of people don't want to do something for free, and it was kind of like I had to prove myself. I asked a lot of people, and we managed to scrape together nine songs," she said.
Since then, the project has proved that it is not going away. Ashton said Volume 2 sold 500 copies, and she is still selling CDs, often to faraway lands. Last week, Ashton had contact from three Australian radio stations and one in Japan.
Artists have been keen to jump on board as the compilation gathers momentum.
"The first year I had to beg friends who are mostly musicians, but this year I only had to ask a few people. I was getting tons of e-mails of people wanting to be on the album," he said.
Early signs point to a successful year, and hundreds of CDs were pre-sold before release.
Other artists on Volume 3 include Adrienne Pierce, Karen Fowlie and Sillken.
This is the first year the CD has been finished on schedule, and to mark the occasion Ashton has lined up a series of showcases leading up to Christmas.
There will be two shows in downtown Vancouver on Dec. 14 at the Railway Club and Dec. 18 at the Roxy. Tickets are $8 and $10 respectively.
The CD will be on sale for $10 at all Lower Mainland SPCA shelters, some retailers in Burnaby Heights and at the CD website at www.veryvancouverchristmas.com.

- Burnaby Now

http://www.rosslandradio.com/node/959
"A VERY VANCOUVER CHRISTMAS VOL. 3" CD review
December 10, 2008 - 3:10pm � john kereiff
"A VERY VANCOUVER CHRISTMAS VOL.3" Various Artists (Rave On) *****
Every December we are expected to buy the same holiday songs over and over again. Sure there might be a hundred different versions of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" by different artists, but it's the same tune. So color a Scrooge like me tickled to find this in the mail, featuring 13 original holiday songs by Vancouver-based artists.
The list of artists includes Rick Fines, Melissa-Rae Anne, Bobby Richards and tons more, but the biggest attraction is that these are original tunes, not remakes of the same old stuff. That this is music for a good cause is beside the point, but still worth noting. Every cent of the ten bucks you spend on this disc goes to the BC-SPCA. The tunes are mostly in the country/ folk/ pop veins- so if these are sounds you enjoy hearing in your home, and your copies of Bing Crosby's "Merry Christmas" or "A Charlie Brown Christmas" need to take a breather, put this on- it's excellent.
If you're having trouble spotting this in stores, try www.veryvancouverchristmas.com.
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