We Are Golden

.
By Jonathan Zwickel
Special to The Seattle Times

Back in June, We Are Golden officially premiered in Seattle with an unintended but apropos bit of absurdity. The seven-piece cabaret-pop ensemble played a couple songs at the Columbia City Theater as part of "Big Night Out," a monthly TV variety show that airs on the Seattle Channel. Headlining the night: Vashon Island master hand-puppeteer Clay Martin.
"You ever see 'Spinal Tap'?" asks We Are Golden pianist and arranger Gretta Harley over coffee and juice at Caffé Vita on Capitol Hill. Adopting a Cockney accent, she quotes a famous line. "If I told them once, I told them a thousand times! Put Spinal Tap on top, puppet show on the bottom!" She and singer Sarah Rudinoff share a laugh. "We were joking about that, like, yes, what a great first gig."
"And of course it was on TV," Rudinoff adds, "so our friends who didn't get to see us live were like, "Nice, opening up for the puppets.' "
That's showbiz, and these two definitely know it.
Rudinoff, a self-described "power-belter," has extensive background in theater and performance art. She's a megawatt personality of classical proportions that, decades ago, would've been lauded as an "entertainer" and won admirers in Tinseltown or Vegas or Broadway. She is gifted with a singing voice that can only be described as "big," which is not to say that it lacks any flinty nuance or soulful shading. She gained renown with fringe theater performances at offbeat spots like Re-bar and On the Boards, as well as a starring turn in the more mainstream "Smokey Joe's Cafe" at the 5th Avenue Theatre. That Rudinoff — who's lived and worked in Chicago, New York and L.A. — operates within the scrappy Seattle scene is both a mystery and a triumph.
In contrast, Harley seems custom-built for the city. She's an 18-year musical veteran who saw Soundgarden at the Central Tavern her first day in Seattle. She played guitar in several grunge-era rock bands and more recently has taught composition at Cornish and penned music for the Seattle Chamber Players. Where self-taught Rudinoff answers to a general artistic intuition, Harley has played and studied music all her life. In conversation and on stage, the pair compliments each other easily, comically.
Harley and Rudinoff are at the core of We Are Golden, a year-old project that commingles their talents into saucy mini-dramas backed by clarinet, cello, piano, guitar, upright bass and drums. Their self-titled, five-song debut EP flaunts a rich, klieg-lit sound akin to strings-laden indie crossovers like Beirut and DeVotchKa, or theater-geek indie innovators like Stephin Merritt and Baby Dee.
"I can definitely see that there's this Weimar Republic cabaret attitude in there," Rudinoff says. "But if you take it all together, with the blues elements and the rock elements, there is a melodic pop sense to all the songs."
This is a special kind of pop, Rudinoff-style, that clings happily to the impudent, theatric fringe she's staked her living on.
"When we were doing [the song] 'Allen in February and March,' it was this really fun classical pop arrangement," she says. "It would probably be our radio-play song." Except halfway through the jazzy, smoldering spited-lover's ballad, she drops the F-word. Goodbye radio-play aspirations, hello indie cred.
We Are Golden return to Columbia City Theater to celebrate their EP release on Thursday. There are no puppets on the bill.

- Seattle Times

By Kurt B. Reighley

First, forget everything you know about Sarah Rudinoff. If you're an ordinary Seattle music fan, that should be easy. Aside from a brief slot supporting Miranda July at Neumo's in May, Rudinoff's forays into familiar rock stomping grounds have been few.

For members of the theater community, the task is tougher. The recipient of the 2004 Stranger Genius Award for theater, the actress has won raves for her flawless timing, and signature blend of bravura and vulnerability. Then there's her singing voice, which benefits from both of the aforementioned assets, as well as its distinctive low register and sheer oomph. Time and again—in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the Leiber and Stoller revue Smokey Joe's Cafe—she's proven her versatile musical chops, fusing elements of rock, blues, and jazz. For her 2006 Theatre Off Jackson cabaret, Last Year's Kisses, she put her indelible stamp on material associated with Jeff Buckley, the Gits, Roberta Flack, even Sonny and Cher. Most recently, Seattle Magazine found its way to Rudinoff, crowing in its 2007 Music Portfolio that "her big brassy vocals sound like they were soaked in Jack Daniels." Cliché, sure, but her inclusion alongside jazz great Ernestine Anderson as one of "Two Women with Pipes to Die For" reflects the growing interest in Rudinoff's vocal talents.Now, after years of finding herself in other people's songs, Rudinoff has begun searching for songs in herself. Words and music by Sarah Rudinoff, written and performed with collaborator Gretta Harley.
"I never had a band before," admits Rudinoff. "Hedwig was my first experience playing with a real rock band, not theater people who kind of play music." Last Year's Kisses, which featured pianist/guitarist Harley as musical director, Gina Mainwal (Sweet 75) on drums, and Nancy Wharton (Walkabouts, Laura Veirs) on bass and cello, further stoked Rudinoff's desire to make music outside her usual beat.
The final push came when she sang at the closing of the Mirabeau Room last fall. "That show was magical for me," she says. "I woke up the next morning and cried for two hours."
"You do theater, and people like it and they get something from it," she continues. But compared to the feedback of a live club audience? Ha. "Music is so direct and emotional." That September night, well-wishers—both speechless and babbling—got up in her face; the next day, e-mail continued flowing in. Voilà, the light-bulb moment! "Why haven't I pursued this?" she mused. "I have to figure out a way to make music primary for me. Period."
Sean Nelson—singer, songwriter, Stranger alumnus, and Rudinoff fan—saw the Mirabeau gig and talked with her immediately afterward. The obstacle she faced, as he saw it, wasn't her reputation but her repertoire: material from Hedwig and other covers.
"That sort of thing is what all her friends already expect from her, the Sarah shtick," Nelson says. "She's plainly bored with filling that expectation, so my thought was, why not confound it?"
So what if her cachet at On the Boards doesn't immediately translate to the Crocodile? "Rather than being discouraged by that, she should be emboldened," Nelson adds. "She doesn't have to be the theater version of herself. She can create a new version." Music offers a chance of a rebirth of sorts for Rudinoff. To accomplish it, original songs are essential.
The actress is innately musical. She frequently bursts into song to illustrate her points, and discusses Joni Mitchell with the same reverence and ardor adolescent boys devote to sex. But she can't read music and has no background in theory. Which is where Harley—a veteran of local bands including Maxi Badd, Danger Gens, and Eyefulls—complements her. Versatile on piano and guitar and boasting a degree in composition from Cornish, the dark-haired rocker has proven an ideal foil. In addition to Mitchell, their musical points of intersection include Pixies, Prince, and Frank Zappa.
The duo spent this summer woodshedding and hammering ideas into finished songs. At Harley's insistence, and despite hectic schedules, they met two or three times a week. "Even if it was just for an hour," says Harley. "[Writing] was constantly on our minds that way."
So far, they have a handful of finished works. Their rate of progress varies, depending on whose perspective you get.
"The first time we got together, Sarah said, 'Here are some lyrics,'" remembers Harley. Rudinoff sang a chunk of a melody, and she elaborated on it. "I sat down at the piano, and an hour later, we had about half of a song, with chords and harmonies. And Sarah said, 'God, songwriting takes a long time.' After an hour. I thought we were kicking ass!"
They are. After performing the show-stopping "Just Every Fisher's Folly" as part of the You're on the List program at Bumbershoot a few weeks ago, Rudinoff was once again deluged by e-mails and text messages of encouragement.
Nelson caught an earlier airing of one of the Rudinoff/Harley songs at the Miranda July appearance, and was similarly impressed. "Though she was plainly super-nervous, it went great," he says. "There was a lot of her in [the song]: very frank, very coarse, but very tender. And the audience ate it up. It seemed to bode well for the future."
The future includes making a demo, and, more importantly, nailing down a band moniker. "As far as that is concerned, the big thing is defining myself outside of my name," Rudinoff says. "We're going to play throughout the winter and spring under whatever name we come up with and we're going to create our own thing." She is confident that people will find the music, regardless of billing. "There will be some who've already seen my shows that have had music in them, and there will be new people," she says.
Another audience to learn—and unlearn—all about Sarah Rudinoff.

- The Stranger

SeattleNoise: We Are Golden
By: Gene Stout

WHAT: Seattle duo We Are Golden, featuring Sarah Rudinoff (lead vocals) and Gretta Harley (piano, guitar and backup vocals). The two musicians have drawn inspiration from such artists as Frank Zappa, Prince, the Pixies and Joni Mitchell. The duo currently performs with cellist Brendan Kellogg, multi-instrumentalist Rob Witmer (Saint Bushmill's Choir), drummer John Hollis (Sister Psychic, Ian Moore), guitarist Aaron Taylor (The Radio Nationals) and bassist Dave Pascal (Diane Schuur, The Shirelles).

SOUND: A blend of rock and blues rhythms, classical arrangements and "a dash of Weimar Republic cabaret attitude."

QUOTE: "Gretta and I met two years ago playing for a cabaret I was doing called 'Last Year's Kisses' that was all cover songs," Rudinoff says. "I have never had a collaboration that was so abundant and easy at the same time. When we sat down and started writing music together, it had that extra spark. After acting professionally for so long and sort of dabbling in music, I decided this is where I wanted my focus to be. I think we have found something unique with our love of melody and personal lyrics and also loud clanging rock."

RELEASES: "We Are Golden," the group's first EP, was recorded at Jupiter Studios with producer Martin Feveyear, who has worked with Modest Mouse, Brandi Carlile, Jesse Sykes and many others.

FUN FACTS: Actress, singer and writer Rudinoff has worked in Los Angeles and New York, as well as Seattle. Her raw, powerful vocals have won her fans wherever she has performed. She is a Stranger Genius Award winner. She sang and played Yitzhak in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" at Re-Bar. Harley, a co-founder of nonprofit organization Home Alive - Seattle P-I