Riveting Riffs Magazine

Gretchen Parlato performs at the Bimhuis in The Netherlands, Photo by Jula Kalshoven, protected by copyright ©

Broadway Actress Sarah Rice

“He was a dashing pig,” says New York City actress and singer Sarah Rice, recalling her first role as a child when she played the girlfriend of the brick house builder in a stage production of The Three Little Pigs.

Sarah Rice would later take a more substantial step to stardom when she left the Phoenix – Tempe, Arizona area as a young woman, straight out of college, in the mid-1970s.

“I was going to school at Arizona State when I won a singing contest. The Phoenix Musical Theater had run a contest and I won first prize, which was $400. They would not give me the money until I left town, because they wanted me to use it for a career. They paid for my ticket one way and I came to New York City with $200 and two cats,” she recalls.

That bold step launched a career in which she has demonstrated excellence at her craft, as well as versatility. Ms. Rice was cast as The Girl in the Broadway production of the Fantasticks and she was the original Johanna when Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street opened on Broadway in 1979, which also starred Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury. The musical would go on to claim eight Tony Awards and nine Drama Desk Awards. Sarah Rice has performed as an Opera soloist on some of the most prestigious stages worldwide and in 2011 she took her music in a decidedly different direction with her Screen Gems Songs of Old Hollywood, winning both a Bistro Award and MAC Award for her cabaret show. Ms. Rice’s accomplishments are too numerous to note in this space, but to give the reader a small sampling of her career, consider this; she won a Theatre World Award for her role in Sweeney Todd and a Grammy Award for the Original Cast Recording of Sweeney Todd. Among the many leading soprano roles Ms. Rice has been; Marie in Daughter of the Regiment, Cunegonde in Candide, Mabel in Pirates of Penzance, Maria in West Side Story, Magnolia in Showboat and Christine Daae in Phantom of the Opera. Her dramatic roles include numerous Read More

Interview With Nena Anderson

Original songs such as, “I Fall In Love Too Fast,” “Daggers,” and “Beyond The Lights,” suggest an intimate link between the singer and the lyricist, which in this case is one and the same person, Nena Anderson, who grew up in and still lives in the California beach city of Encinitas. The eclectic singer – songwriter who is equally adept at performing Americana music as she is singing Jazz or the Blues, grew up the daughter of a surfboard shaper whose musical tastes ran the gamut from Bluegrass and Country Music, as well as The Beach Boys and The Ventures.

“I didn’t like that stuff growing up, but as you get older it comes around and you say, I love it so much, how come I hated it so much as a kid. It definitely was an influence on me,” she says of her father’s musical tastes.

Nena Anderson’s mother was the rocker of the family soaking up the vibes at concerts by The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Janis Joplin. Ms. Anderson’s mother also listened to artists such as, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. It should therefore not come as a surprise that various elements from the styles of music that her parents listened to inform the songwriting and vocals of Nena Anderson who has in the past been nominated for numerous San Diego Music Awards.

While listening to Nena Anderson’s song “I Fall In Love Too Fast,” the listener is struck by the beauty of her vocals as they are light and velvety like a chocolate ganache, lingering only long enough to make you want more. For a southern California girl who grew up by the beach, she does a good job of infusing her vocals with a twang, but then she did tour with the Johnny Cash tribute band Cash’d Out portraying June Carter.

“I Fall In Love Too Fast, is a hook that I had so many years ago and it was just this one line and the melody in that line that I had for literally a year. Read More

Mercedez-Benz Fashion Week Berlin, Germany

All Photos by Dan and Corina Lecca / Getty Images for Mercedez-Benz Fashion Week,
protected by copyright © , all rights reserved

Sarah Hethcoat's Pillow Talk

Sarah Hethcoat is a singer – songwriter who inspires you when you are in conversation with her, because she focuses on the positive aspects of the music scene and she speaks passionately about what she loves to do, to create good songs. The Los Angeles based artist, who grew up in San Francisco, turned down the opportunity to sign with a major record label early in her career, so she could retain creative control over her music and so she could present the type of public image that reflects who she is as an artist and as a person. She had a musical theater career that included being cast as Maureen in Rent when it played London, England’s West End.

Songs that she has written alone and the songs that she has co-written have appeared in film and on television and her new five songs EP Pillow Talk opens with “Scream,” a hard hitting Rock duet recorded with Ryan Hanifl. The song is introduced by cymbals, slashing guitar riffs and a kick drum. This is probably not the song you want your young children listening to as the themes are strong, but a tip of the hat to the artist that the song is devoid of any ill advised language. The listener finds themselves thrust into the midst of a love that was, a love that could be again and a love that says I have had enough.

“The song “Scream,” was written in minutes. People got excited about it and it was a strong collaboration that made sense. Ryan Hanifl is more of a composer and he writes a little more epic and when I say epic I mean big. I am much more of a storyteller, so I write more in structure. It was a good collaboration

Melissa Stylianou - Silent Movie

In a day of high tech audio and with film producers continuing to surprise us with even more impressive special effects it is interesting that Jazz singer, composer and arranger Melissa Stylianou, who lives in Brooklyn via Canada, has released an album with the title Silent Movie, a collection of original songs, cover tunes and instrumentals for which she wrote lyrics. Throughout her impressive music career Ms. Stylianou has recorded with equal aplomb Classic Jazz tunes and the music of more contemporary Pop and Rock artists.

“Jamie (Reynolds) and I started to write a song a couple of years ago and we came up with some different versions of this song “Silent Movie,” without lyrics first, just as an instrumental piece. About that time we were talking about the phenomena (that takes place) when you go to see a movie or to watch a play and how at some point your own particular story becomes transposed onto the screen and to the drama. Sometimes in the instance of watching a movie it can render it like a silent movie and at that point the sound and the dialogue are unimportant. It becomes about what is going on in your own life and your own imagination. I ran with that idea and I came up with these two people who are at a crossroads in their relationship. That is what is happening to the woman in the relationship (in the song). She is imagining that what is happening on the screen is also what is happening in her life. It is very uncertain or it was to me while I was writing it, if they were going to make it. That is how that song came together and it took us a while to get it into its final form. Jamie gave me a lot of input and feedback on the lyrics. We took it through a couple of different variations in terms of the form and the melody, before settling on this. It became a very important song for us,” she explains. Read More

Melbourne's Kate Slaney

For solo artist Kate Slaney who is a singer-songwriter from St. Kilda, a seaside resort that is also a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, it seems like a natural question to ask what direction her career has taken since she amiably parted ways with the Rock band Vicious Soir, which also featured her songwriting and guitarist brother Robert Slaney.

“I think that definitely it has taken on a new direction and one of the reasons that I wanted to do the album is because I had a number of songs kicking around for years and I had an idea of how I wanted to sound. This has really made me stretch my arms and my legs in every direction. I have come to grips with who I am as an artist, so I think the music places the lyric more centrally. The lyric is less cryptic, even though I was responsible for lyrics on the last album (a Vicious Soir release). It can be more personal when you are writing for yourself and you are not writing for the band, so you can write about topics that are less self-indulgent. Before I was always writing with my brother Robert Slaney in Vicious Soir and it was limiting in that environment. He was more the music guy and I was more the lyric girl. I am stretching myself now musically as well.”

The listener is treated to the versatility of Kate Slaney, while listening to two songs from her yet to be named album, the songs being “Primates,” and “Little Notes.” The former is a funky and up-tempo song that takes a playful look at romance. The song “Little Notes,” is slower, reflective, as the singer looks hopefully for some little sign from the one with whom she is in love that tells her he is thinking of her and Read More

Boston's Katrin Rocks

The first few lines of Katrin’s soulful vocals roll out on the song “Home,” from her new album Frail To Fearless and you know that this is going to be a special collection of songs, recorded at the Dreamland recording studio in West Hurley New York and at Jersville in Woodstock, New York and produced by Jerry Marotta. This marks Katrin’s fourth album and her first since Soul Wide Open, which caused the ears of music journalists to perk up and give her high marks for her songwriting ability and gritty and passionate vocals. All but one of the songs (“That’s The Way,” by Led Zeppelin) was written by the Boston artist who prefers to be known by just her first name.

Marotta who has worked with artists such as Peter Gabriel, Paul McCartney, Sheryl Crow and Hall & Oates and is regarded as one of the music industry’s premiere drummers, says “Katrin Roush is one of the most powerful performers I’ve come across in years. I was so fortunate to have our paths cross. There were many great moments making Frail To Fearless, when she would be playing guitar and singing and I would be at the drum kit playing and we went toe to toe. There was such a deep connection between us. She has a tremendous voice, is a great player and has remarkable presence.”

“I have got a little braver about things that I sing about. I sing about life experiences and I bring the vulnerable part of myself into my music. That (being vulnerable before an audience) is something that I feel comes naturally to me. I think that it was a shift in my own mind. I feel the most comfortable actually when I’m performing on stage. I would rather Read More

Johanna Sillanpaa In Concert

While Canadian singer– songwriter Johanna Sillanpaa, who was born in Sweden, may be trying to put a little more distance between her and writing about deeply personal songs, the centerpiece of her recent concert in Alberta, Canada was the song “Soul,” from her new album Make Of Me. It is a love song, “Nothing else seems to matter / When I’m in with you / When You’re holding me / Nothing tops a true connection / Like our two hearts in harmony / This is my soul, heart and soul / All I am / Show me yours…” Ms. Sillanpaa was at her best on this song as the audience was treated to her signature, soulful vocals. The song co-written with longtime songwriting collaborator Aaron Young, is a song whose beauty lies in the simple melody, words that are poetic and speak to the heart and instrumentals that are subtle and do not obscure the vocals. The song was performed during the first of two sets at Festival Place and featured a pretty acoustic guitar solo by Edmonton musician Jim Head.

Johanna Sillanpaa is a testament to the belief that good talent always rises to the top. Despite living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, a great city, but geographically challenged due to its distance from major music venues and cities, Ms. Sillanpaa has performed at an Olympic Games venue, a major music festival in Berlin, Germany and the Montreal Jazz Festival. Johanna Sillanpaa has also twice been nominated for prestigious national music awards in Canada.

Johanna Sillanpaa was dressed entirely in black, with the exception of a gold lame mini skirt that was worn over black leggings and in addition to Jim Head, who also doubled on electric rhythm guitar, she was backed by bass Read More

Trampled Under Foot

The song “Wrong Side Of The Blues,” showcases Danielle Schnebelen’s soulful vocals on the album by the same name released by Trampled Under Foot, as brother Nick serves up a scrumptious electric guitar solo and Danielle’s other brother Kris wields the sticks on drums. The Kansas City based trio has been turning heads with their current album, produced by Tony Braunagel and featuring keyboardist Mike Finnigan and guitarist Johnny Lee Schell, who also acted as the sound engineer for the project. Schell played a cigar box guitar on the song “Evil Train,” which was originally written by the siblings’ father Bob Schnebelen. The recording of all original songs that for the most part were written by Danielle and Nick Schnebelen also highlights the group’s diversity, as Nick takes the lead on vocals for the upbeat and lighter Blues – Pop crossover song “The Better Life.”

“Nick wrote that song and he didn’t have a very complete idea of where he wanted to go with it, but he had a solid melody and that is one of the songs that Tony (Braunagel) and I fine-tuned. I flew into LA a couple of days before the guys did, to do some vocals. Tony said the song had a lot of potential, so we should consider working on it. I went over to his house and we spent a couple of hours trying to get the words right on it. It was really fun and it was a fun song to play. We don’t have a lot of songs that are Pop Bluesy like that. It was neat writing with Tony as well, because I am not used to sitting down and doing it as a team. We have been pushing it at a lot of festivals and we have received a lot of requests for it. That is always cool with something that you write and you put your heart into it,” says Danielle. Read More

Kimmie Rhodes Interview

“Sometimes when I write a song, I write more from a real sense of what I am feeling rather than the clarity of what I want to say. I just write what I feel. Some of the songs are engaging, but they don’t tell people what to think, so they can write their own stories when they hear them. I try to leave songs open enough that you can get different levels of meaning. I think you can get more meanings from a poem or a lyric sometimes if you leave it a little more open to interpretation. Even for me as time goes by, a song opens more like a flower, as I see what I meant when I wrote it. I wrote it more from a feeling time and a concept than me saying I am going to tell you exactly what I think, because I didn’t necessarily know what I thought. I was just finding my way to the expression of something that I was feeling. I felt the song was finished and I felt the song said what I wanted it to say, but it is still open to growth,” says multi-platinum selling songwriter and singer Kimmie Rhodes.

Kimmie Rhodes, who lives in Austin Texas has had her songs recorded by artists as prolific as Willie Nelson, Mark Knopfler, Wynonna Judd, Peter Frampton, Waylon Jennings, Joe Ely, Emmylou Harris, John Farnham, Trisha Yearwood and CeCe Winans. Although, Ms. Rhodes is a gifted singer who accompanies herself on guitar, her star has shone more brightly on the European music scene where she has cultivated a very strong audience over many years of highly successful tours. In America, during the past year, she has performed at the Grand Ol Opry sharing the stage with Emmylou Harris and earlier this year she performed on the Blues Cruise. Read More

Chelsea Crowell: Crystal City

When last we talked to Nashville based singer – songwriter Chelsea Crowell, she was on tour with her Grammy Award winning mother Rosanne Cash and it was only a few weeks removed from her tour with her father, singer – songwriter Rodney Crowell, also a Grammy Award winning artist. Since that time Chelsea Crowell has toured with her own band both in Europe and on this side of the Atlantic and at the time of our conversation in March, she spoke to us while on her way to play at the Savannah Stopover Festival in Georgia. Later in the month, Ms. Crowell performed at SXSW, the world’s largest annual music festival, held in Austin, Texas.

Chelsea Crowell’s current album Crystal City is her third studio recording and a follow-up to her self-titled album that caused a stir in Nashville and as the granddaughter of Johnny Cash demonstrated she has both inherited her family’s musical genes and she can easily stand on her own merit as both a singer and songwriter. In fact, it is already becoming apparent that Chelsea Crowell is quickly establishing herself as one of the most prolific young writers on the music scene today, regardless of genre. She is also demonstrating her versatility as an artist with earlier songs such as “Never Be A Beggar,” from her last album, which addressed the theme of never allowing someone to demean you in a relationship, to the Deep South flavored “Where The Hell Is Robert E. Lee?,” which chronicled William Sherman’s destruction of the south during the Civil War’s March To The Sea. On the current album Crystal City, Ms. Crowell leans heavily towards Rock on her song “I’m Gonna Freeze,” with heavy drums and bass guitar leading the way to create a darker mood Read More

Photos of the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz

All photos courtesy of David B. Newman protected by copyright ©, all rights reserved

Sweet Youth - Tish Oney

John Chiodinie provides an elegant guitar intro to an equally elegant vocalist Tish Oney on Henry Nemo’s song “’Tis Autumn,” the first song from her current album Sweet Youth. Ms. Oney’s previous album Dear Peg, a critically acclaimed tribute to 20^th century music icon Peggy Lee, also featured John Chiodini both on guitar and as Tish Oney’s co-producer.

Ms. Oney sings effortlessly and we particularly appreciated her easygoing, smooth flowing approach to her scatting on her original tune “Year Round Blues,” rather than sounding like so many singers that sound like they might run out of steam or explode, before they arrive at the end of their scatting. As for Chiodini, his playing reminds this writer of another fabulous and elegant guitarist “Bucky” Pizzarelli.

Tish Oney does not overpower you with her voice, nor does she sizzle on this album, but what she does is serenade you with gentle vocals that give the listener a safe haven from an often too hectic and busy world, as she does with the Joseph Riposo song “Hidden Soul,” for which she wrote the lyrics. The songs were all beautifully arranged or co-arranged by Ms. Oney.

Tish Oney is at her best as she coos romantically the words to Arthur L. Gillom’s “I Want You,” for which she wrote the music. The song is sung beautifully and the words are simple. The message is simple, I want you, not in a possessive way, but gently expressed in a way that leaves no doubt that the poet and the singer are saying to the one that is loved, there is nobody else, there is only you. Read More

From Queens to Nashville

Most really good creative people are both abundantly gifted and they can point to key influences in their lives that helped them to become the artists they are today. Jazz vocalist, pianist and arranger, Diane Marino, who grew up in Queens, New York and who has made Nashville her home since 1989 is one of those people. Ms. Marino has released four albums to date, the debut A Sleepin’ B which drew rave reviews and at the time surprised Diane Marino with the radio airplay that it received, On The Street Where You Live, which featured her singing in Portuguese, the third album Just Groovin’ named for the tune for which she wrote a new arrangement and that she recorded with the original songwriter Felix Cavaliere of The Young Rascals and her most recent release From The Heart, a compilation of her previous albums.

Diane Marino credits her mother for being the first major musical influence on her life, “She didn’t have the opportunities that I did to study and to really play correctly or whatever you want to call it, but she had the ear and I was introduced to a lot of standards too. She would sing around the house all day long. The piano came into it, because she would play by ear. I might add that she did not play correctly by ear and she played a kind of stride style, whereby her left hand would be moving back and forth, but not playing the correct chords and changes. She would plunk out the melodies with her right hand octave and her left hand would be going back and forth, but it was not right. She was playing only the black keys. Occasionally, she would find the right notes or she would Read More

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After Hours with Stew Cutler

The centerpiece of New York City based Jazz and Blues guitarist and songwriter Stew Cutler’s new album After Hours is his instrumental interpretation of The Temptations’ classic song “Just My Imagination.” In addition to Stew Cutler’s beautifully played guitar, the cast of musicians on this recording are better than good, with organist Chip Crawford shining on this tune, drummer Skoota Warner masterfully and elegantly keeping the beat and acoustic bassist Booker King laying down a strong, but subtle foundation. This song is so beautifully performed and so expertly mixed that one forgets that normally you hear a singer too.

The album After Hours, has a “live” feel to the music and much of that credit can go to the fact that most of the music was recorded with minimal takes on one day, yet the production quality is excellent.

Lots of percussion is featured on Stew Cutler’s original song “Bambou,” and Book King makes his bass speak. Saxophonists will tell you that instrument is the closest to sounding like a human voice, but then they are biased anyway (smile) however, in this instance it is the bass that we find conversing with us.

On Charlie Parker’s “Au Privae,” a bebop tune, Skoota Warner uses his cymbals to keep the time and the song once again showcases Stew Cutler’s magic and mastery over his instrument. Cutler adapted the melody ever so slightly to infuse the song with a little funk. Stew Cutler’s unique style of playing with his pick gives his playing a little more organic and acoustic feel, even though he is playing an electric guitar. Read More

Thievery Corporation at the Sugar Mill - New Orleans

Late For Breakfast

Michael Oliphant is the very gifted co-songwriter, lead singer and keyboardist for the eclectic band Late For Breakfast, which is comprised of Oliphant, saxophonist Greg Clarkson, bass guitarist Roger McLachlan and drummer Gerry Pantazis. The breathtaking music of Late For Breakfast mixes elements of Rock, Jazz and Funk with a musical vibe that seduces the listener and with lyrics that are intelligent and that often weave a story, as does the delicious song “Michelle.” The Melbourne, Australia based band boasts some of the country’s top musicians. McLachlan was one of the founding members of the Little River Band, while the Mike Oliphant Band toured in support of artists such as Tina Turner and worked with Tina Arena and The Seekers. Clarkson’s highlight reel includes working with, Shirley Bassey, John Farnham, Louis Bellson and he was featured in the stage production of Jersey Boys. Drummer Pantazis has been featured on numerous high profile televised events and he was part of The Seekers Farewell tour, as well as touring with iconic Australian musician Tommy Emmanuel.

One only needs to listen to songs such as “Michelle,” and “Teller of Things To Come,” from the current album The Art of Falling to get a feel for both the excellence and diversity of Late For Breakfast.

“The song, “Teller of Things to Come,” is a prophetic song. It is a song that talks about things that could be, but only in your own mind. It talks about the idea that everybody can be their own leader and dictate their own future and that you are the teller in so many words. It is really about you taking control of things,” says Oliphant. Read More

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