Ann Vriend

Last updated

Ann Vriend
Ann Vriend.jpg
Vriend in November 2010
Background information
Born Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Origin Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Genres Soul, pop, indie, Americana
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)Piano
Years active2003 –present
Website annvriend.com

Ann Vriend is a Canadian singer-songwriter and pianist based in Edmonton, Alberta.

Contents

Vriend has played festivals and venues around the world. [1]

Recording career

Vriend released a popular demo in 2000 which received immediate radio play on stations across western Canada and earned her a spot at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. A year later she won a songwriting contest which took her to Nashville, Tennessee and helped fund her debut album, Soul Unravelling (2003), which was well received by critics and sold well for an independent release. The album is now in its fifth pressing. [2]

Vriend's second album, Modes of Transport, was released two years later. "Feelin' Fine", the album's first single, was put on heavy rotation by a local adult contemporary/jazz radio station. A third album, When We Were Spies, was released on 11 March 2008. Produced by Juno-nominated Douglas Romanow, it contains fuller production, drawing on modern pop sounds. A single, "St. Paul", received heavy rotation in her hometown of Edmonton and hit the Top 30 on radio stations in Toronto and Cologne (Germany). Vriend's first music video, for "(If We Are Not) Spies", was released in mid-2008.

Love & Other Messes, Vriend's first studio album in almost three years, was released in early 2011. The album features a seven piece band, including vocalists Coco Love Alcorn and Chloe Albert, and includes a duet with Matt Epp. The recording, produced by Vriend herself, was influenced by Nashville, Muscle Shoals, classic R&B and Motown sounds. [3] [4] Vriend released a video for "Graffiti on my Heart". Love & Other Messes was number 1 on the CKUA album charts for two weeks [5] and received a 3.5 star review in the Toronto Star . [6]

In 2011, Vriend provided vocals for a topical single called "William and Kate". [7]

Live performances

Vriend has toured Canada, Australia and Europe extensively, both solo and backed by a band. [8] Live recordings from 2008 and 2009 shows, along with new songs recorded live "off-the-floor", were released in late 2009 as Closer Encounters. She released videos for "A Dollar and a Suitcase" and "On Your Street", the two new songs on the album, in 2010.

Vriend is also the curator and host of the Bluebird North performance series in Edmonton. [9] She also performs with the popular 1980s cover band Valiant Thieves.

Television

In August 2010, Vriend appeared on the Australian music and comedy show Spicks and Specks . [10] [11] She has also been featured on a regional news program in the Netherlands and has performed on network television in Canada and Australia. [12]

Musical style

Vriend's literary writing style reveals the influence of 1970s singer-songwriters such as Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen, and Cat Stevens. Her distinctive voice has been compared to the clear and vulnerable Nashville sound of Dolly Parton, the playfulness of Cyndi Lauper, and the raw power of Aretha Franklin and Etta James. [13]

Career highlights: 2015 – present

Performance highlights

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Healey</span> Canadian singer, guitarist and songwriter (1966–2008)

Norman Jeffrey Healey was a Canadian blues, rock and jazz guitarist, singer and songwriter who attained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. He reached No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Angel Eyes" and reached the Top 10 in Canada with the songs "I Think I Love You Too Much" and "How Long Can a Man Be Strong".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">End of Fashion</span> Australian pop rock band

End of Fashion are an Australian pop rock band from Perth, Western Australia. The group gained mainstream attention with its 2005 single "O Yeah", which was voted into eighth position of the Hottest 100 poll, compiled by Australian youth radio station Triple J. The group has released three studio albums. In January 2014, the band took a hiatus before reforming for their first show on 22 September 2018 at the Indian Ocean Hotel in Scarborough.

Philip Sayce is a Welsh-born-American-Canadian guitarist, singer, songwriter, performer, and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Mangan</span> Canadian musician (born 1983)

Daniel Mangan is a Canadian musician. He has won two Juno awards and has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Australia, having released 5 studio LPs and numerous EPs and singles. He has scored for feature film, as well as television for Netflix and AMC. He is also a co-founder of Side Door, a marketplace platform connecting artists with alternative venue spaces for in-person & online shows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne McCue</span> Australian singer-songwriter

Anne Monica McCue is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, music-recording producer, video director, and radio host from Australia, more recently based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States.

Ten Second Epic was a Canadian five-piece alternative rock band from Edmonton. The band formed in 2002 consisting of Andrew Usenik (vocals), Daniel Carriere (guitar), Craig Spelliscy (guitar), Sandy MacKinnon (bass) and Patrick Birtles (drums). TSE released three full-length albums in the course of their career, Count Yourself In, Hometown and Better Off. The band officially announced their breakup on February 25, 2014, and did their final tour in May 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikki Yanofsky</span> Canadian singer (born 1994)

Nicole Rachel "Nikki" Yanofsky is a Canadian jazz-pop singer from Montreal, Quebec. She sang the CTV Olympic broadcast theme song, "I Believe", which was also the theme song of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. She also performed at the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics and at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games. She has released four studio albums to date, including Nikki in 2010, Little Secret in 2014, Turn Down the Sound in 2020, and Nikki By Starlight in 2022.

Saturday Night Blues is a Canadian radio program, which airs Saturday nights on CBC Music. Hosted by Holger Petersen, the program airs a mix of blues concerts, recordings and interviews with blues musicians. SNB first broadcast on CBC Radio One in 1987. Initially airing for one hour weekly, the program was expanded to two hours in 1990.

Holger Petersen, is a Canadian businessman, record producer and radio broadcaster. He founded the independent roots music record label Stony Plain Records in 1975 with partner Alvin Jahns. The label was sold to True North/Linus Music in 2018, but Petersen continues to act as executive producer on many recording projects. He was born in Pellworm Island, West Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JW-Jones</span> Musical artist

JW-Jones is a Canadian blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He is a Juno Award nominee (2015), Billboard magazine Top 10 Selling artist, and winner of the International Blues Challenge for "Best Self-Produced CD Award" for his release 'High Temperature' in 2017 and Best Guitarist in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest City Lovers</span> Canadian folk indie pop band

Forest City Lovers are a Canadian folk indie pop band formed in 2006 in Toronto, Ontario. The band is centred on the songwriting of singer and guitarist Kat Burns. She is backed by violinist Mika Posen, bassist Kyle Donnelly, keyboardist Timothy Burton and drummer Christian Ingelevics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Down with Webster</span> Canadian rap rock band

Down with Webster is a Canadian rap rock band from The Beaches area of Toronto who signed with Universal Motown in April 2009. The band first achieved commercial success with the release of the 2009 EP, Time to Win, Vol. I which consisted of the singles "Rich Girl$", "Your Man" and "Whoa Is Me". Their major-label debut album, Time to Win, Vol. II (2011) featured the track "She's Dope". The 2014 follow-up album Party for Your Life included the songs "One in a Million" and "Chills." The band has been nominated for Juno Awards, MuchMusic Video Awards and Canadian Radio Music Awards.

Maria Dunn is a Juno-winning Canadian songwriter and musician. She has been described as "an arrestingly powerful singer-songwriter who writes great historical and social commentary." A storyteller through song, her music blends Celtic folk with North American bluegrass and country influences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Churchill</span> Australian singer and songwriter

Kim Sebastian Churchill is an Australian folk, rock, and blues singer, songwriter, and musician. He has released five albums: With Sword and Shield/Kim Churchill in 2010, Detail of Distance in 2012, Into the Steel in 2013, Silence/Win in 2014 and Weight Falls in 2017. He is signed to Montreal-based Canadian label Indica Records.

Colleen Brown is a Canadian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Edmonton, Alberta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janiva Magness</span> Musical artist

Janiva Magness is an American Grammy Award nominated blues, soul, and Americana singer, songwriter, and author. To date she has released 16 albums.

Shaun Kirk is an independent Australian soul and blues singer, songwriter, and musician. He has released four albums: Cruisin′ in 2010, Thank You For Giving Me the Blues in 2011, The Wick Sessions in 2013 and Steer the Wheel in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King of Foxes (band)</span> Canadian indie rock band

King of Foxes is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2013 in Edmonton, Alberta, led by singer-songwriter Olivia Street. King of Foxes was nominated for Rock Artist of the Year at the 2022 Western Canadian Music Awards. Their third album, released September 16, 2022, titled Twilight of the Empire, went to #1 on the CKUA Radio charts. The album was produced by Stew Kirkwood and reviewed in the Edmonton Journal and Cups 'n Cakes Network, which described the album as "a sonic rollercoaster, and one of their best."

Mariel Buckley is a Canadian country music singer-songwriter based in Calgary, Alberta. She is the younger sister of singer T. Buckley.

Amy van Keeken is a Canadian musician, as well as a radio DJ for CKUA Radio Network.

References

  1. ↑ Sperounes, Sandra. "Edmonton singer Ann Vriend kicks up her heels with new CD". Edmonton Journal . Archived from the original on 7 April 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  2. ↑ "Music Break – Ann Vriend". ABC News . 12 October 2005. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  3. ↑ Murray, Tom (26 January 2011). "Cleaning up the Messes". Vue Weekly . Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  4. ↑ Mastronardi, Lori; Coutts, Anna; Wong, Brian (30 September 2010). "Vriend brings sultry sound to city Thursday". The London Free Press . Archived from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  5. ↑ "January 9–22, 2010 CKUA Top 50". CKUA Radio Network. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  6. ↑ Terauds, John (26 April 2011). "Vriend's a sweet songbird, Pangman shows off new lungs". Toronto Star . Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  7. ↑ Wilson, MacKenzie (22 February 2011). "Canadian Musicians Pen 'William and Kate' Song". Anglophenia blog. BBC America. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  8. ↑ Cuthbertson, Ian (15 March 2010). "Plucky Canadian vocalist sings an independent tune". The Australian . Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "Bluebird North: where writers sing and tell". Edmonton Journal. 1 September 2010. Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  10. ↑ Spicks and Specks – Unseen Bits – Bon Jovi Question – Ep 30, 2010. YouTube. 2010. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  11. ↑ "Spicks and Specks – Episode Thirty". ABC Television. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013.
  12. ↑ Canadese bekendheid zoekt Groningse roots [Canadian notoriety looking for Groningen roots] (in Dutch). YouTube, RTV Noord. 2009. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021.
  13. ↑ "Ann Vriend". Elle . August 2006.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.