Becky Stark | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Rebecca Ann Stark |
| Born | 1976 Culver City, California, U.S. |
| Origin | California, U.S. |
| Genres | Indie rock, folk rock, folk, alternative rock |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals | Drums | Guitar | Tambourine |
| Years active | 2004 - present (Lavender Diamond) |
| Labels | Matador, Rough Trade, Cold Sweat |
Becky Stark is an American artist, singer, songwriter and entertainer from Los Angeles, California. She is the voice of the band Lavender Diamond.
Becky Stark has performed extensively as a solo artist and leader of the Lavender Diamond band. [1]
She appeared in the November 2007 Vanity Fair "Folk Music Heroes" portfolio by Annie Leibovitz on the page between Joni Mitchell and Judy Collins. In addition to her work with Lavender Diamond she sings with The Living Sisters, a folk trio with Eleni Mandell and Inara George from the Bird and the Bee.
The 2007 Lavender Diamond album Imagine Our Love was released on Matador and Rough Trade Records. A film to accompany the album is currently[ when? ] in production in IMAX format.
In 2008 she wrote the "Songs of the Believers" for the film City of Ember starring Bill Murray, directed by Gil Kenan and produced by Tom Hanks. The film is a post-apocalyptic action-adventure story for children. In the film Becky plays the Songmaster. She also stars in an upcoming short film version of a short story from Miranda July's book No one Belongs Here More Than You. Based on the story "Birthmark", the short is called "White Light".
Stark appeared onstage as the musical guest in The Daily Show creator Ben Karlin's new variety show, singing with Zooey Deschanel and accompanied by OK Go. In 2009 she wrote, directed and appeared in the web series Califunya! [2]
She appears as a character/vocalist on the Decemberists' 2009 concept album The Hazards of Love . [3] [4] She sings as the character Margaret and sings on the tracks "Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)","Isn't It a Lovely Night?", "The Abduction of Margaret", and "The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)." She appeared with her band at the 2009 South by Southwest festival.
Shawn Colvin is an American singer-songwriter and musician. While Colvin has been a solo recording artist for decades, she is best known for her 1998 Grammy Award-winning song "Sunny Came Home".
The Decemberists are an American indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. The band consists of Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query (bass), and John Moen (drums).
The Moldy Peaches are an American indie group founded by Adam Green and Kimya Dawson. Leading proponents of the anti-folk scene, the band had been on hiatus since 2004, but in 2023 announced they would be reuniting on Twitter. The appearance of their song "Anyone Else but You" in the film Juno significantly raised their profile; Dawson and Green made a handful of reunion appearances together in December 2007.
Mary Margaret O'Hara is a Canadian singer-songwriter, actress and composer. She is best known for the album Miss America, released in 1988. She released two albums and an EP under her own name, and remains active as a live performer, as a contributor to compilation albums and as a guest collaborator on other artists' albums.
June Tabor is an English folk singer known for her solo work and her earlier collaborations with Maddy Prior and with Oysterband.
Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the influential Underwater Moonlight, Hitchcock launched a prolific solo career. His musical and lyrical styles have been influenced by Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Syd Barrett, Captain Beefheart, Martin Carthy, Lou Reed, Roger McGuinn and Bryan Ferry.
Colin Patrick Henry Meloy is an American musician, singer-songwriter and author best known as the frontman of the Portland, Oregon, indie folk rock band the Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he performs with an acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bouzouki, harmonica and percussion instruments.
Miranda July is an American film director, screenwriter, actress and author. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital presentations and live performance art.
Anne Patricia Briggs is an English folk singer. Although she travelled widely in the 1960s and early 1970s, appearing at folk clubs and venues in England and Ireland, she never aspired to commercial success or to achieve widespread public acknowledgment of her music. However, she was an influential figure in the British folk revival, being a source of songs and musical inspiration for others such as A. L. Lloyd, Bert Jansch, Jimmy Page, The Watersons, June Tabor, Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, and Maddy Prior.
Lavender Diamond is an American, Los Angeles-based band, fronted by singer Becky Stark.
Shara Nova is the lead singer and songwriter for My Brightest Diamond. As a composer she is most recognized for her choral compositions and the baroque chamber opera "You Us We All". New music composers Sarah Kirkland Snider, David Lang, Steve Mackey and Bryce Dessner have composed pieces for Nova's voice. She has recorded as a guest vocalist with David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, Jedi Mind Tricks, The Blind Boys of Alabama and Stateless as well as extensive collaborations with visual artists Matthew Ritchie and Matthew Barney. She was formerly the frontwoman of AwRY. On March 3, 2016, Shara legally changed her last name from Worden to Nova after divorcing her husband, to whom she had been married most of her adult life.
Autumn de Wilde is an American photographer and film director best known for her portraiture and commercial work photography of musicians, as well as her music video works. In 2020 she directed her first feature film, Emma.
Through the Wilderness is a tribute album with contributions from a variety of artists dedicated to American singer Madonna. It was released on November 27, 2007, by Los Angeles-based Manimal Vinyl Records. According to label head Paul Beahan, the idea for the album was conceived by him in a dream. He enlisted multiple artists to work on the project, including Giant Drag, Lavender Diamond, Winter Flowers and Chapin Sisters. Although he's not a fan of Madonna, Beahan wanted to see how her songs would sound when covered by different musicians.
She & Him is an American musical duo consisting of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward formed in 2006 in Portland, Oregon. The band's first album, Volume One, was released on Merge Records on March 18, 2008.
Tracy Ann Newman is an American television producer, writer, comedian and musician. Newman is a founding member of the improvisational theater troupe The Groundlings. She was co-creator and executive producer of the sitcom According to Jim (2001–2009). She is also a singer - songwriter, as well as an early member of The New Christy Minstrels and lead singer of Tracy Newman and The Reinforcements. She is the mother of artist/writer Charlotte Dean, with whom she co-directs the live comedy show Charlotte's Shorts.
The Hazards of Love is the fifth album by the American indie rock band The Decemberists, released through Capitol Records and Rough Trade in 2009. The album was inspired by an Anne Briggs EP titled The Hazards of Love. According to the band, frontman Colin Meloy had set out to write a song with the album's title, which eventually developed into an entire album. Becky Stark, Shara Nova, and Jim James provide guest vocals throughout the album, while Robyn Hitchcock makes a cameo guitar appearance on "An Interlude".
Lavender Country was an American country music band formed in 1972 whose self-titled 1973 album is the first known gay-themed album in country music history. Based in Seattle, Washington, the band originally consisted of lead singer and guitarist Patrick Haggerty (1944–2022), keyboardist Michael Carr, singer and fiddler Eve Morris and guitarist Robert Hammerstrom. Lavender Country has released two studio albums Lavender Country (1973) and Blackberry Rose (2019). The band has a wide number of members in various cities, with Haggerty having been the only constant member.
Califunya! is an American web variety show directed and written by Los Angeles, California based artist and singer-songwriter Becky Stark. The show is an episodic ensemble comedy featuring a revolving cast of guest stars including Miranda July, Peter Glantz, Tunde Adebimpe, Ron Regé, Jr., Mia Doi Todd, Ariana Delawari, Josh Fadem, and Brandon Ratcliff.
The Steve Allen Theater at the Center for Inquiry in Hollywood, California, was a 99-seat theater which was developed by founding artistic director Amit Itelman. Moved to The Carl Sagan & Ann Druyan Theater.
Incorruptible Heart is the second full-length album by the Los Angeles-based band Lavender Diamond, released in September 2012 as a vinyl LP, compact disc and digital download. It received generally favorable critical reviews.
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