Sarana VerLin

Last updated

Sarana VerLin
SaranaVerLin headshot.jpg
Background information
BornSeptember 19, 1953 (1953-09-19) (age 69)
GenresCelticana – a blend of rock, pop, folk, Celtic and Americana
Instrument(s)violin, guitar, keyboards
Years active1977–present
LabelsDrum Dancer Records
Website www.saranaverlin.com

Sarana VerLin (born September 19, 1953) is a violinist, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She was the vocalist/violinist of the bands Natasha and Dark Carnival and violinist for numerous bands.

Contents

Biography

VerLin was classically trained on violin starting at age 10 and performed in The International Youth Symphony which was founded by Windsor Symphony Orchestra conductor Matti Holli. After high school, she played guitar and rock violin with other musicians for many years. In 1979 after a feature article about women in rock appeared in the Detroit News, she decided to front her own band called Natasha which won an award for Best New Talent. They were active until 1985 and during that time she also worked on projects with Grammy Award winner Don Was, Grammy Award winner Eminem producer Steve King and Marilyn Manson/Debbie Harry producer Ben Grosse. They toured extensively throughout the midwest and Canada.

She is in the Detroit Metro Times Hall of Fame (alongside Patti Smith, Iggy Pop and Aretha Franklin) after winning best instrumentalist 3 years running for the Detroit Metro Times Music Awards (a.k.a. the Detroit Music Awards). She has been featured in numerous articles in the Detroit Free Press, Goldmine, Trouser Press, Metro Times, and the Detroit News as well as television and radio appearances.

Sarana was one of the original members of the supergroup Dark Carnival, which was a rotating group of superstars from the Detroit Area...most notably Niagara, Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton, Cheetah Chrome of the Dead Boys and poet Jim Carroll.

In 2004 she switched her talents from rock to Celtic, performing at midwestern renaissance and pirate festivals such as the Michigan Renaissance Festival for the next 4 years. Her most well known and popular song written during that time is St. Brendan's Reel, a song about St. Brendan.

After reappearing on the Detroit music circuit in 2009, she won Detroit Music Awards Outstanding Instrumentalist in the Acoustic category. In 2010 she won Detroit Music Awards Outstanding Folk Act as a duo with Billy Brandt and received several other nominations in various categories. Her music has been heard worldwide from Australia to Japan and her song "Knock On Wood" was featured on Taxi Talk video in 2010. VerLin's recording of 'Kyrie' was featured in a 2012 Haiti Rescue film soundtrack for Maryland's Fire & Rescue team.

She has also appeared in two films which were shot in Michigan. She is credited with playing the part of a renaissance fiddler in All's Faire in Love and also appeared in Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story where she was a journalist photographer.

A voting member of the Grammy Awards, she currently splits her time between Detroit and Stroud when not touring.

Style of music

Sarana VerLin's primary musical instruments are the violin, the guitar and the baritone violin. Her current style blends the roots of Celtic, Folk and Americana.

Festivals/Touring

Sarana VerLin has toured extensively throughout the Detroit/Ann Arbor area as well as touring Michigan, Florida, Canada, Chicago, New York City, Boston, Cleveland, Toledo, Ohio, and England.

In 2009 she performed solo and with various musicians during the summer tour, performing at Metro Times Blowout, Hamtramck Blowout, Scarab Club Musings Series, Dunegrass, and Michigan Earth Day Festival as well as individual venues.

In May 2010 she toured 2 weeks around Exeter with music partner Billy Brandt. Arriving back in the US in June to begin the heavy summer touring season, she performed solo, as a duo with Billy Brandt, or with full band lineup (Brandt on guitar/mandolin/vocals, John Holk on bass/vocals, Drew Howard on dobro/mandolin, Chris Degnore on guitar, and Todd Glass on drums.) Festivals included WYCD Downtown Hoedown, Mackinac Island Music Festival, Arts, Beats and Eats, Crazy Wisdom Concerts, and St. Dunstan's Cranbrook Concert Series.

In 2011 VerLin returned to England with Billy Brandt and added Stroud, Crediton and Exmouth to Exeter May dates. From June through September the Michigan tour included festivals such as Ann Arbor Summer Festival, Concert of Colors with Don Was All-Star Review, Arts, Beats and Eats, Assembly Line Concert behind the Michigan Governor, Thumbfest, Detroit River Days Festival, Crossroads Music Festival, Bluewater Festival and concerts at Chelsea Sights & Sounds, Black Cat Concert Series, Stone Arch Concert Series, Trinity House Concerts, and Stonehouse Concerts.

Since her November 2011 move to the UK she has continued to tour 3–4 weeks in the US and 3–4 weeks in the UK & Europe with Billy Brandt. She also performs at festivals (including Bristol Folk Festival, Priddy Folk Festival, Watchet Music Festival, Stroud Fringe Festival) and venues throughout the UK either as a solo artist, with UK music trio Iron & Oak, or guesting with various groups.

She organizes the Stroud Americana Festival, a 3-day festival in her hometown of Stroud which happens the first weekend in June.

Awards

Discography

  1. Slip of The Lip/Crocodile (1981)
  2. Mandatory Music Tremor Records Compilation (1982)
  3. WLLZ Motor City Rocks Compilation (1983)
  4. WLLZ Motor City Rocks II Compilation (1984)
  5. Unity Gain Compilation (1985)
  6. GutterPups (2004)
  7. GutterPups – Live on the Street of Red Lanterns (2005)
  8. Amadon Crest – Live (2007)
  9. Sarana VerLin – Half (2009)
  10. Billy Brandt & Sarana VerLin – Live From Billy'sBasement (2010)
  11. "New Atlantic Sound Volume 1 (UK)" (2010)
  12. Rock N Reel Magazine Compilation (UK) (2010)
  13. Carnival Girl – Live and Otherwise (2010)
  14. US/UK Compilation – Distant Thunder (2010)
  15. Sarana VerLin – Bats & Butterflies (2010)
  16. Wilderspin – Something to Crow About (2012)
  17. Sarana VerLin & Billy Brandt – Goin' Home (2013)
  18. Iron & Oak – Detour (2017)
  19. Sarana VerLin & Billy Brandt – Are You Listening? (2018)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Armatrading</span> Kittitian-English musician

Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, is a Kittitian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliza Carthy</span> English folk musician and singer

Eliza Amy Forbes Carthy, MBE is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing the fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Po' Girl</span> Canadian folk music group

Po' Girl is a Canadian music group whose style derives from folk, country and jazz. The band evolved from a series of jam sessions, in 2000, between Trish Klein of The Be Good Tanyas and Allison Russell, then of Fear of Drinking. The two met up again in 2003 and named themselves Po' Girl. Klein said at the time that the new group offered her the opportunity to write and perform her own songs. Po' Girl recorded their last album in 2010, but the members' musical careers have continued to develop, either as soloists or in other bands. Once based in Vancouver, Po' Girl is now back in the Eastern cities of Toronto and Montreal. The current band lineup is Allison Russell (singer/multi-instrumentalist), Awna Teixeira (singer/multi-instrumentalist), Benny Sidelinger (multi-instrumentalist) and Mikey "Lightning" August.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Wolfenberger</span> American singer-songwriter

David Wolfenberger is a singer-songwriter from Cincinnati, Ohio. Former frontman for The Marshwiggles and Thom Scarecrow, Wolfenberger has three solo CDs to date; Tales From Thom Scarecrow, and World of the Satisfy'n Place on Blue Jordan Records and more recently in 2006 on Fundamental Records, Portrait of Narcissus. Wolfenberger also toured and recorded as a member of Mark Olson and Victoria Williams' Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers. Wolfenberger occasionally records under the pseudonym Sunrise for Someone.

Robert Holmes is an England-born guitarist, best known for his work as guitarist/vocalist/writer in the American new wave band 'Til Tuesday, the former band of Aimee Mann. He first moved to America with his family at the age of seven.

Liz Larin is an American musician, composer and record producer. Born in Detroit, Michigan, United States, Larin is also the founder of Bona Dea Music, an independent record label focused on electronic pop/rock, world and ambient music; and Digital Opts & Sound Design and ACM Creative Digital, digital media companies specializing in music production, film scoring, sound art installations, video production, web development and interactive publishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terri Hendrix</span> American singer-songwriter

Terri Ann Hendrix is a Texas-based singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and independent artist who has been writing and performing an eclectic mix of Americana genre, encompassing folk, pop, country, blues, and jazz, since 1990. Since 1998 Hendrix has been based in and near San Marcos, Texas, living as of 2021 in nearby Martindale, after growing up in San Antonio, Texas. Hendrix has released at least 20 albums and EPs on her own Wilory Records label, co-wrote the Grammy-winning song "Lil' Jack Slade" by the Dixie Chicks, and, in 2011, published a book, Cry Til You Laugh – The Part That Ain't Art. As of 2021, Lloyd Maines, on guitars and backing vocals, has accompanied Terri Hendrix live and in recordings since 1997 and her second album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alberta Adams</span> American blues singer

Alberta Adams was an American blues singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sangeetha Katti</span> Musical artist

Sangeeta Katti Kulkarni, is an Indian playback singer, Hindustani classical vocalist, musician, music composer from Karnataka. She was awarded the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award in 2006 by the Government of Karnataka.

Rita Corinne Hosking is an American composer and musician based in Davis, California. She plays Americana and bluegrass styles of music with both standards and original songs. Since the release of Are You Ready?, she has been performing around the country at concerts, festivals, and other venues.

Lan Tung is an erhu performer, concert producer, administrator and composer playing a dynamic role in the Canadian music community. Originally from Taiwan, she incorporates Chinese music with contemporary expressions in her works. At the same time, her strong interest in music outside her tradition has been a major drive in her artistic explorations. As the leader of the Juno Award nominated Orchid Ensemble, Tung has toured extensively in North America, working with composers, musicians, dancers, visual and media artists of various cultural backgrounds.

Fiddlers' Bid are a Shetland based instrumental group known for playing contemporary arrangements of traditional Shetland fiddle tunes. The seven piece line-up consists of four fiddles, acoustic guitar, bass guitar and piano/Clàrsach.

Shakespears Sister is an alternative pop and rock musical duo based in the United Kingdom that was formed in 1988 by singer-songwriter Siobhan Fahey, a former member of Bananarama. Shakespears Sister was initially a solo act but became a duo by 1989, with the addition of American musician Marcella Detroit. Together, they released two top-ten albums and a string of top-forty hits, including the 1992 single "Stay", which peaked at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for eight consecutive weeks. Detroit was sacked from the band in 1993, leaving Fahey as the sole member again, until she ended the project in 1996. After working under her own name for some years, Fahey revived the Shakespears Sister moniker in 2009. In 2019, Fahey and Detroit reunited as Shakespears Sister for a tour and released a single, "All the Queen's Horses", and the EP Ride Again.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebecca Loebe</span> American singer-songwriter

Rebecca Ann Loebe is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. She has performed and toured with such recording artists as Shawn Colvin, The Civil Wars, Gregory Alan Isakov, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Ellis Paul amongst others. In 2011 she made her international broadcast television debut on The Voice . In addition to being a solo singer she is a founding member of Austin-based band Nobody's Girl.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waxahatchee</span> American indie music project

Waxahatchee is an American indie music project, formed in 2010 by American singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield, previously a member of P.S. Eliot. The band is named after Waxahatchee Creek, in Alabama, where Crutchfield grew up. Originally an acoustic solo project, her recordings now tend to involve a backing band, and the music has increasingly been performed this way. Crutchfield, as Waxahatchee, has released 5 albums to date: American Weekend (2012), Cerulean Salt (2013), Ivy Tripp (2015), Out in the Storm (2017) and Saint Cloud (2020).

The Americana Music Honors & Awards is the marquee event for the Americana Music Association. Beginning in 2002, the Americana Music Association honors distinguished members of the music community. Six member-voted awards and several Lifetime Achievement Awards are handed out while over 2000 artists, music-loving fans and entertainment industry executives look on.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Porter & The Tucos</span>

Jeremy Porter & The Tucos is an American rock and roll band from Detroit, Michigan. The band is composed of Jeremy Porter, Gabriel Doman, and Jake Riley. Their sound has been described as a combination of classic American powerpop and alternative-country with elements of punk and Rockabilly. The band is often compared to The Replacements, Cheap Trick, Uncle Tupelo and X.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Strings</span> American bluegrass musician (born 1992)

Billy Strings is an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. He won a Grammy Award in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giulia Millanta</span> Musical artist

Giulia Millanta is an Italian born folk rock, Americana singer-songwriter based in Austin, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danni Nicholls</span> British singer-songwriter

Danni Nicholls is a multi award nominated British Americana singer-songwriter. Her song, First Cuckoo of Spring, was featured in the TV series Sons of Anarchy. Nicholls has also toured and opened for artists such as Shakin' Stevens, Lucinda Williams and The Secret Sisters.

References

    Notes