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Colleen Brown, West End Festival, 26 June, 2015

Queen Margaret Union, University of Glasgow, G12

26 June, 2015

“The talents of this Edmonton-based musician shine like a beacon. Her boldly written originals… have the good bones and great melodic rhythm of classic big-screen pop songs from the sixties and seventies.” – The Globe and Mail

Music: http://bit.ly/colleen-brown-sampler
Video: https://youtu.be/ucLEyeTHayE

Colleen Brown has spent the past two years rediscovering her passion for music, fuelling a stunning collection of songs focused on themes of love, fate and psychic retooling.

The writing and recording process was initiated from ‘attic’ demos Brown pieced together on her own while holed up in her hometown of Edmonton. Colleen began recording these songs ‘officially’ with producer Raymond Richards (Local Natives) at his Red Rockets Glare studio in Los Angeles, CA. This resulted in the 4-song EP ‘Direction 1: Major Love’, and a music video for the single Mountain Man, and sparked the recording of the full length album, ‘Direction’.

Each of the songs on ‘Direction’ explores a different sonic terrain, production, and lyrical perspective. Jangly guitars – care of Richards – vintage synths, precise and soulful drumming by Franck Fiser; these elements all carry Brown’s soaring, vibrant vocals, intonating lyrics about personal growth and trajectory.

Brown then joined forces in Halifax with venerable Canadian songwriter and cardigan-clad rock icon Joel Plaskett to record three tracks featuring Plaskett’s production and indelible guitar playing.

The folk-rock landscape also opens up for a couple of bare-bones tracks with live piano/vocal performances, recorded in one session with Taylor Kernohan at the Drive Shed in Toronto. The colors and vulnerability of Brown’s voice cut through on Come To Arizona and Direction, the title track. The album closes with the song I Asked In The Night- written, recorded and performed by Brown in one late-night attic session.

These recordings are the farthest Brown has seen her talents stretch as a musician- immersed in many of the bass, guitar, and keyboard parts, and guided by her striking vocal performances. This effort broadcasts a new trajectory for Colleen, and indeed a clear and joyful musical Direction.

Colleen just wrapped her first Germany tour dates and is currently playing in the UK:

26 June – Glasgow West End Festival, QMU

This section: Gig Guide plus Club Events, West End Festival 2015