Jenee Halstead: News

We have just added a last minute show for Saturday 8/28 at PA's Lounge supporting Brooklyn's "The Loom!" This will be such a killer show. Hot Cha Cha and Reverend have also joined the bill. Show starts at 9pm. Tell a friend and come on out!
http://www.myspace.com/theloommusic http://www.paslounge.com/

Here is a sweet little write up on our Precinct Residency this month! It takes place every Wednesday in August, and we have special guests each night!
Hope you can join us!
Love,
Jenee

http://networkedblogs.com/6J2Jn

Fantastic news! My Netherlands tour payed off in a BIG way! I just signed a deal with Continental Record Services in The Netherlands for distribution of The River Grace and Hollow Bones all over Europe. CRS is the European distributor of Rounder Records with artists such as Alison Krauss, Rhonda Vincent, and Kathleen Edwards. The European release is scheduled for October and I am planning on going back there in the spring of '11 for another tour. Thank you to all who supported me in getting there and making a dream come true!

Hello Beantown!
I am back in Boston and ready to rock this town to full affect (Somerville actually)! I am so excited to have the honor of being joined by some of my favorite musicians and friends. Special guests include amazing singer-songwriter Olinde Mandell www.myspace.com/olindemandell. My touring buddy and knock-out performer, Teresa Storch, www.teresastorch.com will be gracing us on August 25th for the final show. Tony Savarino's band Satanic Lounge Syndicate will be joining us for the entire month. Tony will also be playing lead guitar with me, which is such a treat. Please join us in making this month fun and well, fun! What else is there?!

When: Every Wednesday in August
Where: Precinct in Union Square
70 Union Square
Somerville, MA 02143
(617) 623-9211
Time: 9-12pm
Cost: $5 Cover

Much Love,
Jenee

If you are in Boston you don't want to miss the New England Americana Summer Series this Thursday!
Tickets are $10 at the door, or $5 if you purchase them through me. Drop me a note at: jenee@jeneehalstead.com if you could like a ticket. Doors open at 6pm and the music starts at 6:45pm.
http://www.newenglandamericanafestival.com/Summer_Series.html

“I felt the fear fade away”

With THE RIVER GRACE Jenee Halsteed (34) gave us one of the most beautiful Americana records of the past year. Recently the not-so-famous American traveled through Holland. From Delfzijl to Bergen op Zoom and from Heerlen to Spijkerboor she performed in all kinds of bars and venues. “It’s hard to perform for people who don’t especially come to see you.”

by Eric van Domburg Scipio

Small and delicate, with a fun and fresh look - cute but not sugary. That is Jenee Halstead. She grew up in Spokane, Washington, in the Northwest of the United States, where her love for music was a big part of her upbringing. “My father was a huge fan. At home music was always on. From James Brown, Bob Dylan, Moby Grape to obscure acid rock and garage rock from the sixties.” The soundtrack of O Brother, Where Art Thou? with Gillian Welch, Alison Krauss and Emmylou Harris awakened her interest for country and especially bluegrass. Patty Griffin, however, was the one who inspired her to make music herself. “The story goes that everyone who heard the first album of the Velvet Underground started their own band.” Something similar happened to her after hearing Living With Ghosts by Patty Griffin. “That album led to a new wave of female singer-songwriters. One of them was me.”

“It’s better to just rely on myself”

Discovery

In the late nineties Jenee Halstead settled in Seattle where she did not succeed in building a career as a singer-songwriter. “There where several places to perform and the audience was not unfriendly towards me. But I mainly performed country classics and a few Alison Krauss songs because I was simply too shy to sing my own songs.” Heavily influenced by Joni Mitchell and Nick Drake, Jenee saw herself primarily as a folk artist. This was one of the reasons her decision to move to the East Coast seemed like a good one, because for decades Boston has been considered the American epicenter of folk. In Cambridge, manager Matt Smith from the legendary Club Passim (previously known as Club 47) was impressed by Halstead. He quickly informed Evan Brubaker, a producer from Seattle, who instantly offered his services to Halstead. “He didn’t know who I was, but I knew him. An accomplished and creative person, so I had no second thoughts about working with him.”

Accompanied by an acoustic guitar, dobro, mandolin, bass, keyboards, and an electronic percussion Halstead took eleven days to record The River Grace. “Over the years I had written many songs. Half in the vein of Nick Drake, the other half more country and bluegrass. Together with Evans’ wife, singer-songwriter Megan Peters, I critically studied the whole bunch. That resulted in a nice selection of which I am very proud.”

The River Grace tends towards folk and bluegrass. The recently released mini-album Hollow Bones has a noticeable roots sound with clear country influences. The small but powerfully-voiced Halstead keeps her music, in the words of the Club Passim Manager, “fresh and new, yet familiar and timeless”.

Agony

For the debut of a relatively young singer-songwriter The River Grace surprisingly contains many songs in which death plays a role. Even more remarkable is that the death on the album doesn’t have a morbid purpose, but is presented in the light of salvation. Jenee Halstead crawls into the shoes of fictional characters that face the hurt and anger of troubled outcasts. Consequently, they are more likely to die young, which gives Halstead the opportunity to deal with her own fear of death. “It’s not that I want all my main characters to die, but sometimes you have no choice of how some things end.”


Achievement

Not many people have come to the double bill of Jenee Halstead and Joe Iadanza in Cafe de Rode Pimpernel in Den Bosch. Moreover, both singer-songwriters have to deal with the regular customers in the bar, where smoking is not yet banned. However, partially due to her charming presentation Halstead wins the audience over, though is seems to go wrong towards the end when someone requests a song, and she is then overwhelmed with requests she doesn’t know - ‘play something by Ben Harper’. But, after she improvises Jolene, a Dolly Parton classic, the night cannot go wrong.

How good her performance is doesn’t become clear until the set of Iadanza (who brings Cat Stevens to mind). With a few catchy songs the New Yorker almost gets the whole bar to sing at the start of his performance, but along the way the ordinary songs can’t hold the audiences attention, causing his performance to diminish. A week later in Culturhuis Patronaat in Heerlen, Iadanza gets the sad news that his grandfather has passed and he suddenly has to go back home. “It was very sad even though, in a way, it turned out to be good for me,” Halstead says. “Until then, he took care of almost everything – from the transportation to the contact with the bars. Now I have to take care of everything on my own”.

Conviction

Joe Iadanza is not yet on the plane to New York when the European air space is closed because of Icelandic ash clouds, making it impossible for other artists to reach the Netherlands. For Halstead only Café Briljant in Haarlem and Vestzaktheater the Zwijnshoofd in Bergen op Zoom are left on her tour schedule, but now singer-songwriters can’t make it to the Netherlands, and she is asked to perform in The Stables in Boskoop and at Taverne De Waag in Haarlem. The latter situation is quite delicate because, when planning her tour, De Waag wasn’t interested in Halstead at all. However, after her convincing performance the manager personally admitted his mistake and emphasized that the doors will always be wide open for Halstead.

A few days later at a mini-festival in Bergen op Zoom, hosted by Crossroads Radio, English folkie Emma Black and American Steve Noonan – an old friend of Jackson Browne – cannot stand in her shadow. The highlight of the set is Nick Drake, her beautifully and intensely sung tribute to the British melancholic who died almost forty years ago. Without naming him or even giving a musical hint, she captures his essence in heart-rending lines such as How do you dance all night? When your heart won’t feel the rhythm, your feet won’t take to flight. How do you put meaning into something that is not there? I am so lonely now, so lonely now, I just don’t care.

Shippin' Up To Boston: A Special Playlist
http://twangville.com/3909/shippin-up-to-boston-a-special-playlist/

Hollow Bones
Jenee Halstead/Cd Baby
After her excellent 2008 debut album The River Grace, rising roots singer-songwriter Jenee Halstead treats us to a fine new EP called Hollow Bones. Where The River Grace cut a fine line between folk and Americana, Hollow Bones opts for a more countrified approach, with five charming songs in a diversity of country styles, ranging from pure country (Damascus) via country-swing (Good Lookin’ Boy) and country-noir (La Luna Roja) to country-blues (Banks Of The Mississippi). Best of all though is the melancholy title song, whose style harks back most to the kind of material found on The River Grace. With her wonderful singing voice, displaying grace and emotion in equal measure, any song Halstead tackles seems immediately blessed and although the EP, because of the variety, is more a showcase for her talents (and those of the excellent musicians accompanying her) than the coherent statement The River Grace cd was, her beguiling lyrics and melodies still underline that precious few singer-songwriters are able to conjure up the sort of magic Jenee Halstead displays here with almost every song.
***1/2 Pieter Wijnstekers

Now I just need a translator! They are both written in Dutch. The reviews do seem favorable...as far as google translator goes:

Here is one from Freddy Celis at www.rootstime.be
Haar public relations omschrijft zangeres Jenee Halstead uit het Amerikaanse Boston als ‘Folk Americana Songbird’ en daar is echt niets teveel mee gezegd. Deze zanglijster met altstem uit Somerville, Massachusetts had vorig jaar in november al onze volle aandacht getrokken toen we haar laatste full-cd en debuutplaat “The River Grace” voor Rootstime bespraken. Haar indrukwekkende ode in ‘Nick Drake’ aan de gelijknamige singer-songwriter ligt ons nog kersvers in het geheugen.

In afwachting van een nieuwe volwaardige studioplaat stuurde zij ons nu een vijf songs tellende ep-tje toe dat de titel “Hollow Bones” meekreeg en daarmee vernoemd werd naar één van de 5 songs op dit kleine schijfje dat nauwelijks 16 minuten duurt vooraleer de laatste noot geblazen en het laatste woord gezongen wordt.
Wij zouden dit werkje spontaan in de categorieën country en folk onderbrengen. Er wordt knap afgewisseld in zowel stijl als snelheid van de 5 songs maar telkens blijft toch vooral de mooie stem van Jenee Halstead weer boven drijven. Voor we het bluesy afsluitstuk “Banks Of The Mississippi” mogen beluisteren hebben we al kennis gemaakt met het vlotte popnummertje “Damascus”, het swingende uptempo honkytonk-rockertje “Good Lookin’ Boy”, een typische country tearjerker met titeltrack “Hollow Bones”, de mooiste song op deze ep en de aan Calexico herinnerende en van een twangende gitaargeluid voorziene song “La Luna Roja”.
Deze zangeres heeft tonnen vol potentieel en leunt aan bij andere grote stemmen in dit genre zoals Tift Merritt, Shawn Colvin, Gillian Welch en Patti Griffin. In april komt Jenee Halstead samen met Joe Iadanza voor drie weken toeren doorheen Nederland en wij zouden u graag aanbevelen om ergens in uw buurt een kijkje te gaan nemen en te genieten van de vocale capaciteiten van deze ook nog bijzonder goed uitziende jongedame.
(valsam)

Another review from "Control Alt Country" or www.ctrlaltcountry.be"

JENEE HALSTEAD “Hollow Bones” (Jenee Halstead)

(3,5****)

Je moet het ijzer smeden als het heet is, moet Jenee Halstead gedacht hebben. Met het jammer genoeg amper vijf songs tellende “Hollow Bones” zoekt ze immers nadrukkelijk aansluiting bij het door haar medio vorig jaar onder de lovende kritieken bedolven debuut “The River Grace” gecreëerde momentum. Halstead doet op die nieuwe EP andermaal een poging om genres als country, Americana, folk, roots rock en blues met elkaar te verzoenen. Openingsnummer “Damascus” hinkt zo speels op een aanstekelijk C&W-ritme voorbij, “Good Lookin’ Boy” flirt van onder een veel té grote Stetson nogal nadrukkelijk met rock & roll, “Hollow Bones” is knappe Americana tout court, “La Luna Roja” doet ondanks een Zuiders motiefje volop denken aan het werk van alternatieve countrysirene Neko Case en “Banks Of The Mississippi” heeft iets met blues. Opnieuw vijf ijzersterke liedjes! En Jenee Halstead lijkt dus ondertussen écht wel een naam om met stip te onthouden voor de toekomst.

This is proof that I have amazing fans! Thank you for believing in me! There were a couple of donors that I had the fortune to meet for the first time in Holland. It made the fundraising even more worthwhile and exciting.

http://callitfolk.blogspot.com/2010/03/jenee-halstead-hollow-bones.html

"The EP Hollow Bones is Boston-based Jenee Halstead's sophomore release, following her debut full-length The River Grace. Her exquisite alto serves her equally well, delivering silky-smooth ballads, or belting out country blues. The title song, Hollow Bones, is Halstead at her best. A glowing, bittersweet country waltz that drools emotion. The kind of song that often gets over-produced in the studio, but Halstead keeps the crew in line, giving us a mellow arrangement with the right mix of instruments (soft percussion, bass, acoustic and electric guitar, pedal steel, and the wonderful and mysterious male vocals). The sublimely graceful ballad, Drunkard's Lullaby, from The River Grace album, is told with just a bit of country twang with nice acoustic backup. It's a lament told with the keen observations that only an experienced writer comes by. This is rich songwriting; modern originals that shake off the cliches, next to stories that evoke another time and stay true to tradition. A nice package from a very talented singer-songwriter who deserves a larger audience. Friends David Wax and Tom Combs assisted on some of the writing and I bet one of them are doing the background vocals.

In April Jenee Halstead and our friend, Joe Iadanza are heading to the Netherlands for three weeks. Check out our preview post for Iadanza's soon-to-be released album, All In Good Time."

That is right folks! On April 1st we will be descending upon the The Netherlands for a wonderful three week tour. In preparation for this fantastic event we have been getting new cd's ready! Joe's second full length album, "All in Good Time" is hot off the press, and my new EP "Hollow Bones" is so hot, I already blew through the first order! You can order a copy of Joe's cd at: www.joeiadanza.com.

Here are the dates for our tour in The Netherlands. We hope to see you there:

Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
't Keerpunt
8:00 pm
Oostermoer 1
Spijkerboor 9656 PE
NL

Sunday, April 4th, 2010
Eemshotel
Joe Iadanza/Jenee Halstead Netherlands Tour - 8:00 pm
Zeebadweg 2
Delfzijl NL

Monday, April 5th, 2010
Crossroads Cafe
Jenee Halstead and Joe Iadanza Netherlands Tour - 8:00 pm
Mechelsesteenweg 8
Antwerp BEL B-1982
BE +32/3/2315266.

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
Cafestaurant De Rode Pimpernel
Joe Iadanza/Jenee Halstead Netherlands Tour - 8:00 pm
Hinthamerstraat 109
s-Hertogenbosch NL 073 - 68 90 520

Thursday, April 8th, 2010
JC De Bunker
Joe Iadanza/Jenee Halstead Netherlands Tour - 8:00 pm
St. Annastraat 60
KC Gemert 5421
NL

Friday, April 9th, 2010
OBA Live-Radio
Joe Iadanza/Jenee Halstead Netherlands Tour - 8:00 pm
Amsterdam NL

Friday, April 9th, 2010
Eetcafe Skek
Jenee Halstead -live - 8:00 pm
Zeedijk 4 8
Amsterdam 1012 AX
NL +31 20 4270551

Sunday, April 11th, 2010
Cafe de Muzikant
Joe Iadanza/Jenee Halstead Netherlands Tour - 8:00 pm
Dorpsstraat 14
5758 AR Neerkan NL

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
Cultuurhuis Patronaat Heerlen
Jenee Halstead and Joe Iadanza Netherlands Tour - 8:00 pm
Sittarderweg 145
Heerlen 6412CD
NL 31 (0)45 5612121

Thursday, April 15th, 2010
Café Briljant
Jenee Halstead and Joe Iadanza Netherlands Tour - 8:00 pm
Lange Annastraat 33
Haarlem The 023-5422925

Friday, April 16th, 2010
Veendam live radio Blueprint
Joe Iadanza/Jenee Halstead Netherlands Tour - 5:00 pm
Veendam NL
Monday, April 19th, 2010

Crossroads Radio
Jenee Halstead and Joe Iadanza Netherlands Tour - 9:30 pm
Moeregrebstraat 18
Bergen op Zoom NL + 31 (0)642424237

http://www.snobsmusic.net/2010/02/quick-hits-jenee-halstead.html

I am holding the new EP in my hands, and I must say it is a thrill. What started out as a simple project with some live recordings for my fans turned into an year project! It always works this way, and I am thrilled that I got to work with producer David Piper on this project. Most of the basic tracking and rhythm tracks were laid down with David Piper on bass and Greg Glassman on drums and me singing. This allowed us to add the rest of the instrumentation on top, but not without some challenges. Live recording can always offer challenges. For example, one song that didn't make the final cut had a strange click that bled into all the microphones we were tracking with. There was no way to take it out, so we scrapped the song. It worked out perfectly though, because we decided to replace that song with the final track "Banks of the Mississippi," which rounded out the EP nicely!
There were some great players on the EP! Harmonica legend Jim Fitting (Sessions Americana), guitar genius Lyle Brewer (Sarah Borges), Pedal Steel veteran Adam Ollendorf from Nashville (Annie and the Beekeepers), Julie Melcalf on fiddle, David Wax on jarana huasteca, Tom Combs on acoustic guitar, Greg Glassman on drums and background vocals (Sacred Shakers), and David Piper on just about everything else!
I hope you enjoy it as well!

This just in! My song "Drunkard's Lullaby" was nominated for a Just Plain Folks award in the Americana category. Some of the other nominees in this category are Mary Gauthier, Todd Snider and The Biscuit Burners, so I am feeling pretty blessed to have been chosen! The ceremony and winner will be announced in Nashville at the end of August, so wish me luck!

The album has been steadily climbing the Folk Radio Charts each week for the last seven weeks. At the beginning of this week, May 23rd, it came in at #4!! This is very exciting indeed! Thank you to all the folk, roots and country djs out there who are listening and playing the album! Your support is vital!!
Best,
Jenee
http://www.rootsmusicreport.com/2.0/charts.php?name=folk

This is a fun little interview for the Me and Thee Coffeehouse by musician, sound man, and all around great guy Ethan Baird.
http://meandthee.org/blog/txp/blogspot/205/quick-q-and-a-with-jenee-halstead

I am working on a four song EP that should come out some time in late Oct/early Nov. It is mostly songs that I have co-written with my friends Tom Combs and David Wax in a project called Hollow Bones. In fact, one of the beautiful songs on the EP is a country waltz called "Hollow Bones."
We are recording bit by bit at Streetlight Sound studio in Somerville. David Piper, the owner of the studio and engineer posted a little sample of the song "La Luna Roja" in its most basic form. You can listen to it by clicking the link below, going to the blog section of his site, and scrolling down to the January 12, 2009 post. Enjoy!
http://www.streetlightsound.com/

Great Question!

BROKEN BLOSSOMS!

Jenee Halstead - Voice
Andy Cambria - Guitar
David Goldenberg - Mandolin
Kimber Ludiker - Fiddle
Simon Chrisman - Bass
Charlie Rose - Banjo


http://www.brokenblossomsband.com/
www.myspace.com/brokenblossomsband

Hello, all. The tunes from our EP are up--please feel free to download
them directly from MySpace (with the mandatory proviso that the
MySpace player makes things sound generally crummy ... but if you use
one of those "mp3 player" things the kids these days seem to love,
well, you'll probably be OK). Some quick notes on the EP:

All the tracking was done live in the Sanctuary Hall at the Unity
Church of God in Somerville, MA--one close mic on everything and two
large-diaphragm condensers higher up in the hall for room tone. Some
additional vocal recording was done by Jason Dunn at Mad Science
Studios in Allston, MA.

"Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning" is a trad. spiritual you've
probably heard in one form or another if you're a fan of folk/
bluegrass/delta blues.

"A Wife So Young" was written by Jenee Halstead and Andy Cambria.

"Little Josie" and "Preacher" were written by Andy Cambria.

All the arrangements are by Broken Blossoms.

We'd like to give big thank-yous to the artists whose work is on
display in our photo section -- Molly Bosley and Gretjen Helene
Hargesheimer. Please message us if you're interested in contacting
them.

THANKS!

BB

What a wonderful year! Here are the Highlights!

-Released “The River Grace” debut album to the Boston area on April 10th and nationally on June 3rd. The album was produced, mixed and mastered by Evan Brubaker.

- A sold out local CD Release show at Club Passim in Harvard Sq. on April 10t with Yep Rock recording artists Chatham County Line.

- Cover of the Boston Globe Sidekick for the week of April 10th.

-A half hour interview and album highlights on April 19th with Brad Paul on his WGBH “Folk On Demand” show.
If you missed it, you can stream the archive here:
http://www.wgbh.org/article?item_id=2793034 Once you get to this link you must click on "Hear the latest edition of Folk on WGBH."
Click on the "previous track" button to get to April 19th and there you have it! If you do not want to listen to the entire program, scroll in to the 60 minutes. I am the 4pm slot.

- Opened for Shawn Colvin on June 25th at the legendary Birchmere Music Hall in Alexandria, VA.

- Many enthusiastic live performance and album review in local, national and international publications. You can find these on my website under “reviews.”

- Bob Harris of BBC Radio 2 fame played the song “Deep Dark Sea” on 10/11/08:
http://www.bobharris.org/pages/playlist.asp?progcode=s11102008
- Chosen as a 2008 Emerging Artist for Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

- The birth of a new bluegrass band, The Broken Blossoms:
http://www.myspace.com/brokenblossomsband

This is very exciting! The River Grace has reached #8 on the Folk DJ Charts and Jenee is #16 for top Artists for the month as well.
http://www.folkradio.org/airplay/nov08.html