Welcome to the Flawless Friday Video segment featuring Florencia Andrada. Singer/Songwriter Florencia Andrada of Buenos Aires has released the video for “Duenos del Terror,” which translates to “Owners of Terror.” Hopefully, you will enjoy the 70s R & B vibe. Even if you don’t speak Spanish, you will recognize the feeling of heartache and disillusionment.
I cannot wait to hear Andrada’s new full-length LP out in 2022 on the My Grito Industries label.
Arny Margret has a new EP, Intertwined, that feels like she has set her diary to music. It reminds me of confessional poetry and singer/songwriters from the 90s.
My favorite song on the album is “Intertwined.” All of the songs are beautiful so there’s no wrong answer.
Of course, Margret’s sound is more polished than many singer/songwriters. She is probably a better guitarist than whatever musician you are thinking of right now. Margret is from Iceland, where she attended a music school from the age of six. It makes sense that she is a great musician with so many years of practice.
I think this album would be great to listen to while in the dance studio. My second choice would be to play the album in a coffeeshop. Do you think the coffeeshop barista would let me play it over the PA system? It’s worth a shot. (I apologize for the unintended barista humor)
California native Chellcy Reitsma is a true Renaissance woman. Before venturing into the indie music scene, she was a dancer, choreographer, artist and poet. Since she had some time on her hands in 2015, she decided to try singing and songwriting. Ever since then, Reitsma has been focusing on writing and performing her music.
Please welcome Chellcy Reitsma to the blog!
Interview:
Who is answering the questions?
Chellcy Reitsma, singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist.
Band/Artist Name: Chellcy Reitsma
Tell us about your latest project:
My most recent single and music video ‘Happy New Year” was inspired by the one year anniversary of my cousin’s death. He died on Christmas Eve in a motorcycle accident, hit and dragged by a semi-truck on a highway in California. We grew up together and were neighbors for some years. He was only a few years older than me and his death really struck a deep chord with me.
Then I thought about all my many family and friends who have died and felt like I could end up, eventually, being the last one left at this party we call life. So I used a New Years Eve party as a metaphor for life and death. The song is my way of processing all of this and a tribute to those who have gone before me.
Where was your first concert as a fan? As a performer?
As a fan my first concert was Weezer in Visalia, California at the Redwood High School Auditorium.
As a musician my first concert was singing for a charity event in Malta with a youth orchestra called “The Philippines Orchestra and Friends’ benefit concert led by Peter Paul of Tribali (a famous Maltese world music band). Our first ticketed concert as headliners was just last summer 2021 at the Ivy House in Malta.
What is the secret to writing good music?
Patience and taking risks. Being open and receptive to the ideas coming to yourself and your collaborators without placing limitations on it. Just allow the music and creativity to flow then everything will fall into place. Challenge yourself and create freely from constraints of theory, genres and styles so you and the music can evolve.
Do you have a bucketlist? If so, what’s on it?
Creating several full albums, creating more music videos, writing and publishing several books of poetry, traveling to see more ancient archeological sites like Machu Piccu for example, hang gliding and more.
What was the last thing that you read?
I usually have 2-3 books I’m reading at a time. So the latest list is:
Seductress: Women Who Ravished the World and Their Lost Art of Love by Elizabeth Stevens Prioleau
When the Drummers Were Women by Layne Redmond
What are you listening to at the moment?
I’m currently obsessed with Asaf Avidan, Kocacs, LP, Nick Cave, Patti Smith and Leonard Cohen. I can’t get enough of them. Been listening to Blue October and BRMC a lot lately too.
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing?
Well, I am also a visual artist and poet. I graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Art has been a passion of mine since childhood so I would definitely be pursuing a career in art. I love to blend my visual art and poetry too by creating short stop motion animations or simply illustrating my poetry with painting and drawings. You can see some examples here on my poetry page: https://instagram.com/ephemeralcompass?utm_medium=copy_link
Before I started music however, I was a touring professional dancer, choreographer and teacher. Had I not been injured beyond repair at age 40, I would most likely still have my dancing career going.
Who would you like to collaborate with in the future?
I would like to continue my collaborations with my band members, Peter Borg at Railway Studios MT and Mat and Ville Leppanen at The Animal Farm Music. I love working with these talented guys and we have great creative chemistry together. But in my collaboration fantasies and wildest dreams… I would love to collaborate on a poetic music project with Patti Smith and the Soundwalk Collective! Dream big or go home right? Lol!
What do you want people to know about your music?
Our style is a bit eclectic because we write the music to fit the song with out concern for genres. Our fusion style is a bit poetic and retro, smooth and mellow but still fresh from alternative rock to blues rock, from Americana to adult contemporary. I try to write from a very personal and authenic place in hopes that listeners will connect with me and my music and feel empowered and inspired.
I also have a new single coming out on the 4th of March title ‘Feshbot Prison’. It’s an angry rock song and artistic theory of human existence. Here is the presave link: https://smarturl.it/crfleshbotprison.
Carolyn Wonderland is an amazing musician and songwriter, which is why her video for “Fragile Peace and Certain War” is the Flawless Friday Video. She plays the electric guitar and a lap steel guitar. Correct me if I’m wrong about the 2nd instrument.
As always, show your support for musicians. Visit their links. Buy the merch. Watch the video.
So until we meet again, enjoy Carolyn Wonderland’s video.
Singer/Songwriter Lenci of Raleigh, North Carolina has made beautiful music to share with you.
She refers to her music as “whimsical soul.” I highly recommend listening to her latest EP, Hopeless Romantic 2. Maybe I am a hopeless romantic too. Maybe not. However, “Memories and Moments” will make you want to make some memories.
Thank goodness she put it on the internet for us to hear! All of the necessary links are below.
So far Maygen & The Birdwatcher have released three singles from their upcoming album, Moonshine. The album will be available on October 8th so mark it down on your calendar.
The singles are “Antidote,” “Jigsaw” and “Full Moons.” My personal favorite of the three singles is “Antidote.” It makes me wonder if there is an antidote for unrequited love besides ice cream and old movies.
Their music is folk/Americana/bluegrass. Whatever you want to call it, it’s beautiful. It reminds me a little bit of the Indigo Girls and Loretta Lynn plus some blues.
Maygen & The Birdwatcher of Minnesota began with the duo of Maygen Lacey and Noah Neumann. During the pandemic the duo added adding Ethan & Jesse Moravec (formerly of Sawtooth Brothers) on upright bass, mandolin, fiddle and vocal harmonies, as well as Nik Pellinen (of Sawed Off String Band) on banjo and lead guitar to the lineup.
Will they change the name to the Maygen & The Birdwatchers? Probably not. Maybe there is only one birdwatcher in the group.
I would like to listen to the entire album on a train trip. There is a train that goes along Route 66. I’m not sure how many stops they make for sightseeing. I would definitely add Maygen & The Birdwatcher to the Route 66 playlist.
What: Dowling had released a new single, “Freedom.” Look for a new album to be available in the fall.
Why: Besides having a fantastic voice, Dowling is an incredible songwriter and storyteller. If someone reboots the “Storytellers” show, I think Cat Dowling would be a perfect host.
“I wrote this song just after the birth of my second child. It was the early hours of the morning and he was sleeping on my chest. The days had no plan and I loved those quiet hours in the dead of the night when the world slept. The lines and melody landed together. I didn’t know where they came from at the time but now they make sense – it’s a song about being free to be the person we’re born to be without the baggage and shackles of what went before us,” says Cat Dowling.
What: Kaleido has a new album, “How to Weigh a Whale Without a Scale.” It was produced by Mark Gardener of Ride.
Why: You’ll find out how to weigh a whale without a scale. It would have to be worth a listen to find out mysteries of life. It’s good music so it’s a win-win. Finding out answers to life + good music = Yes please!
“The songs on this album represent the highs and lows I’ve encountered over the past few years, how I’ve dealt with them and what I’ve learnt through the process. It’s a mixture of love, regret, philosophies, humour and hope. I’ve always been a late developer, and so this to me feels like a coming-of-age album.”
Why: Her YouTube channel also has some videos with spoken word and a video series called “Earth: Connect.” In one of the videos, Chantmagick shows viewers how to make a bow for a stringed instrument by using a palm frond. You might need Chantmagick in your life. Now you know where to find her.
Phoenix-based singer/songwriter, Danielle Durack, will be releasing a new album, No Place, on January 15.
The songs sound like Durack is making peace with her heartache. The music is relaxing and reflective. If she can make peace with sadness, can we? I feel a bit more hopeful after listening to this album.
In the video for “Broken Wings,” Durack marries the red flag. Who hasn’t been involved with someone who might as well be a red flag? I married a red flag once.
People want to think about their heartache or how not to get hurt again. There’s a reason why we love sad songs. Love and loss of love is something most people have in common. So let’s listen to this album at a cool coffee shop that will let you light a candle in memory of heartbreak. Or maybe just make some coffee and light a candle in your living room for now. Can coffee shops do casual Zoom hangouts? How would a virtual coffeehouse work?
Durack’s music reminds me of singer/songwriters from the 90s, such as Jewel and Liz Phair. Durack isn’t quite as rock and roll as Phair but their lyrics share some similar sentiments. I don’t think that Durack’s music is stuck in the 90s. The music may be influenced by the 90s but still modern.
If I could travel back to 1996 and not date my own red flag, then I would take this album with me on the time machine. We could also play it in our virtual coffeehouse.
