MP3 Danielle French - Shadows

Danielle has strayed slightly left of centre on her latest CD 'Shadows'. Her music has been described as "beautiful strangeness", cruising through the either, as well as the underworld, with artist such as Tori Amos, Jane Siberry and even Tom Waits.

11 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Folk Pop, POP: Quirky



Details:
Danielle French Shadows
Bio

Having released two independent CDâs of a more radio-friendly nature, Danielle has veered slightly left of centre with her third independent release, Shadows, opting to experiment, explore and push her artistic boundaries. Her latest material has been described as âbeautiful strangenessâ as Danielle has uncovered melodies that are somewhat strange, yet somehow familiar. She is possessed of a diverse and slightly surreal talent: cruising through the ether, as well as the underworld, with artists such as Jane Siberry, Tori Amos, and even Tom Waits.

Danielle French is an award-winning singer/songwriter who, in her 10+ years as a recording artist, and performer, has worked with an impressive list of musicians and producers that reads like a whoâs who of the Canadian music industry. Artists such as Burton Cummings, Rita McNeil, Tom Cochrane, Matthew Good, as well as members Spirit of the West, Blue Rodeo, the Rheostatics, Veal, Sarah McLachlanâs band, Barney Bentallâs band and Mae Mooreâs band have leant their talents and/or support to Danielleâs previous endeavors. She has co-written with Matthew Good, Jenny Allen and Annette Ducharme and several of her songs have been covered by Jenny Allen, Shelley Lennox and the Plaid Tongued Devils. Career highlights include being invited onto Rita MacNeilâs hit CBC show Rita and Friends, and being welcomed onto the Calgary leg of Lilith Fair.

On Shadows, Danielle handpicked a short-list of âmusical soul matesâ to contribute their particular quirks to this recording. Shadows was co-produced by the multi-multi-talented Jonathan Lewis (the Plaid Tongued Devils, Rembetika Hipstersâ¦), who also played violin, accordion, mandolin and keyboards. This project features the tightest rhythm section in Calgary, with Peter Moller on drums and Diane Kooch on bass (both of Kris Demeanorsâ Crack Band). Brent Van Dusen did a bunch of crazy random percussion. The maddest of madmen guitarists, Martin Tielli (Rheostatics) played bizarre and beautiful electric guitars and also contributed some gorgeous vocal tracks and Diego Medina (Chad Van Gaalenâs co-producer and keyboardist) picked up where Martin left off and added just the right amount of strange synth sounds to take this project into outer space. One of the songs that appears on Shadows, a Tom Waits inspired song called Time to Kill, has already received accolades from her peers, placing 2nd runner up in the Calgary Folk Festival Songwriting Competition in 2005. This recording was completed thanks for the generous support of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Danielle has coupled her well-spent studio time with a relentless work ethic. Over the past decade she has toured extensively across Canada and the United States (for three years she literally lived in her mint green, flowery-curtained Dodge Maxivan!). Sheâs opened for (surprise!) another whoâs who list of performers including Burton Cummings, Holly Cole, The Barenaked Ladies, Spirit of the West, Mae Moore, Melanie Doane, and Lawrence Gowan. She has also been spotted touring with a project called Grrrls with Guitars, a female singer/ songwriter showcase and compilation CD series based out of Vancouver. In the spring of 2006 Danielle will be bi-locating between her hometown of Calgary, Alberta and her home in her heart, Reno, Nevada, in order to concentrate more on touring and pursuing music full-time.

Danielleâs undying allegiance to film, theatre and the arts culminates in a myriad of ambitious undertakings including writing music for Vertigo Mystery Theatresâ production of Innocent Blood (2004), co-writing and performing in several other theatre productions and performance art projects, as well as hosting a gallery show featuring a series of her photography, titled Reflections from my Rearview Mirror, at The Banff Centreâs Other Gallery (2005). Danielle has also been exploring herself as a filmmaker and her first short film, Avalon, set to one of her songs of the same name, appears as a DVD enhancement on the Shadows CD release. Avalon (the film) was premiered at the Mutton Busting Festival as part of One Yellow Rabbit Theatreâs High Performance Rodeo in 2004, and went on to enjoy screenings at Theatre Junctionâs Random Acts Festival (2004), the Calgary International Film Festival (2004) and the Herland Festival. (2005). She is currently processing some ambient Super 8 footage in order to project images during future live performances, adding a multi-media element to her live shows.

Itâs obvious that music, for one who oozes creativity from every pore, is just part of the overall tapestry of expression that is Danielle's life. If you havenât seen Danielle command the stage (in one of her trademark flower-print polyester dresses - where does she find them all?) you now have a mission.