Carolyn Currie has delighted audiences throughout the United
States playing at festivals including the Pacific Northwest's
Bumbershoot and Folklife Festivals, California's High Sierra Music
Festival and Napa Valley Folk Festival, Colorado's Telluride Bluegrass
Festival and Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, New York's Falcon Ridge
Folk Festival, and the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas. Described as
"haunting" her "luminous voice" carries listeners to a place of
reflection and emotional intensity. Femme Musique writes "Her music
has a cool, layered sound and is utterly spell-binding . . . It's
quite impossible to not give your full attention to Currie; her
enchanting voice, music and exceptional lyrics simply will not allow
it." The Tacoma Reporter notes, "Even more impressive than Currie's
obvious talent as a performer is her genius as a songwriter and
lyricist. You will swear, by the end of the night, that a least one of
her poetic melodies was written specifically about you." Dirty Linen
emphasizes all this with a simple, "Look out Dar Williams and Catie
Curtis . . ."
Carolyn Currie has always been drawn to music. Raised on a
diet of the Beatles, Judy Collins, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor,
traditional folk and classical music, Carolyn was exposed to a variety
of great music thanks to her parents and older siblings. For a kid
who loved singing everywhere and all the time, picking up a guitar at
12 seemed like the next logical step. Her unique voice was enhanced
by a natural propensity for finger picking. It wasn't long before she
began writing her own music. "Writing songs just came naturally - it
felt peaceful and fulfilling."
Carolyn's first gig was at age 13 when she was asked to
perform at a house concert. She sat on a stool, played requests and
got paid thirty bucks. At age fifteen, Carolyn fell head over heels
in love with a Guild 12-string guitar that she picked up off the rack
at her local music store. It cost $650 -- she withdrew all of her
hard earned babysitting money and bought the guitar that still
accompanies her on the road and into the recording studio today. "I
still remember the smell of the case with its orange fur - it was one
of the most exciting things I have ever bought!" Occasional gigs,
talent shows and her first recording experience helped solidify
Carolyn's sense of herself as a writer, singer and performer.
But Carolyn wasn't to embrace music as a career until later.
A native of Concord, Massachusetts, she was fascinated by the poets
and authors from her hometown - Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo
Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, and Nathaniel Hawthorn (to name a
few). "Writing is a serious thing in Concord!" she kids.
Carolyn attended Colby College in Waterville, ME where she
became an English major. She gained an appreciation for "break your
heart" kind of writing that she found in poets such as Randall Jarrell
and Emily Dickinson. This became a time to hone her writing skill in a
formal way.
Carolyn admits that it took a while to "officially begin" her
music career. The detours of living and working in Boston, Atlanta,
Scotland and England, going to college and graduate school and then
starting a family have all helped shape the way she writes and sees
the world. "Crazy jobs, cool people, unforgettable experiences and
tons of school subtly find their way into my music." Starting music
as a 'profession' was more a change in mindset than a change in
activity. "I just started writing more seriously with the aim of
putting together a cohesive, compilation of songs."
Giving herself permission to focus exclusively on music,
Carolyn continued to refine her own poetic, mesmerizing style,
tackling subjects that were important to her and reaching people in a
new way. The response was overwhelming. With the help and financial
backing of her friend, Karen Lebens, Carolyn recorded her first album,
No Heroes that was released in 1995. Early in the project, Carolyn
stumbled across David Lange's studio where she recorded the bulk of
the CD. Her work with David marked the beginning of a strong
collaborative music relationship.
Inspired by an article in Performing Songwriter magazine
about song competitions, Carolyn entered a number of contests with her
newly recorded songs. Grinning, she says that she barely knew what
she was applying for. The Telluride Bluegrass Festival Troubadour
Contest in Colorado was Carolyn's first experience with
competitions. She found herself a finalist at the prestigious festival
during a freezing rain and snowstorm (in June!). Later members of the
audience sought her out to buy CDs and let her know how touching her
music had been to them.
That same year Carolyn won the competition at the Napa Valley
Folk Festival and took 2nd place in both the Rocky Mountain Folks
Festival Troubadour Competition and the Mid-Atlantic Songwriter's
Contest with her single "This Young Man" (that later made it onto a
BMI songwriter's compilation CD).
Carolyn recorded her second album Standing Stones (1999),
continued to garner multiple songwriting awards, and began to share
the stage with respected artists such as Cheryl Wheeler, Tom Rush,
Ellis Paul, Celeste Krenz and Dan Bern. Claimed by the Northwest as
one of its rising stars, Carolyn enchanted audiences at the Northwest
festivals and concert venues. Her music has been included in two
Northwest Artist Compilation CDs alongside great artists such as Del
Rey and Stanley Greenthal.
Struck by the strengths and talents of other artists, Carolyn
appreciates and carries with her the wise words of Wendy Waldman who
spoke with her at the Kerrville Folk Festival. "Hang onto your own
voice and own style," she advised. Carolyn is now comfortable with the
power in the quiet of her music. She also loves making people laugh
and cry and establishes a fun rapport with the audience to
counterbalance her haunting lyrics and hypnotic voice.
Carolyn's new release, Kiss of Ghosts, (2004), was finished
on a rainy, October midnight in Washington state. Her mother, Suzanne
Altshuler (an inspiration in Carolyn's life and an artist in her own
right), died unexpectedly the next morning on the East Coast. "I woke
up to a changed world," Carolyn says. "When I couldn't sleep in the
first few days after she was gone, I listened to the music in the
dark, headphones wrapping around me, tears running down my face. So
many of the songs were suddenly so prophetic, and the cadence and
spirit of the music was warming and sad and comforting at the same
time." On the strength of songs from Kiss of Ghosts, Carolyn
performed at the 2003 Kerrville Folk Festival's Newfolk competition,
the 2003 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Troubadour Contest (where she
walked away with a new Martin guitar), and the 2004 Falcon Ridge Folk
Festival Songwriting Showcase. Her latest CD has been chosen as one of
the year's top independent releases by Performing Songwriter Magazine
and has won enormous praise among critics. Considered her
breakthrough album and recipient of numerous awards, Kiss of Ghosts
promises to enrich the lives of listeners and leave them spellbound as
if caressed by a gentle unseen presence.
[Index]
[The Music]
[Awards & Reviews]
[Performances]
[Order CDs]
[E-Mail]
All music, lyrics, pictures, graphics and other materials are the sole property and
Copyright © of Carolyn R. Currie or Interscapes.
|
