Ann Vriend Explained

Birth Place:Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Origin:Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Genre:Soul, pop, indie, Americana
Occupation:Singer-songwriter
Instrument:Piano
Years Active:2003present

Ann Vriend is a Canadian singer-songwriter and pianist based in Edmonton, Alberta.

Vriend has played festivals and venues around the world.[1]

Recording career

Vriend released a popular demo in 2000 which received immediate radio play on stations across western Canada and earned her a spot at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. A year later she won a songwriting contest which took her to Nashville, Tennessee and helped fund her debut album, Soul Unravelling (2003), which was well received by critics and sold well for an independent release. The album is now in its fifth pressing.[2]

Vriend's second album, Modes of Transport, was released two years later. "Feelin' Fine", the album's first single, was put on heavy rotation by a local adult contemporary/jazz radio station. A third album, When We Were Spies, was released on 11 March 2008. Produced by Juno-nominated Douglas Romanow, it contains fuller production, drawing on modern pop sounds. A single, "St. Paul", received heavy rotation in her hometown of Edmonton and hit the Top 30 on radio stations in Toronto and Cologne (Germany). Vriend's first music video, for "(If We Are Not) Spies", was released in mid-2008.

Love & Other Messes, Vriend's first studio album in almost three years, was released in early 2011. The album features a seven piece band, including vocalists Coco Love Alcorn and Chloe Albert, and includes a duet with Matt Epp. The recording, produced by Vriend herself, was influenced by Nashville, Muscle Shoals, classic R&B and Motown sounds.[3] [4] Vriend released a video for "Graffiti on my Heart". Love & Other Messes was number 1 on the CKUA album charts for two weeks[5] and received a 3.5 star review in the Toronto Star.[6]

In 2011, Vriend provided vocals for a topical single called "William and Kate".[7]

Live performances

Vriend has toured Canada, Australia and Europe extensively, both solo and backed by a band.[8] Live recordings from 2008 and 2009 shows, along with new songs recorded live "off-the-floor", were released in late 2009 as Closer Encounters. She released videos for "A Dollar and a Suitcase" and "On Your Street", the two new songs on the album, in 2010.

Vriend is also the curator and host of the Bluebird North performance series in Edmonton.[9] She also performs with the popular 1980s cover band Valiant Thieves.

Television

In August 2010, Vriend appeared on the Australian music and comedy show Spicks and Specks.[10] [11] She has also been featured on a regional news program in the Netherlands and has performed on network television in Canada and Australia.[12]

Musical style

Vriend's literary writing style reveals the influence of 1970s singer-songwriters such as Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen, and Cat Stevens. Her distinctive voice has been compared to the clear and vulnerable Nashville sound of Dolly Parton, the playfulness of Cyndi Lauper, and the raw power of Aretha Franklin and Etta James.[13]

Career highlights: 2015 – present

Performance highlights

Discography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Edmonton singer Ann Vriend kicks up her heels with new CD . . 28 January 2011 . 7 April 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110407055547/http://www.edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/Edmonton%2Bsinger%2BVriend%2Bkicks%2Bheels%2Bwith/4185287/story.html . Sandra . Sperounes . dead .
  2. Web site: Music Break – Ann Vriend. . 28 January 2011. 12 October 2005 .
  3. Web site: Cleaning up the Messes. . 27 January 2011. 26 January 2011. Tom . Murray . https://web.archive.org/web/20120312035130/http://vueweekly.com/music/story/cleaning_up_the_messes/. 12 March 2012.
  4. Web site: Vriend brings sultry sound to city Thursday. 27 June 2015. Lori. Mastronardi. Anna. Coutts. Brian. Wong. 30 September 2010. The London Free Press. 30 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150630145719/http://www.lfpress.com/entertainment/music/2010/09/28/15509896.html. dead.
  5. Web site: January 9–22, 2010 CKUA Top 50. 28 January 2011. 25 May 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140525233322/http://www.ckua.com/01/28/11/January-9---22-2011/landing.html?blockID=399650&feedID=7539. CKUA Radio Network.
  6. Web site: Vriend's a sweet songbird, Pangman shows off new lungs. Toronto Star. 26 April 2011. 27 June 2015. John . Terauds.
  7. Web site: Canadian Musicians Pen 'William and Kate' Song. 27 June 2015. BBC America . Anglophenia blog. 22 February 2011. MacKenzie . Wilson .
  8. Web site: Plucky Canadian vocalist sings an independent tune. The Australian. 27 June 2015. Ian. Cuthbertson. 15 March 2010.
  9. Web site: Bluebird North: where writers sing and tell. Edmonton Journal. 23 February 2011. 1 September 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20120829200854/http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=8addc7a6-588a-49ec-ab66-03d6be46a6de. 29 August 2012. dead.
  10. Spicks and Specks – Unseen Bits – Bon Jovi Question – Ep 30, 2010. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/_LnFW8vKnlM. 2021-12-12 . live. YouTube. 27 June 2015. 2010.
  11. Web site: Spicks and Specks – Episode Thirty. ABC Television. https://web.archive.org/web/20130629083632/http://www.abc.net.au/tv/spicksandspecks/txt/s2977585.htm. 29 June 2013.
  12. Canadese bekendheid zoekt Groningse roots. https://web.archive.org/web/20210721171232/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fqf9-WuloI. 2021-07-21 . dead. Dutch. YouTube, RTV Noord. 2009. Canadian notoriety looking for Groningen roots.
  13. Elle. August 2006. Ann Vriend.

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