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Featured on CBC Radio Canada’s “Fresh Air”, as one of Mark Rheaume’s “Top Picks” for February, 2016.
Belle Estrela Music - California-based / Canadian born Shannon Bryant will fall into the good graces of pop music fans thanks to her 2016 CD Light. The CD combines a solid pop-rock groove with an almost saucy smooth jazz effect, even though it’s not jazz. Shannon’s all original sound is fully enhanced by solid musicanship all around, including some of the best studio cats and sound mixer Joe Chiccarelli, who gets an excellent studio sound on record. Best of all here are the solid toe-tapping pop hooks and Shannon’s smooth as silk vocals. Commenting on Light, Shannon adds, “My goal for Light and my music in general, is to heal the world from the inside out...to help illuminate our inner strength and light”. There is one cover here- a version of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” that could make Shannon of interest to the ex-genesis rocker. Pop fans will be delighted by Shannon Bryant’s catchy, pop-rock masterpiece.
Shannon Bryant - Light De Canadese zangeres Shannon Bryant is al wat jaartjes actief in de wereld van de muziek. Met het album ' Light ' heeft zij wederom een mooi album opgenomen. De muziek op het album kunnen we het best omschrijven als een combinatie van singer songwriter muziek met pop invloeden. De tien nummers op het album ademen een pure en intieme sfeer uit. De zangeres probeert met haar nummers en teksten een positieve bijdrage te leveren aan een wereld waarin we vele uitdagingen kennen. Belangrijkste themas zijn voor Shannon Bryant de liefde in de ruimste zin van het woord en schoonheid. Liefhebbers van rustige pop muziek kunnen hun hart op halen bij de helende muziek van de Canadese zangeres. Met het album ' Light ' laat de zangeres zich weer van haar beste kant horen.
Spreading “Light”: Radio and reviews help the new album by singer-songwriter Shannon Bryant capture hearts and minds SAN FRANCISCO (24 March 2016): Even before Shannon Bryant’s “Light” was released, CBC Radio Canada’s “Fresh Air” made the ten-song singer-songwriter session mixed by multiple GRAMMY® winner Joe Chiccarelli (Jason Mraz, Alanis Morissette, U2, Elton John, Frank Zappa) a “Top Pick” for February. Midwest Record hailed the intimate collection issued on the Belle Estrela Music label as “one of the best confessional singer/songwriter sets,” a sentiment echoed by Exclusive Magazine’s emphatic confirmation “Yep, this album of tracks completely written and produced by Shannon Bryant is just that damn good.” As airplay for the “Light” album grows in March at commercial, NPR and college radio stations, the topical title track confronting guns and domestic violence will air throughout April on Women of Substance Radio’s “Music with a Conscience” as well as be programmed on an episode of the Women of Substance’s podcast, an award-winning iTunes topper that highlights new independent music releases. Gracefully plying her expressive soprano voice, Bryant’s studies in philosophy inform her highly-personal lyrics on this, her third album. The London, Ontario native and longtime San Francisco resident communicates with candor and revealing slice-of-life poetry. For instance, “Fresh Air” host Mark Rheaume singled out “Milk & Honey” for a spotlight segment, a song memorializing Bryant’s late mother with a series of fond remembrances. On “Light,” contemplative ruminations about love, relationships, spiritual direction and empowering affirmations of self-worth and discovery are paired with alluring melodies – beautiful, pristine notes and harmonies that breathe life and color into Bryant’s stories. The acoustic accompaniment organically underscores her messages with several tracks benefitting from sparser instrumentation. Live strings throughout the proceedings add depth and lushness while ratcheting the emotion. Bryant will perform music from “Light” at the Shelton Theater in San Francisco on May 15. In the meantime, the targeted national radio and press campaigns shall continue to illuminate the path for listeners to discover Bryant’s music. For more information, please visit www.ShannonBryant.com. Ergo, here on the soprano songbird's third adult contemporary-acoustic pop album, Light, which will be released February 26th by Belle Estrela Music, the collection of ten quality, hugely personal tracks come together as if the fates had requested them. Yep, this album of tracks completely written and produced by Shannon Bryant is just that damn good. 1. Kind of Girl The opening track, 'Kind Of Girl' is a lyrically shrugged resistance to a wayward ex and is a great way to set the tone for this album. That is expertly followed by the love song '11th Hour,' the perky playful bounce and flow of 'Wide Open' along next, and that is backed by both the skiffle drum back beat of the title track 'Light' (a track that poses probing questions in the face of gun and domestic violence, which in turn hints at finding safety and security in the spiritual), and then a track penned for her late mother, the beautiful summer sway of 'Milk & Honey.' Bryant's gracefully, at times soaring voice keeps performing at its incredible best on the next track, 'Gold,' a cut that verbally searches for our inward joy (when it doesn't present itself as easily as we would have hoped for), and that is backed by the albums only cover track, a quite stunning version of Peter Gabriel's 'In Your Eyes.' A soft acoustic translation, nothing more than musical ambiance accompanying Bryant's precise vocals edge the song in, but then when the first (and stark) piano key strikes it awakens the song, thus allowing the sunlight to drift down and through the song, spreading warmth and love throughout its lyrics thereafter. With multiple GRAMMY® winner Joe Chiccarelli (Jason Mraz, Alanis Morissette, U2, Elton John, Frank Zappa) having mixed this wonderful ten track album, next up is the delightful Brazilian jazz club appeal of 'Make Me Believe It's Love,' a track that showcases divinely Bryant's obvious love/passion for the culture and music, in general. It's then that the album comes to a close with both the gently rousing anthem of 'Open Your Eyes' (which actually sounds like an old Beatles track), and an '11th House Reprise.” “What Bryant delivers is one of the best confessional singer/songwriter sets...the lyrics are heartfelt and real, and the music and playing provides a sterling setting for it all.” Singer-songwriter Shannon Bryant shines a philosophical “Light” on new album, due February 26 SAN FRANCISCO (13 January 2016): Shannon Bryant found a different way to put her philosophy degree to good use. Accompanying the singer-songwriter’s effervescent melodies and honeyed harmonies are philosophical ruminations on love, connection and intimacy that, like life itself, offer a balance of sunny optimism and hope along with inevitable bouts of pained heartbreak and disillusionment. The soprano songbird wrote and produced her third adult contemporary-acoustic rock album, “Light,” which will be released February 26 by Belle Estrela Music and serviced to NPR, CMJ, Triple A and college radio stations and specialty shows for airplay. Multiple GRAMMY® winner Joe Chiccarelli (Jason Mraz, Alanis Morissette, U2, Elton John, Frank Zappa) mixed the ten-track set. Bryant opens her thought-provoking songbook on “Light” with the poetic piano-led beauty “Kind of Girl” on which she confesses analytically “I’m the kind of girl who sees meaning in everything” before detaching from the heartache by professing to see life like a play and deftly shifting the focus to life’s journey. Unafraid to display vulnerability, the mid-tempo lullaby “11th Hour” professes love through an enduring pledge with an honest slice-of-life acknowledgment of frustration and disappointment. Her gracefully soaring voice seems to skip with the glee of new found love on the celebratory “Wide Open.” As if ripped from the headlines, “Light” poses probing questions in the face of gun and domestic violence on the track rife with tension that hints at finding safety and security in the spiritual. Penned for her late mother, “Milk & Honey” is a gentle guitar-strummed singalong. Instead of aimless searching and fruitless pursuits that ultimately fail to provide lasting happiness, “Gold” points the search for joy inward. The disc’s lone cover is a haunting, atmospheric reading of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes,” which suits Bryant’s angelic and expressive voice divinely. Revealing her affection for Brazilian jazz, she sublimely charters a sultry rhythm taking a sensual departure on the elegant “Make Me Believe It’s Love.” Revisiting an earlier tune that was used on the PBS series “Roadtrip Nation,” the rousing anthem “Open Your Eyes” advocates being present and making good choices along with an affirmation of loyalty. The entire set features live strings, but perhaps they pack the most potency on “11th Hour Reprise,” a stunningly, aching stripped down version that closes the record poignantly. “My intention for the album was to be honest and intimate, and inspire human connection, love and beauty. My goal for ‘Light’ and my music in general, is to heal the world from the inside out - to help illuminate our inner strength and light,” said Bryant, a Canadian transplant from London, Ontario who will soon announce concert dates to support the album release in her adopted hometown of San Francisco. Bryant decided to pursue a career in music during a soul-searching backpacking trip in Dublin, Ireland where she landed a six-month stint performing in a piano bar. Upon her return to Canada, she continued honing her chops by joining a popular local band. Her self-titled solo debut disc was released in 2004 followed by 2007’s “Oceano,” the sophomore set that garnered national airplay throughout Canada as well as television placement for the single “Open Your Eyes.” Among her many prominent concert and festival performances in Ontario and the Bay Area is sharing the stage with legend Carlos Santana at a NARAS salute to the Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart. The songs contained on Bryant’s “Light” album are: “Kind Of Girl” For more information, please visit www.ShannonBryant.com. -Great Scott Productions PR
“Oceano makes "Top Picks of November 2007" on CBC Radio.” “This CD is a soulful and intelligently delightful swim in an "Oceano is a warm breeze blowing up from Brazil - relaxed, effortless, and hip. “Her calm and warm voice makes listening to her CD a nice Bossa experience. The interesting Indian touch of track 3 “Born Innocent” immediately proves how great Shannon’s musical range and skills are. Of course with track 5, the real Bossa comes out and one can enjoy the joyful sound even more. Just get this CD. You will love it more and more every time.” Embracing the essence of the bossa nova, Shannon Bryant’s melodies and lyrics sway like warm breezes and gentle, tropical waves”. Women’s Radio London Free Press The only samba-singing Brescia philosophy grad who has shared the stage with Carlos Santana has her own personal homecoming tomorrow. Shannon Bryant plays London for the first time in about eight years at Aeolian Hall tomorrow at 8 p.m. "It's a little bit of a homecoming. I have a lot of friends and family coming out," says Bryant, a Lord Dorchester secondary school grad. The singer and songwriter moved to San Francisco in 2000. Since then, she has often returned to visit her parents, who live in Dorchester, and other family members who live in London. Bryant admits to asking herself why it took so long to play a concert during a visit. The answer, she has decided, is that her full-length album Oceano is out this time around. "Everything is in place at the right time," she says. The self-produced Oceano's songs are all originals. They blend Brazilian, Eastern, pop and jazz rhythms with Bryant's vocals. "It is serving me. I didn't know what I was going to do with it at the time," she says of her degree. "I don't like to say 'messages.' It sounds preachy," she says of the meaning and spiritual reflections to be found in her words. "It really just comes from my own experience . . . I'm getting the message and I'm just singing about it." Bryant began writing songs before the voyage to Oceano. One of them, Little Samba, was co-written with a London songwriter. "I wrote it with Steve Hardy in London here -- it's always been a favourite of people," she says of Little Samba. "It was one that's always fun. I'll do it for sure." Hardy and Bryant shared melodies and lyrics while creating their samba, she says. "He was always so good at the chords, the music element." Other songs from Oceano are sure to join Little Samba at Aeolian Hall when Bryant and her group take the stage. Travelling from the Bay area is bassist Mark Armenta. Joining the two San Franciscans are London-tied pianist Steve Holowitz, trumpet player Paul Stevenson and drummer Richard Brisco. Earlier in their careers, Stevenson recorded with Bryant on For All I Know, a performance that is on Oceano. Bryant's music combines elements of jazz, world and pop. She chooses the term "adult contemporary" to describe it. "It's not the kind of pop where it's a lot of guitar-based rocking pop." By any name, her music has its roots in the Forest City. Bryant has family ties to Guy Lombardo's Royal Canadians. Lombardo guitarist Francis (Muff) Henry was her grandmother's cousin. Her first band was an 11-piece R&B group, the Midnight Soul Revue, an act modelled on the band and music in the film The Commitments. She also sang with Margaritaville -- Spirit of the Keys, a seven-member London band which paid tribute to Jimmy Buffett and the music of the islands. In the same era, Bryant's love of Brazilian and Latin music was strong enough to win her a Sunfest-tied gig in her London days. Her love for those melodies and rhythms continues now that she's in California. Bryant's California adventures include a close encounter with legendary guitarist Santana, who brought Latin rhythms to rock four decades ago. In March, 2004 Shannon headed to the San Francisco chapter of the Recording Academy with her demo and became a member. The same day, she was selected to perform with Santana in a tribute to the Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart. "I piped up and said, 'I can sing,' " she says. "I'm singing lead for the Mickey Hart song which was Fire on the Mountain -- I had to memorize these words," she says. There was talk Sammy Hagar would be the guitarist. "It turned out be Carlos Santana and it was amazing," Bryant says. IF YOU GO Les French, WMEB-Orono, ME Marin Independent Journal |