Glenna Garramone

Victoria, BC

http://radio3.cbc.ca/artists/Glenna-Garramone

Website: http://glenna-g.com/
Genres: Folk, Pop Singer Songwriter
Email: Hidden
Label: Unsigned

On her latest release, Seasky-Starsong, Glenna Garramone's unmistakable voice pilots you through worldscapes populated by octopi, bull kelp, Saints, and a French seductress. In the way that Kim Barlow and Kim Beggs have captured the spirit of the Yukon in song, Glenna has embraced the West Coast in all of its imagery and philosophies. Seasky-Starsong offers the polish of a studio album with everything listeners have come to expect from Glenna Garramone: poetic lyrics, sophisticated arrangements, and a fearless musical vision.

While there is a touch of whimsy to some of the melodies, particularly when she's at the piano as on Wake Up Smiling, Empty Room, and Ladoo Deep (bringing to mind Veda Hille), Glenna’s lyrics reveal a deep understanding about human connections. “Happiness can be so subtle / as elusive as a deep breath.” She recalls her time in Montréal on St. St. St., and French lyrics surface almost unnoticed on Anemone and K-I-S-S Me.

Co-produced by Wynn Gogol (on accordion, banjo, tele lap slide, synth) and Corwin Fox (on electric bass, guitars, backup vocals) in Victoria, B.C, Seasky-Starsong also features Jordy Walker (Kim Barlow) on drums. Special guests include Oliver Rueben Swain (Outlaw Social) on stand up bass and Christina Zaenker (Joey Only Band, Yael Wand) on cello. Together they are a fountain of talent, their contributions bubble and flow, never drowning the true star of the album: Glenna, her acoustic guitar, her piano, her words, and that voice.

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Glenna’s family left the city before she celebrated her first birthday. As a child and adolescent, she lived in several cities across Canada, including Winnipeg, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Waterloo.

Classically trained as a singer and pianist from the age of five, Glenna released her first album, Opus, when she was just seventeen. Profoundly affected by the soul of Diana Ross, the lyrics of Leonard Cohen, and the boldness of Ani Difranco, Glenna set out to create songs that listeners could connect with. And they did. Opus charted in the Top Ten at campus radio stations in the Ottawa area. Her live shows have left audiences in awe, earning her the title of "Favorite Female Performer" in Waterloo, Ontario in 2000.

A move to Vancouver Island and the release of Glenna Singing (2000) and i am the eye (2003) landed Glenna in the middle of Victoria's thriving indie scene. She performed constantly while working on her degree in Creative Writing at the University of Victoria, cultivating a distinct style of lyrical integrity and delivery. On any given night, you might find her onstage keeping rhythm with tap shoes, slapping the sides of her acoustic guitar, or playing on a grand piano.

Glenna's fusion of talent, creativity and craft has won her invitations to a wide variety of venues, from the main stage of Victoria's Folk Fest, to an intimate show in a Montréal art gallery, from the BC Festival of the Arts to the Victoria Independent Music Awards. The summer of 2003 saw Glenna’s first cross-country journey as she traversed Canada on her Sloppy Seduction Tour. In 2004 she toured the West Coast of the United States by invitation, adding a musical and tap dancing element to the indie press touring circuit, The Perpetual Motion Roadshow. While laying the groundwork for the release of her recent studio debut, Glenna traversed Canada once again in the fall of 2007.

Seasoned by nearly ten years of working the indie circuit and cultivating her unique sound, at 27, Glenna Garramone has achieved a rare maturity for someone her age. She’s not looking to grab your attention with gimmicks. Instead, her songs are the stuff the repeat button is made for: evocative lyrics, beauty, and catharsis.