Winner 2011 East Coast Music Awards Female Artist + Songwriter of the year Winner 2010 Canadian Folk Music Award Contemporary Singer of the Year Winner 2008 East Coast Music Awards Female Recording of the Year
Winner 2007 Mountain Stage Newsong Contest
Winner 2007 NS Music Awards Best Folk Recording & Galaxie Rising Star
Winner 2007 PEI Music Awards Best Folk Recording & Female Vocalist
Nominee 2007 Canadian Folk Music Award Best Solo Artist
Halifax singer-songwriter Rose Cousins finds insight in solitude and strength in numbers. Supported by a thriving Halifax music scene and welcomed by an equally vibrant Boston community, her new album WE HAVE MADE A SPARK was made in the spirit of community and collaboration.
Cousins regularly performs and records with artists in the US and Canada. Canadian collaborations have included recording and touring with Joel Plaskett on his multi-Juno-winning album THREE and recording A NEW KIND OF LIGHT, a Christmas CD, with label-mate Jill Barber and 2011 Juno New Artist of the Year, Meaghan Smith.
WE HAVE MADE A SPARK follows Cousins’ two multi-award-winning albums THE SEND OFF (2009) produced by Luke Doucet and IF YOU WERE FOR ME (2006) produced by CBC in Halifax. Yet another collection of stunning songs by Rose Cousins, her third album braves weighty topics.
Cousins says, “We develop patterns that kee …
Winner 2011 East Coast Music Awards Female Artist + Songwriter of the year Winner 2010 Canadian Folk Music Award Contemporary Singer of the Year Winner 2008 East Coast Music Awards Female Recording of the Year
Winner 2007 Mountain Stage Newsong Contest
Winner 2007 NS Music Awards Best Folk Recording & Galaxie Rising Star
Winner 2007 PEI Music Awards Best Folk Recording & Female Vocalist
Nominee 2007 Canadian Folk Music Award Best Solo Artist
Halifax singer-songwriter Rose Cousins finds insight in solitude and strength in numbers. Supported by a thriving Halifax music scene and welcomed by an equally vibrant Boston community, her new album WE HAVE MADE A SPARK was made in the spirit of community and collaboration.
Cousins regularly performs and records with artists in the US and Canada. Canadian collaborations have included recording and touring with Joel Plaskett on his multi-Juno-winning album THREE and recording A NEW KIND OF LIGHT, a Christmas CD, with label-mate Jill Barber and 2011 Juno New Artist of the Year, Meaghan Smith.
WE HAVE MADE A SPARK follows Cousins’ two multi-award-winning albums THE SEND OFF (2009) produced by Luke Doucet and IF YOU WERE FOR ME (2006) produced by CBC in Halifax. Yet another collection of stunning songs by Rose Cousins, her third album braves weighty topics.
Cousins says, “We develop patterns that keep us from moving forward. It takes a deep breath and a bucket of courage to face the uncomfortable, painful things we work so hard to avoid. Reward comes from recognizing the obstacle exists and pushing through fear.”
Rooted in authenticity and conviction of voice, from driving opening track “The Darkness” to stark piano ballad “Go First,” you feel as though Rose Cousins sings for you, about your life. It is that sincerity that leads some to compare Cousins to our most beloved songwriters, and yet, her passionate delivery is distinctly, Rose. Cousins’ lone voice reaches out to listeners, all of us surrounded by our own forms of darkness, and charges us to have the courage to forge ahead.
“All The Stars” and “The Shell” were written in a tiny cabin without electricity on a New Hampshire island.
It’s not surprising that Boston performers were quick to adopt Cousins when she started traveling there 8 years ago. To make WE HAVE MADE A SPARK, she gathered her friends and collaborators Zachariah Hickman (producer) and Austin Nevins (who both play in Josh Ritter's Royal City Band), songwriters Rose Polenzani, Kris Delmhorst, Mark Erelli, Jennifer Kimball, Laura Cortese, Amy Correia, Ana Egge, Edie Carey, members of Session Americana Billy Beard & Dinty Child, and multi-instrumentalists Sean Staples and Charlie Rose together to make the record at well-known American studio (Q Division) used by James Taylor, Aimee Mann, Patty Griffin. Along with new music comes a short film called IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND, about the heart of the community where the record was made.
Cousins tours extensively throughout North America, the UK and Ireland, playing to a loyal following of listeners. She took home 2011 East Coast Music Awards for Female Solo Recording and Songwriter of the Year and 2010 Canadian Folk Music Awards Contemporary Singer of the Year.
