| Rose Cousins — Stray Birds {EP} |
Rose Cousins — Stray Birds EP
•¦• There is a certain freedom in singing someone else’s song. I’ve always loved choosing songs from the 70's & 80's, ones I know the words to only because it played on AM radio while I was young and I didn’t care about the band, just the chorus & affectation placement. Interpreting them sheds a new light on the message for me.
•¦• I also love singing songs written by my friends. I’m lucky to know so many great songwriters who write songs I wish I had written. So I borrow their songs too and hope to spread their gospel along the way.
•¦• Rose Cousins’ STRAY BIRDS is a collection of meaningful covers, some by friends, some by heroes along with two new originals, including the EP’s namesake. Recorded in two days at Dimension Sound Studio in Boston, it features
•¦• Kevin Barry on lap steel, resonator and guitars,
•¦• Zachariah Hickman on upright bass,
•¦• Duke Levine on electric and acoustic guitars,
•¦• Charlie Rose on pedal steel and banjo, and
•¦• Bronwyn Keith–Hynes on fiddle.
Born: Halifax, NS; Prince Edward Island
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia (NS)
Album release: September 2, 2014
Record Label: Old Farm Pony Records
Duration: 22:56
Tracks:
EP Tracks:
1) If You Could Read My Mind — Gordon Lightfoot 4:24
2) Shake — Lori McKenna 4:38
3) Stray Birds — Rose Cousins 3:11
4) What’s Love Got To Do With It — Tina Turner 3:58
5) Farmer’s Wife — Rose Cousins 3:57
6) Tired Eyes — Mark Erelli 2:48
Description:
•¦• Singer–songwriter ROSE COUSINS is a collaborator at heart.
•¦• Native of Prince Edward Island, she lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia and performs across the US, Canada, UK, Ireland and Australia. Her 2012 album, WE HAVE MADE A SPARK took home a Canadian JUNO Award along with many other awards including a spot on NPR’s Top 10 Americana & Folk Albums. In September 2014, she released an EP called STRAY BIRDS — a collection of meaningful covers and 2 original songs.
Background:
•¦• The voice of Rose Cousins is unmistakable.
•¦• Originally from Prince Edward Island, she lives in Halifax. She has released three albums We Have Made A Spark (2012), The Send Off (2009) produced by Luke Doucet, and If You Were For Me (2006) produced by CBC in Halifax, as well as singles and recordings in collaboration with artists across Canada, the US, Ireland, Australia and beyond.
•¦• She has garnered awards including the JUNO for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year, 2 Canadian Folk Music Awards for Best Contemporary Singer, 6 East Coast Music Awards, 3 Nova Scotia Music Awards, 3 PEI Music Awards, and a Polaris Prize long list nomination. In America, We Have Made A Spark was named to NPR’s Top 10 Americana & Folk Albums of 2012, and recognized by USA Today, Oprah Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Folk Alley, Sirius XM, WFUV, WXPN and other media outlets.
•¦• The spirit of collaboration is in everything Cousins does. Her firm roots in two vibrant music communities (Eastern Canada and Boston Massachusetts) fuel her music with an evolving cast of talented fellow artists. At any show, anywhere Cousins travels, recruits from the local music scene appear with her on stage, be they emerging or well known. CBC debuted her short film IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND about the community in Boston where her album We Have Made A Spark was made ( rosecousins.com/film ).
•¦• Equally unmistakable is the devastating emotions her music evokes. Her songs have appeared in climatic scenes in television shows including Greys Anatomy, Rookie Blue, Heartland, Hope for Wildlife and Drop Dead Diva.
REVIEW
By Cindy Howes, for FolkAlley.com
•¦• A new surprise EP from one of Canada's brightest singer–songwriters? Yes, please. Oh, she's covering some of her good friends and heroes? This includes Gordon Lightfoot? Well, don't mind if I just start weeping my face off.
•¦• Stray Birds, the new EP from Halifax's Rose Cousins is a small, quiet celebration in contrast to its predecessor. The beautiful We Have Made a Spark, was, indeed, a spark of a celebration for Cousins and her musician friends in Boston, where she made that album and which she calls her second home.
•¦• It's nice to hear Cousins pull back a bit on this release to show off some of her friends' songs and tell us about some of her heroes. The EP opens with Cousins slaying a jaw–droppingly gorgeous cover of Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind". No one else need cover this song again — the woman nailed it.
•¦• Stray Birds, the new EP from noted East Coast folk songstress Rose Cousins, is a mix of covers (four) and new originals (two, including the lovely title cut). In that sense, it’s not really a follow–up to her previous album, 2012’s We Have Made a Spark.
•¦• The two covers of her songwriter friends are “Tired Eyes” by Mark Erelli and “Shake” by Lori McKenna. Another surprised on Stray Birds, is her cover of “What’s Love Got To Do With It”, which is fun to play for someone who doesn’t know it’s Tina Turner’s biggest hit until Cousins slides into the chorus.
•¦• The two original compositions on the EP include “The Farmer’s Wife”, perhaps referring to Cousins’ time growing up on a farm in Prince Edward Island, and the standout title track — a pretty country sounding song with great additions of banjo (Charlie Rose) and fiddle (Bronwyn Keith–Hynes).
•¦• Stray Birds was recorded over the course of two days at the Dimension Sound Studio in Boston. While it seems like the spotlight is more on Cousins this time around, she does have some of Boston’s finest players on this release, including Zachariah Hickman, Kevin Barry, Duke Levine, and the aforementioned, Rose and Keith–Hynes. These gentleman and lady are careful to add subtle and sweet layers to the already well–crafted songs.
•¦• Cousins claims that her favorite part of the EP is the cover art, which is a self–developed black and white photo of her father's hands holding a new chick from their farm. Cousins broke her elbow over the winter, which gave her opportunity to learn how to develop black and white photos. The gentle image on the cover tends to reflect the songs on this lovely collection that leaves the listener satisfied, yet anticipating this brilliant performer's next move.
Fortaken: http://www.folkalley.com/
Awards:
•¦• Cousins won a Canadian Folk Music Award for Contemporary Singer of the Year in 2012, and her 2012 CD We Have Made a Spark won the 2013 Juno Award as best Solo Roots & Traditional Album of the Year.
Discography:
•¦• Only So Long (2002, EP)
•¦• Miles to Go (2003, EP)
•¦• If You Were for Me (2006)
•¦• The Send Off (2009)
•¦• We Have Made a Spark (2012)
•¦• Stray Birds EP (2014, EP)
Website: http://rosecousins.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosecousins
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/rosecousinsmusic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosecousinsmusic
To email Rose:
Mailing Address:
•¦• Old Farm Pony Records
•¦• P.O. Box 36054, RPO Spring Garden Rd
•¦• Halifax, NS B3J 3S9 CANADA
MANAGEMENT
•¦• Michelle Conceison, Market Monkeys,
•¦• Phone 888–980–9779 or 617–233–1893 Fax 617–507–6047
•¦• PO Box 960351 Boston MA 02196 USA
_____________________________________________________________
| Rose Cousins — Stray Birds {EP} |
•¦• There is a certain freedom in singing someone else’s song. I’ve always loved choosing songs from the 70's & 80's, ones I know the words to only because it played on AM radio while I was young and I didn’t care about the band, just the chorus & affectation placement. Interpreting them sheds a new light on the message for me.
•¦• I also love singing songs written by my friends. I’m lucky to know so many great songwriters who write songs I wish I had written. So I borrow their songs too and hope to spread their gospel along the way.
•¦• Rose Cousins’ STRAY BIRDS is a collection of meaningful covers, some by friends, some by heroes along with two new originals, including the EP’s namesake. Recorded in two days at Dimension Sound Studio in Boston, it features
•¦• Kevin Barry on lap steel, resonator and guitars,
•¦• Zachariah Hickman on upright bass,
•¦• Duke Levine on electric and acoustic guitars,
•¦• Charlie Rose on pedal steel and banjo, and
•¦• Bronwyn Keith–Hynes on fiddle.
Born: Halifax, NS; Prince Edward Island
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia (NS)
Album release: September 2, 2014
Record Label: Old Farm Pony Records
Duration: 22:56
Tracks:
EP Tracks:
1) If You Could Read My Mind — Gordon Lightfoot 4:24
2) Shake — Lori McKenna 4:38
3) Stray Birds — Rose Cousins 3:11
4) What’s Love Got To Do With It — Tina Turner 3:58
5) Farmer’s Wife — Rose Cousins 3:57
6) Tired Eyes — Mark Erelli 2:48
Description:
•¦• Singer–songwriter ROSE COUSINS is a collaborator at heart.
•¦• Native of Prince Edward Island, she lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia and performs across the US, Canada, UK, Ireland and Australia. Her 2012 album, WE HAVE MADE A SPARK took home a Canadian JUNO Award along with many other awards including a spot on NPR’s Top 10 Americana & Folk Albums. In September 2014, she released an EP called STRAY BIRDS — a collection of meaningful covers and 2 original songs.
Background:
•¦• The voice of Rose Cousins is unmistakable.
•¦• Originally from Prince Edward Island, she lives in Halifax. She has released three albums We Have Made A Spark (2012), The Send Off (2009) produced by Luke Doucet, and If You Were For Me (2006) produced by CBC in Halifax, as well as singles and recordings in collaboration with artists across Canada, the US, Ireland, Australia and beyond.
•¦• She has garnered awards including the JUNO for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year, 2 Canadian Folk Music Awards for Best Contemporary Singer, 6 East Coast Music Awards, 3 Nova Scotia Music Awards, 3 PEI Music Awards, and a Polaris Prize long list nomination. In America, We Have Made A Spark was named to NPR’s Top 10 Americana & Folk Albums of 2012, and recognized by USA Today, Oprah Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Folk Alley, Sirius XM, WFUV, WXPN and other media outlets.
•¦• The spirit of collaboration is in everything Cousins does. Her firm roots in two vibrant music communities (Eastern Canada and Boston Massachusetts) fuel her music with an evolving cast of talented fellow artists. At any show, anywhere Cousins travels, recruits from the local music scene appear with her on stage, be they emerging or well known. CBC debuted her short film IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND about the community in Boston where her album We Have Made A Spark was made ( rosecousins.com/film ).
•¦• Equally unmistakable is the devastating emotions her music evokes. Her songs have appeared in climatic scenes in television shows including Greys Anatomy, Rookie Blue, Heartland, Hope for Wildlife and Drop Dead Diva.
REVIEW
By Cindy Howes, for FolkAlley.com
•¦• A new surprise EP from one of Canada's brightest singer–songwriters? Yes, please. Oh, she's covering some of her good friends and heroes? This includes Gordon Lightfoot? Well, don't mind if I just start weeping my face off.
•¦• Stray Birds, the new EP from Halifax's Rose Cousins is a small, quiet celebration in contrast to its predecessor. The beautiful We Have Made a Spark, was, indeed, a spark of a celebration for Cousins and her musician friends in Boston, where she made that album and which she calls her second home.
•¦• It's nice to hear Cousins pull back a bit on this release to show off some of her friends' songs and tell us about some of her heroes. The EP opens with Cousins slaying a jaw–droppingly gorgeous cover of Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind". No one else need cover this song again — the woman nailed it.
•¦• Stray Birds, the new EP from noted East Coast folk songstress Rose Cousins, is a mix of covers (four) and new originals (two, including the lovely title cut). In that sense, it’s not really a follow–up to her previous album, 2012’s We Have Made a Spark.
•¦• The two covers of her songwriter friends are “Tired Eyes” by Mark Erelli and “Shake” by Lori McKenna. Another surprised on Stray Birds, is her cover of “What’s Love Got To Do With It”, which is fun to play for someone who doesn’t know it’s Tina Turner’s biggest hit until Cousins slides into the chorus.
•¦• The two original compositions on the EP include “The Farmer’s Wife”, perhaps referring to Cousins’ time growing up on a farm in Prince Edward Island, and the standout title track — a pretty country sounding song with great additions of banjo (Charlie Rose) and fiddle (Bronwyn Keith–Hynes).
•¦• Stray Birds was recorded over the course of two days at the Dimension Sound Studio in Boston. While it seems like the spotlight is more on Cousins this time around, she does have some of Boston’s finest players on this release, including Zachariah Hickman, Kevin Barry, Duke Levine, and the aforementioned, Rose and Keith–Hynes. These gentleman and lady are careful to add subtle and sweet layers to the already well–crafted songs.
•¦• Cousins claims that her favorite part of the EP is the cover art, which is a self–developed black and white photo of her father's hands holding a new chick from their farm. Cousins broke her elbow over the winter, which gave her opportunity to learn how to develop black and white photos. The gentle image on the cover tends to reflect the songs on this lovely collection that leaves the listener satisfied, yet anticipating this brilliant performer's next move.
Fortaken: http://www.folkalley.com/
Awards:
•¦• Cousins won a Canadian Folk Music Award for Contemporary Singer of the Year in 2012, and her 2012 CD We Have Made a Spark won the 2013 Juno Award as best Solo Roots & Traditional Album of the Year.
Discography:
•¦• Only So Long (2002, EP)
•¦• Miles to Go (2003, EP)
•¦• If You Were for Me (2006)
•¦• The Send Off (2009)
•¦• We Have Made a Spark (2012)
•¦• Stray Birds EP (2014, EP)
Website: http://rosecousins.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosecousins
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/rosecousinsmusic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosecousinsmusic
To email Rose:
Mailing Address:
•¦• Old Farm Pony Records
•¦• P.O. Box 36054, RPO Spring Garden Rd
•¦• Halifax, NS B3J 3S9 CANADA
MANAGEMENT
•¦• Michelle Conceison, Market Monkeys,
•¦• Phone 888–980–9779 or 617–233–1893 Fax 617–507–6047
•¦• PO Box 960351 Boston MA 02196 USA
_____________________________________________________________