Alyse Black

Artist Information

Biography

"A mystical beauty to her voice. Mesmerizing." - Songwriter’s Monthly -
"An acclaimed young songwriter." - Austin Chronicle -
"A stunning musician." - Seattle Show Gal -
"She entices the crowd. It always works." - PopWreckoning.com -
"Her songs swallow you whole, and there's nothing you can do about it." - San Antonio Current -
"Boy she’s got a sexy voice." - Back Beat Seattle -
"Her voice is captivating: rich and velvety." - KCDA in Spokane, WA -

Alyse' vocal-based indie-pop is frequently compared to the ridiculously playful Regina Spektor; the anything-goes Björk; and the soft and throbbing Norah Jones. She's a siren to be reckoned with.

RECENT NEWS:
- Selected for and performed radio commercial with Target
- Touring nationally: 2010 (138 shows), 2009 (123 shows), and 2008 (54 shows)
- Google search returns over 1 million links
- Featured on NPR in Seattle; Performed on ME TV, Infinyt Hour TV, and Backline Show in Austin, TX in addition to radio & television shows across the US
- Sophomore album recorded, mixed and produced by Ryan Hadlock (Foo Fighters, Blonde Redhead, Ra Ra Riot, Gossip)

- 1st Place in Billboard's Annual World Song Contest (Jazz)
- 1st Place in the 2008 ISSA Singer-Songwriter Song Contest (Jazz) and final nominee (Adult Contemp)
- On six first-round ballots for 2009 Grammys

- Festivals Performed: CMJ 2009, Dfest 2008 & 2009, Monolith 2008, MidPoint 2008, Branson 2008, ChickFest 2008, Thing SWING! 2008, and more (Selected for the "Best of" CD for MidPoint Music Festival and OKC "must see" for Dfest)
- Some Notable Venues Played: The Triple Door (Seattle) - SOLD OUT, One World Theater (Austin) Genghis Cohen (Los Angeles), The Living Room (Lounge) & The Sidewalk Café (NYC), Cactus Café & Antones (Austin), JazzBones (Tacoma), ZOLA (Spokane), The Blue Cafe (Long Beach), Genghis Cohen (Los Angeles), The Reef (Boise), Katerina's (Chicago), The Gramaphone (St. Louis), Club Cafe (Pittsburgh), Toad's Place (Richmond), The Five Spot (Atlanta), Mansion America Theater (Branson), Gezellig (Dallas), Kirkland Performance Center (Kirkland), The SoDo ShowBox (Seattle), Luna (San Antonio), Eddie's Attic (Atlanta)

- Selected for feature on MyCoke.com, as Singer of the Month on SingerUniverse, and for inclusion on many prestigious compilation albums (with Amy Winehouse and Duffy) and podcasts

CURRENT PRESS RELEASE

In a recession, musicians can be found busking on the streets of most American cities. Alyse Black, on the other hand, began her busking career in 2007 near the end of the financial boom; after leaving a career as a business analyst for Deloitte consulting, Alyse belted covers and standards a cappella for change for a few years on the streets of Pike Place Market in Seattle. One rare sunny Seattle day, a pianist for a local band wandered by, stood captivated for a moment, and then asked if Alyse would sing with his band at a local club that night.

Fast forward to November 27th of this year; Black will be singing at Austin's prestigious One World Theater. Add to that a recent NPR interview and commercial for Target, and her change jar starts to look a little less ragged. Over the last few years, Alyse has performed hundreds of shows at clubs and festivals across the United States, drawing from current pop favorites, a few standard covers, and her own growing body of original work.

According to Songwriter Monthly, Black has "A mystical beauty to her voice. It's mesmerizing." The San Antonio Current states, "Her songs swallow you whole, and there's nothing you can do about it." But Alyse' live show seals the deal; according to Pop Wreckoning, "She entices the crowd. It always works."

In 2008, Alyse received 1st place Billboard's Annual World Song Contest for Jazz as well as the Independent Singer-Songwriter Awards in Adult Contemporary and Jazz for songs off of her first record, Too Much & Too Lovely. In 2009, Alyse recorded her sophomore album, Hold Onto This, with producer Ryan Hadlock (Foo Fighters, Ra Ra Riot, The Strokes).

The show at One World Theater on November 27th, however, will celebrate both the release of The Honesty EP, a simple, bare bones studio project, as well as Alyse' first live effort, The Triple Door Sessions. She'll play the show with her Austin full band - a soulful, acoustic experience - beginning at 7 pm.

Instrumentation

Alyse Black, vocals & keys
Juke Wyatt, electric & upright bass
Cody Rahn, drums/percussion & electro (Seattle + touring)
Kimo Muraki, acoustic & electric guitars, lap steel, trombone, bari sax, mellophone, saw, ukelele, banjo
Smitty, drums (Austin)
Hans Brehmer, piano (for full band performances only)
Jeff Miller, trumpet (for full band performances only)

Discography

"The Triple Door Sessions LIVE" releases fall 2011.

"The Honesty EP" released in spring 2011. Alyse' most bare-bones and revealing work to date. The album release party at The Triple Door in Seattle was sold out.

"Hold Onto This," Alyse' sophomore full-length album released in late 2009. It is currently available for publishing and label deals.

"Too Much & Too Lovely" released in late 2007. It can be purchased at Amazon, CDBaby, iTunes, as well as a host of other sites. The album release party at The Triple Door in Seattle, WA, was played to a packed house.

Alyse has also been part of numerous compilation albums, including "Bad Girls Don't Cry" and "Mad Love Fast Love" with Amy Winehouse and Duffy.

Alyse released an EP with her Latin-jazz love-song group, Thursty Love, in early 2007.

Alyse is currently working on a solo album as well as a number of collaborations.

Links

• Facebook
• Last.fm
• MySpace
• MySpace
• ReverbNation
• YouTube
• StereoFame
• iLike.com

Audio

• Willowing
  Listen  
• Forever Fairytales
  Listen  
• Both Ways (Dream of You)
  Listen  
• Wouldn't It Be Nice?
  Listen  
• New Day New Me
  Listen  
• Even the Best
  Listen  

Lyrics

• Wouldn't It Be Nice?
• Sally All My Days
• Emeline
• Stood for Stand for
• Don't Give Me One Kiss
• Love Tonight?
• Complete with Sound Effects
• Hold on to This

Video

Willowing%20-%20Hold%20Onto%20this%20CD%20Release%20-%20Sept%2013%2C%202009.mp4

Photo Gallery

Press

• San Antonio Current [+ Show ]
  

  A natural songwriting talent and vocal skills... She’s often and obviously compared to Tori Amos or ...A natural songwriting talent and vocal skills... She’s often and obviously compared to Tori Amos or Norah Jones, but somehow, especially in the ballads, she makes me think of a whispering Björk on the verge of a laugh attack (she’s constantly smiling, as if in a trance). Her songs swallow you whole, and there’s nothing you can do about it. (By Enrique Lopetegui)
  
  Fans adore her smooth, come-hither voice and cleverly spun lyrics... Like a sonic speedball, her smooth-as-butter jazz sensibility mixes with her frisky, spirited voice to produce one helluva listening high. (By Abbie Kopf)

• Review of "Hold Onto This" [+ Show ]
  

  This album features great songs, appropriate arrangements...and vocals that are just out of this wor...This album features great songs, appropriate arrangements...and vocals that are just out of this world. Alyse sings with pure sincerity...and her voice has just a hint of loose bluesy-ness that makes it absolutely warm and appealing. Twelve spellbinding tunes here.

• Billboard's Annual World Song Contest [+ Show ]
  

  Jazz winner Alyse Black brought her song “Stood For Stand For” into the realm of instant classic wit...Jazz winner Alyse Black brought her song “Stood For Stand For” into the realm of instant classic with smooth delivery and dynamic presence. Strikingly pretty with a voice to match, her recent move to Austin, Texas would mean the Lone Star State isn’t so ‘lone’ anymore.

• AcousticMusic.com (Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange) [+ Show ]
  

  One can't fault Ms. Black for her oft nakedly sensual delivery throughout ["Hold Onto This"] (catch ...One can't fault Ms. Black for her oft nakedly sensual delivery throughout ["Hold Onto This"] (catch Willowing for a high point) in a voice combining Katrina (and the Wave), Edie Brickell, and Tori Amos with and a be-bop era pulse, Rickie Lee-esque in its hip tones and beat.
  
  The overall feel of this CD is somber even though it has energetic areas, and Black embellishes well with her own keyboards abetted by a quartet of helpers. There's a gauzy Kate Bush air here, a Drowning Not Waving soporific tone there, an October Project wistfulness prevalently, and a hushed 4AD undercurrent pervasively, so this means romance a-plenty. Hold Onto This is a great disc to get melancholy over, novo-madrigal with its largo'ed blues and unrequited—or over-requited or even unlocated—true love Byronic laments.

• Live Review - ZOLA Show - November 7, 2008 [+ Show ]
  

  Her voice is captivating: rich and velvety in the lower, quieter sections; clean, articulate, and ne...Her voice is captivating: rich and velvety in the lower, quieter sections; clean, articulate, and never shrill or nasal in the upper range and in loud passages…and always with dead-on pitch!

• Girls Are Rad: Alyse Black [+ Show ]
  

  It’s not often you find a singer whose been compared to both Kate Bush and Regina Spektor, but Alyse...It’s not often you find a singer whose been compared to both Kate Bush and Regina Spektor, but Alyse Black kinda does.
  
  The hardcore and serious indie music fan has always had one fundamental flaw: the inability to admit that there’s nothing wrong with pop music. At least as long as said pop music is well written. And Alyse Black is one of those artists who can successfully accomplish this feat. Black embodies the jazz pop tendencies of contemporaries like Norah Jones and Katie Melua but with smokier vocals, more upbeat tempos and just a sheen of bubblegum pink. Sometimes the pop is a little too much to handle. Sometimes it will end up on your “guilty pleasures” playlist next to Tristan Prettyman and other guitar pop pixies. Other times, it’s just a damn good song.

• Roctober Magazine [+ Show ]
  

  Black boldly channels Bjork, Billie, and Bush (Kate, not GW). Best yet, this jazzy, arty, oddball ep...Black boldly channels Bjork, Billie, and Bush (Kate, not GW). Best yet, this jazzy, arty, oddball epic also sounds like Alyse Black more than any of her influences.

• JazzReview.com - Donna Kimura [+ Show ]
  

  Listeners looking for something fresh and new should check out the debut CD from singer-songwriter A...Listeners looking for something fresh and new should check out the debut CD from singer-songwriter Alyse Black.
  
  The Austin, Texas-based newcomer brings together an eclectic mix of original pop and jazz songs on Too Much & Too Lovely. The 12-track CD includes "Stood For Stand For," which earned Black first-place honors in Billboard's 2007 World Song Contest in the jazz category. The moody ballad showcases Black's silky vocals, which are backed by a low-key but strong ensemble of piano, trumpet, bass, and drums.
  
  Black has been compared to a host of different female vocalists, including Regina Spektor, Feist, Fiona Apple, and Kate Bush. One more to add to the list is Tori Amos. All of these singers fall into the indie-pop genre, and that's a category that suits Black but is too narrow to define her. The CD kicks off with "Emeline," a catchy pop tune that has all the playfulness of Spektor's singing and the wonderment of Amos' lyrics. Black sounds as lovely as Bush throughout the CD, especially on the beautiful "Sally All My Days."
  
  Despite the many comparisons, Black is her own woman, with a strong, sultry voice and a point of view that comes out in her lyrics. A jazz influence that also helps her stand out from the crowd gives her another hue in her colorful palette.
  
  Too Much & Too Lovely is an impressive, original debut.

• Eclectic Mix Podcast [+ Show ]
  

  There are some voices that stop you in your tracks and make you listen, and Alyse Black is a great e...There are some voices that stop you in your tracks and make you listen, and Alyse Black is a great example.

Setlist

Alyse can play shows solo, duo, trio, four-piece, five-piece, and seven-piece. She can play shows up to four hours, though her premium show is 90 minutes long or two hours with an intermission. She specializes in listening-room environments, though she has played innumerable very successful bar/club shows, arresting the audience with her presence and voice. She can play any mix of covers and originals, though she prefers to play about 70% originals. Her cover choices range from the classic singer-songwriters (Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Sid Barret (Pink Floyd), Joni Michell) to more modern hits (Ingrid Michaelson, Tori Amos, Jewel, Sara Barielles, Sarah McLachlan, Norah Jones, and Yael Naim). She regularly incorporates new material, while also continuing to play her best older material and award-winning songs.

Basic Requirements

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