Glenna Bell

Artist Information

Biography

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Glenna Bell is featured in the August/September 2008 issue of the Media Guide at http://www.adcmediaguide.com!

Glenna Bell was a top finalist in the prestigious BW Stevenson Singer-Songwriter Contest at Poor David's Pub in Dallas in May 2008!

On May 15, 2007, the Texas House of Representatives honored the music of Texas-born singer-songwriter Glenna Bell with the following House Resolution, which was read in a ceremony at the Capitol on the Floor of the House in Austin. House Speaker Tom Craddick was in attendance, and personally congratulated Miss Bell for her musical contributions to the Lone Star State:

H.R. No. 1304

R E S O L U T ION
WHEREAS, A talented singer and songwriter, Beaumont native Glenna Bell is drawing attention for her stark yet beautiful songs that conjure up the heartfelt essence of traditional country music while expressing a fresh, contemporary perspective; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Bell has recorded three albums to date, Nobody's Girl, which appeared in 1998, Face This World, from 2006, and The Road Less Traveled, which is scheduled to appear in 2008; each features her haunting songs that present tales of heartache, love, and loss in a stripped down and powerful style; and

WHEREAS, Glenna Bell's music is colored by the sounds that she grew up with in East Texas: a cappella hymns sung in her family's church and old-school country music that she discovered in her relatives' record collections; with the help of veteran Texas musicians such as John Evans, who has produced Ms. Bell's last two albums, and Johnny Bush, who sings on The Road Less Traveled, Glenna Bell has distilled her influences into moving songs that are receiving airplay on country and Americana radio stations across the country; and

WHEREAS, Carrying forward the classic, unembellished style that has graced so much great music from Texas, Glenna Bell has emerged as a musician and storyteller of great promise and stands as an exciting addition to the musical tradition of the Lone Star State; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas Legislature hereby honor Glenna Bell for her musical accomplishments and extend to her best wishes for continued success; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be prepared for Ms. Bell as an expression of high regard by the Texas House of Representatives.


______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 1304 was adopted by the House on April 13, 2007, by a non-record vote.



The story of this rising Texas star began in the woods of her youth near Beaumont, Texas, where she grew up influenced by the hymns sung a cappella at the church she attended with her family and by the old-school country music that she found in her relatives’ record collections. Often compared stylistically to Johnny Cash, with a delivery that’s raw and bare boned, Glenna Bell captures the very essence of how country music was, is, and should always be.

Glenna’s music has been aired locally, nationally, and internationally on NBC, CNBC, Fox TV, and numerous radio programs, as well as through live performances at venues all over Texas, including the Cactus Café, Threadgill's, the Continental Club, and SXSW in Austin, McGonigel’s Mucky Duck and the Hard Rock Cafe in Houston, Poor David's Pub, The Gypsy Tea Room, and Bill’s Records and Tapes in Dallas, amongst many others. Glenna's songs have also received praise from top-tier music critics such as Robert K. Oermann at Music Row, Nashville and, most recently, Robert Christgau of Rolling Stone.

A deal with Burnside Distribution in Portland, Oregon placed Glenna Bell's new record, The Road Less Traveled, in retail outlets across the nation in July 2008. The album was recorded at historic Sugar Hill Studios in Houston, Texas, where the Big Bopper taped "Chantilly Lace" and George Jones laid down some of his first vocal performances, not to mention the many other legends who have made their mark behind the mic's of the oldest continuously operating recording studio in Texas.

Notably, Glenna will also be included in Andy Bradley and Roger Wood’s forthcoming book on the history of the studio, House of Hits (UT Press, 2009), and on the accompanying compilation disc singing Willie Nelson’s “The Family Bible,” which was first taped at Sugar Hill in the 1950’s.

Glenna Bell is a Daughter of the Republic of Texas and a graduate of Texas A&M University and the University of Houston’s exclusive Creative Writing Program, where Pulitzer-winning playwright Edward Albee directed her dissertation plays. She teaches writing at Houston Community College and at a young age has already composed a lasting body of music to represent the diversity of Texas. Glenna Bell's sound is modern Americana in the truest sense. It is a unique blend of country roots music, romantic urban culture lyrics, and Texas folk rock; all sung in a voice that is powerful yet somehow vulnerable.

Instrumentation

Glenna Bell: vocals and guitar
John Evans: vocals and guitar
Shawn Supra/Jake Marchese: upright bass
Mike Ferrara: drums

Discography

The Road Less Traveled
Sugar Hill Studios, Houston
2008

Face This World
SugarHill Studios, Houston
2005

Nobody's Girl
SugarHill Studios, Houston
1998

Links

• MySpace

Audio

• La Casa Que Yo Amo
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• How I Found Out I'm Insane
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• Could've Been My Friend
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• The East Side w/ Johnny Bush
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• Outside The Bars
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• Cosmos Cafe & Dear Johnny
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• Can't Get My Mind Off You
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• Hoping I Could Be Wrong
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Lyrics

• La Casa Que Yo Amo
• How I Found Out I'm Insane
• Could've Been My Friend
• The East Side w/ Johnny Bush
• Outside The Bars
• Cosmos Cafe & Dear Johnny
• Can't Get My Mind Off You
• Hoping I Could Be Wrong

Video

Hoping I Could Be Wrong

Photo Gallery

Press

• from the dean of american rock critics-- [+ Show ]
  

  RE: The Road Less Traveled (April 1, 2008): Sketchy ZZ Top fan unleashes her folkie chains ("Outsid...RE: The Road Less Traveled (April 1, 2008): Sketchy ZZ Top fan unleashes her folkie chains ("Outside the Bars," "The Texas Aggies Win Again"). [Note: Mr. Christgau gave The Road Less Traveled three stars, which--in his own words--means that the album is "an enjoyable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well treasure."]

• to the dean of nashville entertainment journalists-- [+ Show ]
  

  GLENNA BELL/"Be My Valentine On Christmas" (From The Road Less Traveled, 2008) Writer: Glenna Bell;...GLENNA BELL/"Be My Valentine On Christmas" (From The Road Less Traveled, 2008)
  Writer: Glenna Bell; Producer: John Evans; Publisher: Glenna Bell, ASCAP; Vintage Sound (www.glennabell.com)
  
  "Christmas Eve will be here before you know it. So I'm giving you all a heads-up on what's new from Music City for your holiday soundtrack. These records are mainly from our country community . . . [Glenna Bell's] vocal vibrato is a mile wide, but there's no escaping the audio charm of this simple, affecting song and its sweet, tinkling, acoustic instrumental bed. Recorded in Houston by a producer who seems to understand exactly how to play to Glenna's musical strengths."
  
  
  GLENNA BELL/"Hoping I Could Be Wrong" (From Face This World, 2005)
  Writer: none listed [Glenna Bell, ASCAP]; Producer: John Evans; Publisher: Glenna Bell ASCAP
  
  "Producer Evans is the star here, crafting an absolutely killer track sporting subterranean rhythm beneath moody, echoey guitar work. Vocalist Bell gives the suspicion and doubt in the lyric just the right touch of pain and paranoia. An outstanding disc debut. Who wrote this nifty little number?" [Glenna Bell wrote it.]
  
  

• from the houston chronicle music editor [+ Show ]
  

  RE: The Road Less Traveled (March 1, 2008): Glenna Bell's magic is her ability to wring the purest e...RE: The Road Less Traveled (March 1, 2008): Glenna Bell's magic is her ability to wring the purest emotion from a lyric with the least possible effort. The Houston-based performer doesn't overdo her intimate tunes with flowery notes or dramatic flourishes. It's a rare thing and gives The Road Less Traveled, Bell's gorgeous new record, a poignant shimmer. Every moment has a spare, sparkling beauty . . .

• to top 21: a weekly guide to the music industry's buzz & latest releases [+ Show ]
  

  RE: The Road Less Traveled (May 14, 2008): Country is at its best when it's simple, melancholy; some...RE: The Road Less Traveled (May 14, 2008): Country is at its best when it's simple, melancholy; something that stares you right in the eye without beating you down with force. It's not just that Ms. Bell's voice has that quality grafted to it; she knows how to dress it down without turning it all into one big gimmick. Just the right amount of echo, on her guitar as well as her voice, with lyrics that never overreach in their scope. The thematic territory is familiar, with heartbreak at the center of it all, but it is with honesty. Aside from a few slightly more lavish moments, this is sparse music with a void as its backbone, a void which pulls us in close to Ms. Bell and imbues her words with an equal gravity. This is a quality that cannot be faked or honed, it is intimate and honest without being simplistic or dumb; this is a sort of music that I'd feared dead.

• and fame--the folk & acoustic music exchange [+ Show ]
  

  RE: The Road Less Traveled (February 2008): The road less traveled, indeed. I say that simply becau...RE: The Road Less Traveled (February 2008): The road less traveled, indeed. I say that simply because any number of singer/songwriters sound like some guitar wielding predecessor. Glenna Bell goes beyond a list of influences. She doesn't sound like the usual suspects—Lucinda, Gillian, Iris, Mary Gauthier, etc. She sounds older than that. Way older. Like Texas is old. The Road Less Traveled plays like an old field recording. You're listening to songs like the gritty prison ballad Outside The Bars and the mournful, yet redemptive Johnny Bush duet The East Side expecting to hear the pops and skips of old vinyl. With her arrangements raw, production back-porch sparse, and a haunting, halting vocal style, Bell fixes your attention on her songs and not the tired who-does-she-sound-like guessing game that gets in the way of a good listen far too often . . . People are listening. You should too.

• to midwest record reviews [+ Show ]
  

  RE: The Road Less Traveled (April 10, 2008): Has anybody been recognized by the Texas legislature fo...RE: The Road Less Traveled (April 10, 2008): Has anybody been recognized by the Texas legislature for their music since Gary P. Nunn? Bell now joins that august rank with her tunes. A real from the heart folk rocker, Bell may or may not reach the top of the charts with hit singles, but if we were still living in an album world, this would be one of the sets all the hip kids would be toting in their back packs. Coming at you with a real load of Texas in her soul, Bell delivers the kind of set that cold cocks you when you don’t expect it and just makes you want to turn everyone on to her. Killer stuff that you don’t have to be a tied in the wool folkie to love.

• plus a program director's review [+ Show ]
  

  RE: Face This World (2005): Traditional country is still alive and well in Texas. That is apparent f...RE: Face This World (2005): Traditional country is still alive and well in Texas. That is apparent from the resurgence of real country music developed here, halting lyrics that punctuate each and every line from the CD of Glenna Bell, Face This World. The Houston coalition production of John Evans and support of an emerging true roots revival make this CD a joy. For fans of Patsy Cline and Tammy Wynette to the neo-traditionalists that wish to have a sparingly beautiful album that transforms you back to 1953.
  
  Forget the poodle skirt, this music takes you back to the honky-tonk life where men ruled the music and the soft touch of a woman’s voice was at first regulated to the back of the room. Bell’s styling makes you hang on to every word.
  
  Backed by some of Houston's finest, Glenna Bell and Face This World will make you stand up and take notice of a new artist who needs to be recognized.
  
  

• "a jewel" [+ Show ]
  

  RE: Face This World (2005): For my colleagues and me, CD Baby is a gift from heaven because it offer...RE: Face This World (2005): For my colleagues and me, CD Baby is a gift from heaven because it offers a very mixed selection of different music trends, and what makes it so interesting is the opportunity to listen to many songs partially. In this way you can discern a lot because, let's be honest, in the Americana, alt. country, roots/rock world there is material which should never leave the studios. But once in a while something rises up and 2005 just began with Face This World from the for-me unknown Glenna Bell. I hold a jewel in my hands. This Texan beauty (born in Beaumont) was strongly influenced by a cappella songs in the local church and the old style country albums of her own collection. That's why she preferred to record her songs at the famous Sugar Hill Studios to get that specific sound. Together with producer John Evans (Texan singer/ songwriter) who had his band accompany Glenna and who also sings two wonderful duets with Glenna, they succeeded very well with this album. Apparently there are earlier recordings from Glenna Bell, but this is the first album that got our attention. With 10 original songs and with the help of Chris Masterson (the Jack Ingram band) on lead guitar and Brian Thomas (the Jesse Dayton band) on banjo, Glenna has created a very eclectic masterpiece. This beautiful child has a different sort of voice that reminds me of Mary Gauthier, Iris Dement, Gillian Welch. Glenna Bell's sound is modern Americana in the truest sense. It is a unique blend of country roots music, romantic urban culture lyrics, and Texas folk rock; all sung in a voice that is powerful yet somehow vulnerable. More beautiful than Face This World is not possible. The album keeps you fascinated from the opening title track ("Face This World") until the surprise ending track, "Cosmo's Cafe." Beautiful songs with guitar solos are "Hoping I Could Be Wrong" and the up-tempo "Poor Girl" which is somewhat like J. Cash and somewhat like our Guido Belcanto, should he do something nice. "March to Me" and "Could've Been My Friend" are songs that give me goose flesh, pure acoustic Texan folk that places Glenna at the level of the best singer/songwriters. In the song "John" the drum roll makes its mark. "Here In Texas," again with pretty guitars and banjo added, is a nice surprise. The two duets with John Evans--"Tumbling Down" and "Moving On"--are a statement of Dan Workman's words. (Dan is president of Sugar Hill Studios): "Glenna Bell is the Loretta Lynn of Texas. No, that's not right, . . . she's better." Her first CD, Nobody's Girl, went past the attention of the radio stations and the major labels. Hopefully, you will do great this time, Glenna . . . I love this record !!!* * * * (SWA)
  
  

• classic country [+ Show ]
  

  RE: Face This World (2005): In a time when it's getting hard to tell Nashville and Austin apart, in ...RE: Face This World (2005): In a time when it's getting hard to tell Nashville and Austin apart, in walks Glenna Bell.
  
  It's all real, it's all original, all fresh, and all good music. An outstanding voice and one like I've never heard. Her music is folk, country, it’s cowjazz. A good CD, a great act--ladies and gentlemen, this is Glenna Bell.
  
  

• a song or two from breaking out big [+ Show ]
  

  RE: Face This World (2005)—She has the clipped vocal delivery of Janis Joplin without the blues and ...RE: Face This World (2005)—She has the clipped vocal delivery of Janis Joplin without the blues and a Natalie Merchant quirkiness without Natalie’s I-Just-Bought-This-At-Starbucks snob appeal. Glenna Bell is a Texan who is one or two great songs, one or two lucky breaks from breaking out into the AAA radio format in a big way (she’s too rootsy for mainstream country). Her singing is heartfelt and distinctive (though on certain cuts she’s dead-on Janis) and the songs on “Face This World” worth recording.

Setlist

Currently, we are promoting Glenna's new release, The Road Less Traveled, as an opening act for more established bands. The set list includes 10 songs from the new album and ten songs from her sophomore CD, Face This World.

Basic Requirements

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