Pamela Means

Genre: Singer/Songwriter
Secondary Genre: Jazz Brooklyn, New York USA Contact

“...visionary...combination of Michael Franti and Chet Baker...” • Northeast Performer Magazine

"Good stuff." • Neil Young

“Means is, quite simply, superb...” • HiFi Magazine, London UK

"...as real and honest as it gets..." • Indie-Music.com

Artist Information

Biography

NEWS! Pamela Means wins competition!
Best Singer-Songwriter • 2013 Beloit Int'l Film Festival

"So what sets [Pamela Means] apart from other Martin-armed songwriters who are pretty convinced they have a way with poetry and angst? For starters, Means plays a snarling, energetic guitar. She's got chops - more than the other gentle pickers of her ilk will ever have. Means' voice is hard-wired to her heart: emotional, raw, angry when it needs to be, yet supple and warm as an embrace. The truth may not always be pretty, but Means is a stunningly effective messenger." - Oregon Live, Portland OR

Pamela Means, singer-songwriter & jazz musician, with her "mad-guitar-and-vocal skills" (Time Out New York) has toured throughout the US, Canada, Europe and Australia, selling well over 12,000 units of her seven independent releases along the way. Means's latest album, Precedent, elegantly addresses a range of themes from the state of the union to the state of the heart. Curve Magazine calls her "one of the fiercest guitar players and politically-rooted singer-songwriters in the music industry today."

A multi-talented performer, singer, songwriter, composer and producer, Pamela Means's multiple honors include being named Falcon Ridge Folk Festival's "# 1 Most Wanted New Artist," "Wisconsin Folk Artist of the Year," "Wisconsin Female Vocalist of the Year," and her politically provocative album, Single Bullet Theory, was voted 2004's "Outmusic Outstanding New Recording." Pamela Means was twice voted "Best Acoustic Act" of the year in her hometown of Milwaukee, WI; and after setting up shop in the bustling 'burbs of Boston, Mass., Pamela was nominated for an "Outstanding Contemporary Folk Artist" Boston Music Award.

Consistently evolving and pushing further, with drive, skill, and ambition; Pamela Means also garnered acclaim with her seminal jazz recording, the "insanely brilliant" (Press Herald, Portland ME), Pamela Means Jazz Project, Vol. 1, in which, "Means takes her rightful place among contemporary superstar jazz vocalists such as Cassandra Wilson and Norah Jones" (Curve Magazine). Pamela Means Jazz Project, Vol. 1 was also named a "Top Ten Album of 2007" (Muruch Entertainment Blog).

From recording her first tape in the living room of Violent Femmes bassist Brian Ritchie, Pamela Means has since shared the stage with artists including Ani DiFranco, Pete Seeger, Indigo Girls, Joan Baez, Howard Zinn, Angela Davis, Eve Ensler, David Strathairn, Neil Young, Shawn Colvin, Richie Havens, Patty Larkin, Melissa Ferrick, Violent Femmes, Television, The Radiators, Adrian Belew, Leo Kottke and Janis Ian. Pamela Means has performed at notable venues such as the Newport, Falcon Ridge and Clearwater Folk Festival(s), SXSW Music Conference and, internationally, at the eminent Woodford Folk Festival (Australia), Stockholm Pride (Sweden) and Jazz Cafe Alto (The Netherlands). Pamela Means has also composed and licensed music to PBS, independent filmmakers and contributed musically to folkpoet Alix Olson's multi-award-winning film and CD projects.

With virtuosic musicianship, razor wit and a disarming sense of humor, Pamela Means is building a vibrant and remarkable career, delighting audiences from Anchorage to Amsterdam, Sydney (AU) to New York. Plus, Ani DiFranco says of Pamela Means, "you groove so deep, so deep I can't get out. And I wouldn't want to." We guarantee you won't want to either.


AWARDS

Best Singer-Songwriter • 2013 Beloit Int'l Film Festival
Top Ten Albums of the Year (Pamela Means Jazz Project, Vol. 1)
Wisconsin Folk Artist of the Year
Wisconsin Female Vocalist of the Year
Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Most Wanted New Artist
Outmusic Outstanding New Recording • Female (Single Bullet Theory)
(2-time) Milw WI Shepherd Express Reader’s Poll Best Acoustic Act
Boston Music Award Nominee Outstanding Contemporary Folk
Indie Gods of Guitar Competition • Silver Award



SELECT APPEARANCES

Newport Folk Festival
Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
SXSW Music Conference
University of Alaska Anchorage AK
Wesleyan University Middletown CT
Haverford College Haverford PA
Florida State University Tallahassee FL
Brown University Providence RI
Scripps College Claremont CA
Portland State University Portland OR
Smith College Northampton MA
Cornell University Ithaca NY
Ithaca College Ithaca NY
Boston University Boston MA
Amherst College Amherst MA
Hampshire College Hadley MA
Mount Holyoke College Hadley MA
Washington University St. Louis MO
UVM Burlington VT
Higher Ground Burlington VT
Michigan Womyn's Music Fest Hart MI
Humboldt State University Arcata CA
University of Tennessee Knoxville TN
Club Passim Cambridge MA
Iron Horse Music Hall Northampton MA
Schuba's Chicago IL
Riverside Theater Milwaukee WI
Summerfest Milwaukee WI
Historic Mountain Winery Saratoga CA
Sunset Tavern Seattle WA
Tractor Tavern Seattle WA
Genghis Cohen Los Angeles CA
Twiggs San Diego CA
Black Cat Washington DC



FILM & TELEVISION MUSIC PLACEMENTS


Cat's Dream XXI Century • 8 part PBS documentary about post-Sept 11 U.S. politics

Fund for Women Artists • documentary

Left Lane • On the Road with Folk Poet Alix Olson (documentary)

Instrumentation

PAMELA MEANS - Acoustic guitar, Electric guitar, Vocals

Discography

ALBUMS:

Precedent (2009)

Pamela Means Jazz Project, Vol. 1 (2006)

Single Bullet Theory (2003)

Pearls (2000)

Cobblestones (1998)

Bone Spurs (1995)



Additional Projects:


PBS • Century XXI, 8-part political documentary

Alix Olson • Built Like That (CD), Independence Meal (CD), Left Lane (DVD)

Fund for Women Artists • original score for promotional film

As well as numerous artist compilations

Official Website

http://www.pamelameans.com

Links

Audio

Lyrics

Video

New Orleans • live at Toad • 9.29.12.mov

Pamela Means • Everywhere You Can Imagine • 11.2.12.mov

Photo Gallery

  • Pamela Means photo by Sean McCabe

    Download print quality (high-res) version (Right Click -> Save As)
  • Pamela Means photo by Sean McCabe

  • Pamela Means photo by Sean McCabe

  • Pamela Means photo by Sean McCabe

  • Pamela Means; photo by Angela Jimenez

  • b&w photo credit: charan devereaux

  • Pamela Means, Color

  • Pamela Means - Annie's Guitar - by Sean McCabe

Press

  • Ends justify the Means [+ Show ]

    Pamela Means aims her songwriting skills like a gun. From the politics of sexual identity and race t...

  • Getting to Know Pamela Means - Women in the Arts Festival performer on music, politics and how Janis Ian changed her life [+ Show ]

    Curve Magazine has praised Pamela Means as "one of the fiercest guitar players and politically-roote...

  • Pamela Means, CD review [+ Show ]

    Pamela Means juggles both unabashedly outraged, subtly layered acoustic folk and excursions into jaz...

  • Precedent CD Review [+ Show ]

    Pamela Means’s latest release Precedent came to me accompanied by a Frida Kahlo postcard with a note...

  • Pamela Means: Still On the Way Up [+ Show ]

    by David Luhrssen The first time I saw Pamela Means, she was absorbed with her acoustic guitar in...

  • Concert Preview, Portland ME [+ Show ]

    PAMELA MEANS, besides having a fantastic head of hair, is an east coast singer-songwriter who has be...

  • CD Review; Pamela Means Jazz Project [+ Show ]

    On this eight-track disc comprised mostly of jazz standards, the Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter ve...

  • CD Review; Pamela Means Jazz Project [+ Show ]

    Top Ten Album of 2007 Pamela Means’ Jazz Project Vol. 1 is a pleasantly surprising collection of ...

  • "Means is, quite simply, superb." [+ Show ]

    PAMELA MEANS: SINGLE BULLET THEORY WIRL RECORDS WIRL1005-D(42m 07) Strolling through Harvard Sq...

  • "armed with...an acoustic guitar that she plays so hard she's worn a hole in it." [+ Show ]

    Boston political rocker Pamela Means promotes new album in Chicago at the Heartland Cafe, 7000 N. Gl...

Setlist

Sets generally run from 45 - 90 minutes, depending on the gig. Singer/songwriter set lists are predominantly originals with a little jazz. Jazz gigs are mostly standards with a few originals featured.

Basic Requirements

PDF Rider

Pamela Means • Stage plot (solo)

Calendar

DateTimeVenueCity
Jun 1, 2013 Saturday 8:00 PM New World Home Cooking Saugerties, NY, US
Jun 2, 2013 Sunday 12:00 PM Hudson Valley LGTBQ Pride New Paltz, NY, US
Jun 5, 2013 Wednesday 12:00 PM Kendall Square T-stop Courtyard Cambridge, MA, US
Jun 8, 2013 Saturday 7:30 PM Toad Cambridge, MA, US
Jun 29, 2013 Saturday 8:00 PM Mocha Maya’s Shelburne Falls, MA, US
Jul 20, 2013 Saturday 7:00 PM World Fellowship Center Conway, NH, US
Jul 27, 2013 Saturday 12:00 PM Private Party Warren, RI, US
Jul 30, 2013 Tuesday 8:00 PM Club Passim Cambridge, MA, US
Aug 16, 2013 Friday 8:00 PM Mocha Maya’s Shelburne Falls, MA, US
Aug 30, 2013 Friday 12:00 PM West Harlem Piers Park New York, NY, US
Oct 26, 2013 Saturday 8:00 PM Mocha Maya’s Shelburne Falls, MA, US
Dec 14, 2013 Saturday 8:00 PM Mocha Maya’s Shelburne Falls, MA, US
Feb 5, 2014 Wednesday TBA Greenfield Community College Greenfield, MA, US