Biography
“..Tear-stained bone machine melodrama for the forlorn and frisky alike.” Steve Baylin, Ottawa XPress.
“..the tendencies of Tom Waits, while trying to put Johnny Cash through a Kate Bush filter.” Fateema Sayani, Ottawa Citizen.
“Poushinsky...stray[s] into the imagistic realm of writers like Michael Ondaatje...with lines that linger deliciously in the air long after the notes have faded.” Stephen Flood, The Ottawa Sun.
Biography
The candy-coloured dress and skinny bass caught your eye but it’s the shivering vocals and vibrating guitar that slide down the back of your neck like a fingernail, pulling you off the street and into the bar. You’ve found yourself in the middle of an L.Poushinsky show. By turns playful, funky, and thoughtful, at times deeply dark and downright hair-raising, eLp hooks her audience with slippery vocal stylings and reels ‘em in with the confident delivery of quirky, catchy melodies and sophisticated lyrics. With elements from jazz, motown, blues, pop / rock, cabaret, and country, eLp’s sets range across a wide and surprising musical landscape. ..PARTICIPATING IN AN L.POUSHINSKY SHOW IS LIKE SITTING ON TOP OF AN ANIMAL MOVING THROUGH EXCITING, UNCHARTERED TERRITORY..
“I admire subtlety but I’ve never managed it” says Poushinsky, when asked where her flair for drama comes from. “I used to get flak about that in art school, that my work was so over the top. So I decided to embrace it. THE OPPOSITE OF SUBTLE!” After three years of training as a glassblower in Oakville, Ontario, eLp had it with sweating buckets, cuts and burns, and the onset of more serious health problems. Playing friendly open-mics in the Toronto area eased her transfer of affections from one heart-thumping medium to another. It’s no surprise that MUSIC LEADS TO THEATRICS for eLp. Listen for guns in Shot Down, a song about a man who can’t take a hint, or howls in the gypsy-like ‘Til Death Do Us Part, where a woman marries her hangman to avoid her own execution, and then marries Death!
Refusing to corner herself, eLp RESISTS CATEGORIZATION. “I’m a huge fan of Tom Waits” eLp says eagerly. “He has no fear when it comes to pulling the catchiest chord progression or melody from any kind of music and making it his own.” Like Waits, eLp quotes tangos and jazz progressions as VEHICLES FOR POETRY. In Strychnine, with a Miles Davis inspired leadline, eLp sings from the point of view of a raver at a rave “...10,000 strong.” Marrying jazz with drum and bass, eLp puts us in the middle of a dangerous and sweet experience with “all good pills take good parties to Heaven” and asks the D.J. to “..slay me like a hold up at a 7-11.”
ELp sees music as a work in progress and is constantly refining her song arrangements and creating new characters for the stage, citing David Bowie, Bjork, and Canada’s own Wax Mannequin as influences. Since moving back to Ottawa in 2004, eLp has fronted two different bands, made three full-length albums (one unreleased,) a number of demos, and toured through Southern Ontario, Quebec, the Maritimes (including Newfoundland), and British Columbia.
Back from her April '07 Eastern Canada tour with Hamilton's Hunter Eves, eLp is fine-tuning a collection of jazzy numbers and getting ready to hit the studio again in August. Look out for eLp at a town near you as she tours Eastern Canada in the fall, selling three, count'em, THREE albums off stage, "Til Death Do Us Part," with RED FEY, "Thistle," a pared down and intimate 7 song album, and her newest CD featuring strings, djembe, and upright bass. Listen for snakey tremolo guitar lines, reminiscent of Tom Wait’s Marc Ribot from eLp's RED FEY days (eLp’s all-girl alt-country rock band), the virtuosic electric upright bass accompaniment of Adam Fogo (from Hollow Water, eLp's indie rock side-project), viola by Pemi Paull, percussion by Ashley Newall, and trademark shivering, strident, and sophisticated vocals.
Taking her cue from JAZZ SINGERS, DRAG QUEENS, AND DISNEY HEROINES like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, eLp is determined to put on a show that should be A CURE FOR THE COMMON INDIE-ROCK COLD SHOULDER. With ever-growing stage props and presence, catch L.Poushinsky in her current incarnation as the SINGER WITH THE X-RAY VOICE (a sound that goes straight to the bone!), with flowers in her hair and a revolving door of wild vintage dresses.
Contact L.Poushinsky by email lpoush@gmail.com or phone: 613 821 2409
Biography (short)
L.Poushinsky is an Ontario based singer / songwriter cabaret rocker! Catch her solo or accompanied by her band, Hollow Water, as eLp's catchy tunes with a twist and vocal theatrics span a wide musical spectrum, hitting folk, rock, alt-country, cabaret, motown, and even reggae. As a "Tom Waits for girls," eL p chooses her sets from over sixty original songs and wows audiences with her trembling, gut-wrenching voice and songs stretching from graveyard rock to pure pop poetry.
Back from her April '07 Eastern Canada tour with Hamilton's Hunter Eves, eLp is fine-tuning a collection of jazzy numbers and getting ready to hit the studio again in August. Look out for eLp at a town near you as she tours Eastern Canada in the fall, selling three, count'em, THREE albums off stage, "Til Death Do Us Part," with RED FEY, "Thistle," a pared down and intimate 7 song album, and her newest CD featuring strings, djembe, upright bass, and her trademark electric guitar and shivering, sophisticated vocals.
L.Poushinsky is available for shows across the country, solo or with friends. Contact eLP by email lpoush@gmail.com or phone: 613 821 2409
Biography for L.Poushinsky and RED FEY's 'Til Death Do Us Part, released June '05
www.redfey.com
Join RED FEY as they moan their way through strange tales of murder, ghosts and love gone awry. Exploring the darker side of human nature, RED FEY's music is often theatrical, humorous, and haunted, calling up specters of jazz, blues, and hurtin' country waltzes.
"I've been calling it Tom Waits for girls," says lead singer/songwriter Lisa Poushinsky, referring to her main musical influence. Audiences will also hear glimpses of Nina Simone, Leonard Cohen, and even Edith Piaf when listening to the accordian and piano parts added by Myriam Legault and the back-up vocals and drum contributions of sisters Janice and Sue Hall. Introducing Jenn Bookhout on bass.
As one of Ottawa's only all-girl bands, RED FEY has generated a healthy buzz and fans and band members alike celebrated the release of 'Til Death Do Us Part, RED FEY's debut CD, June 2005.
The Birth of RED FEY:
A Narrow Escape and a Full Disclosure in the Woods
Or
How RED FEY was Made
(see pics for an illustration)
The pick-axe was Ruby's idea, but she had no way of knowing that the path she was following had been made by sisters with a similar intent. To catch a thief, one must thieve, but to catch a loverY or the lover's new love! Only a brief distance ahead, the Hallsinki's fortified themselves with liquid courage and paused to plan, for they could sense their prey grow ever closer in the night.
And whom did these ferocious women hunt? Why, that would be Red, who had cleared the snow from the corpse of the deer and lit the witch lights in the trees. Pressing her ear to the dead furry lips, Red whispered "who else knows?"
Suddenly, Scarlett and Susa broke into the clearing like a pair of raging crows.
"YOU!!" shouted Susa. "Your man took away my woman!"
"YOU!!" shouted Scarlett. "Your man broke my sister's heart!!"
Red turned her head sadly. "I do not deny it," she said quietly, and the look of such profound sadness, combined queerly with satisfaction, made the sisters pause.
But a fierce yell pierced the snowy silence as Ruby leapt over the Hallsinki's to stand with the pick-axe raised above the head of the surprised Red.
"YOU!!" snarled Ruby. "If there is anything to say to save yourself, speak it now or your life is forfeit!!"
"Wild Women," said Red, nodding her head respectfully to Ruby and the sisters in turn. "I have a secret that you deserve to learn." And with that, Red gently rolled the deer aside to reveal a fresh grave, black as blood in the wintry night.
"He is dead, as is my love for him, and all my regret. Take heart, for he will never break another."
And with a howl, Ruby dropped her axe and her fury and embraced Red, and one by one the sisters approached and joined as well, so that all four women stood together over the dead body of the man all were glad to see below ground, (though to this day Ruby, Scarlett and Susa wished each had arrived before the other so that she alone could have dealt the mortal blow.)
For a broken heart binds women faster than any oath or duty could, and when combined shall make a tie that stays stronger and longer than any other.
The End or The Beginning?
RED FEY’s Cast of Characters
Scarlett and Susa
It was a pale moon and a starless night when the Hallsinki's reached safe harbour. Ten year old Scarlett and her sister Susa hauled themselves out of the St. Laurent, downed a bottle of hoarded vodka, and headed West to Ottawa, where both settled into average Canadian lives including hockey, beer, and working for the government.
"Let 'er Rip" Scarlett and Susa "I love ya" Hall enjoy events where they can tap into their mysterious and passionate heritage and really let their hair down! To watch the Halls in action is to enter a circle of abandon, surprise, secrets, and desire. In Red Fey, this dark duo provides the backbone of the band, stirring a smoldering fire of infectious rhythm and thunderous bass.
Both Scarlett and Susa can be seen on clear cold nights roaming the streets of Ottawa, swinging their babushkas and swapping sordid songs, stories, and liquor from their tragic past.
Ruby
Raised by french timberwolves escaped from the Sudbury zoo, Ruby "Lego mon accordion!" Legault gave in to her musical instincts at a tender age when she carved the keys for a tiny piano from the ivory of a mammoth which she discovered beneath the nickel tailings of a strip mine on a kindergarten field trip through the outskirts of Sudbury.
Ruby tries hard to blend in, but she lets her inner wolf loose in Red Fey, particularly in the songs "Til Death Do Us Part" and "Crash Car."
One might run into Ruby at the book markets and libraries of Ottawa, where she hunts for bargains and inspiration. Her evening hunts are of a different nature...
Red
Skinny "Red" Poushinsky grew up on a goat farm in the Ottawa Valley, where she learned to eat her pets at an early age. Consequently endowed with psychic powers, Red can channel any animal she has ever eaten, including but not limited to: venison, hare, moose, Canadian goose, and porcupine.
The voices of the Canadian wilderness are thus freed through the lyrics of Red Fey, such as "...they caught me in Ontario" and "...as a tooth takes its sweet time to grow..."
Catch Red reading the bones at finer Ottawa restaurants and combing the roads south of Ottawa for rural stories of darkness and despair.
Instrumentation
L.Poushinsky is: eLp on vocals and guitar, with
Adam Fogo on electric upright bass, Ashley Newall on percussion, special guest Pemi Paull on viola, and the Nana Beats drum machine for additional fun and rhythm..
Hollow Water is a collection of locals along for the ride, and eLp now delivers RED FEY with the L.Poushinsky line-up.
Discography
To Be Released September 2007 ~ (not titled yet): L.Poushinsky, a jazzy, minimalist album with strings and percussion, released by eLp (available for purchase during her upcoming fall Eastern Canada tour)
To Be Released Late 2007 ~ Hollow Water: Hollow Water, Hollow Water's debut full-length CD release.
June 2006 ~ L.Poushinsky : Thistle, L.P's first solo album, accompanied by Adam Fogo on bass, released by L.Poushinsky.
June 2005 ~ RED FEY : 'Til Death Do Us Part, RED FEY's debut CD release, released by RED FEY.
May 2005 ~ Hollow Water: Hollow Water, 5 song demo, released by Hollow Water.
Links
| http://www.hollowwater.com www.redfey.com |