Music
Press
"Legendary Nashville songwriter Dan Penn calls Genest "sharp and original" and you'll get no argument here."
Alex Varty, Georgia Strait Magazine
- Georgia Strait
"Buoyed up on a stable seabed of fiddles and finger-plucking, Genest's lyrics are what really grab you, describing life in the north from a disappointed yet hopeful insider's perspective, as opposed to going on about things outsiders always notice and drown in metaphor once they're back in the studio. The South Side of town is a gripping, realistic song about a missing woman, for example, while In Canada the Winters Are Long is deeper than the title suggests. Genest is a very honest, unabashed songwriter, utterly free from flaky poetry. Seek her out."
Fish Griwkosky, Penguin Eggs, Issue no. 22, Summer 2004
- Penguin Eggs
"There are enough heartbreakers here to make you spill a tear in your beer. In Genest's world, "Cadillac" rhymes with "Kerouac" in an ode to a man who just can't stick around, "You Like Leaving". With her pleasant alto, honest heartfelt songs like "Lavina Brown" - a tribute to a small town free spirit - and "Im the One" show a diversity of style and a profound understanding of the genre." - Cindy Filipenko, Herizons Magazine, Fall Issue 2004
- Herizons Magazine
"Great songwriting - sharp and original." Dan Penn, legendary Southern Soul songwriter and producer, Nashville, Tennessee
- Peer Review
"it blew my socks so far off I still can't find em! Great CD!" Darryl Few, Birch Radio Rochdale, UK
- Birch Radio
"I've found my Townes Van Zandt!" - Connie Ambrosch, VP Copyright & International, Leiber & Stoller Music Publishing
- Leiber & Stoller
"Anne Louise manages to capture your ear and forces you to listen to her music over and over again. Super debut. Airplay rating 9 out of 10!" Ted Clark, Grensland International Radio, The Netherlands
- Grensland International Radio
Discography
2004 Big Dream (Caribou Records)
2002 Trouble (Caribou Records)
*Anne Louise's music has also appeared on the following recordings:
2004 Yukon Women In Music Compilation CD
2000 The Yukon Collection II (Caribou Records)
2000 Ancient Wisdom (Yukon Women In Music)
*Anne Louise has appeared as a guest artist on the following recordings:
2004 "Streetcar Heart" Kim Beggs
2001 "Gingerbread" Kim Barlow
2000 "Sanctuary" Barbara Chamberlin
1999 "Humminah" Kim Barlow
1995 "The Yukon Collection I" (Caribou Records)
Photos
Bio
Yukon’s Anne Louise Genest (pronounced jha-nay)was raised in Toronto but her music comes from the Yukon hills she now calls home. Folk, old tyme, and bluegrass influences underline Genest’s lyrical gift for rendering the joys and sorrows of the human experience. Genest delivers it all with a rich, evocative voice and solid guitar work that carve imagery and song into tales of love, longing, betrayal, hope and redemption. Anne Louise’s live show includes Bob Hamilton on resophonic guitar, mandolin, and vocals, and Matt King on upright bass and vocals for a tight, dynamic sound that takes the listener down into the valley and back up into the hills.
Born and raised in downtown Toronto, Anne Louise took flight from the urban landscape and landed on the marge of Lake Laberge in Canada's Yukon, where the brief but brightly lit summers and long dark winters feed her already vivid imagination. Inspired by a wide range of Roots music traditions including folk, traditional narrative country, old tyme music and bluegrass, Anne Louise draws on influences ranging from Gillian Welch and Johnny Cash to Bill Monroe and Bob Dylan.
Anne Louise released her second album, Big Dream, on the Caribou Records label in the spring of 2004. Big Dream, an alchemist's brew of the best of roots, old tyme, and country, has been getting rave reviews in music publications such as Penguin Eggs and the Georgia Strait, as well as extensive radio play in Canada and Europe.
Her song "Fire Safety" was featured in the fall 2004 issue of Geist Magazine, and "Down On My Wheels", from Anne Louise's first release Trouble, is an audience favourite on the soundtrack of the award winning indie film "The Elvis Project", by Adam Green.
This year Anne Louise is one of ten artists selected nationally for an official Folk Alliance Showcase at the 2005 Western Canadian Music Awards (WCMA's). She is also one of four artists chosen to participate in SOCAN's "Songs and Stories" event at the WCMA's, along with Randy Bachman, Corb Lund, and Kyle Riabko.
Anne Louise is one of fifteen Canadian independent artists selected by the National Campus and Community Radio Association to appear on their 2005 "Dig Your Roots" compilation CD. Her song "Paradise Road" will be featured on the album. She was also selected to present an official showcase at Folk Alliance Canada's 2004 Rendezvous Folk! Conference in Halifax this and she was invited to perform at the Industry Awards banquet at the 2004 Western Canadian Music Awards (WCMA). She was one of ten northern artists to showcase her music on the 2004 CBC True North Concert, which was broadcast nationally on CBC.
Anne Louise is a veteran of the Yukon festival circuit and a regular favourite at the Frostbite, Alsek, and Dawson City Music Festivals. She has also headlined at the Edge of the World Music Festival, and she has appeared at the Blue Skies Music Festival, the Islands Folk Festival, and Kispiox Valley Music Festival.
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