Athena Reich

Article and interview (here's an excerpt):
I cannot remember exactly where I first met Athena. I think it was a little variety show that she organized at Cafe ShaSha in the West Village of NYC, maybe some 6 to 8 years ago. Gosh, it seems like yesterday. Anyway – I find it hard not to like Athena, I think she’s one of the most unique artists that I’ve heard. Always trying new things, always pushing the envelope, not needing to fit into easy, descriptive boxes. She had a song I really liked where she played electric guitar and also clucked like a chicken. Sounds weird maybe, but it was amazing. Fearless. Nothing like her one of current songs, the emotional and positive “Love is Love”. Still fearless, still 100% Athena. We love it.

Athena was a frequently invited featured artist during the old monthly showcases of Chicks with Guitars – and also had a track on the now highly-collectible Chicks with Guitars compilation CD from 2004. I’ve been enjoying watching her evolve, and we’ve caught up with her to get a glimpse of what her life is like in 2010. Enjoy!
(Click link below for more of the article & for the interview) - Chicks with Guitars

In addition to Athena Reich, "Broadway Sings for Pride" also featured Rory O'Malley (Book of Mormon), Tracy McDowell (Rent), Cristy Candler (Wicked), Sonja Tremont-Morgan ("The Real Housewives of New York City"), Reichen Lehmkuhl (“The Amazing Race,” “The A-List: New York”), Randy Jones (The Village People) - Playbill

"Sedona did it again with major talent...the only woman out there to do Supertramp's "The Logical Song" and do it justice...Her voice is reminiscent of a wilder Sarah McLachlan and the vocal highs of Annie Lennox but it was Reich's writing that kept me seated. "Little Girl Dreams" is filled with the odyssey of her life's recent years. The title track tells a story of discovery. It will be felt by many who have been just a little lost at times. As for me and a few others, we laughed about her "My Cat is Magical" and felt a little self-righteous when listening to "Money Whore". Not only does Ms. Reich sing the songs, but she entertains well with comfortable commentary. It enriches her storytelling because Reich doesn't play to the audience, she interacts and invites the audience into her world making the industrial setting of the Oak Creek Brewery work. My favorite? "Love is Love" is off the chain!" -Hollywood Jim reporting from The Sedona Times - Sedona Times

Renowned Lady Gaga impersonator Athena Reich - Washington Times

Featured in Go Mag as the Editor Pick of the Week in promotion for Broadway Sings for Pride, June 27th, 2011. - Go Magazine

(Translation from Dutch)

I can't help it, but Athena Reich's Little Girl Dreams makes me think a bit of the long row of singer-songwriters that passed by the pop landscape in the 90's, with names like Billie Myers and Nathalie Imbruglia. Armed with the same kind of alternative sound, Reich lets us hear in her opening number 'Love is Love' what it is all about: "Love is love is love". Without pretension Reich starts her album, which appears very disarmingly.

Little Girl Dreams sounds are diverse - jazzy songs are followed by piano ballads - but the album never loses its coherence. When Reich involves string players and sentences like "My skin remembers fire/And my heart remembers waves' ('Bones'), then it's like I'm listening to the work of Fiona Apple - where the biggest part of the album keeps reminding off. Still, Reich doesn't copy. We have here a musician who has found the right balance between music that sounds just a bit different, and texts that go around woolliness and that touch you. For the past ladies - Imbruglia, Myers, Apple - this was enough for a number of excellent pop albums where quality
was above hit potential. And according to me Athena Reich is heading the same direction.

-Niels Vonberg - Tijdschrift Lover

(Translation from Dutch)

I can't help it, but Athena Reich's Little Girl Dreams makes me think a bit of the long row of singer-songwriters that passed by the pop landscape in the 90's, with names like Billie Myers and Nathalie Imbruglia. Armed with the same kind of alternative sound, Reich lets us hear in her opening number 'Love is Love' what it is all about: "Love is love is love". Without pretension Reich starts her album, which appears very disarmingly.

Little Girl Dreams sounds are diverse - jazzy songs are followed by piano ballads - but the album never loses its coherence. When Reich involves string players and sentences like "My skin remembers fire/And my heart remembers waves' ('Bones'), then it's like I'm listening to the work of Fiona Apple - where the biggest part of the album keeps reminding off. Still, Reich doesn't copy. We have here a musician who has found the right balance between music that sounds just a bit different, and texts that go around woolliness and that touch you. For the past ladies - Imbruglia, Myers, Apple - this was enough for a number of excellent pop albums where quality
was above hit potential. And according to me Athena Reich is heading the same direction.

-Niels Vonberg - Tijdschrift Lover

Pop Indie Vocalist Athena Reich performing at Arlene's Grocery - Time Out NY

She's young. She's adorable. She's queer. She's Jewish. She's Canadian. What's not to like? Athena Reich fills the stage with great vocals, catchy pop tunes, easily accessible lyrics and an overall stage presence that makes you feel as though she's reached out and hugged you with her smile, her soul and her wonderful voice. I spotted her first at this cool little cult show in a West Village gay bar. This weekend, this girl will be part of the Girls Rock lineup this Sunday at Webster Hall. Check out this video of her Lesbionic anthem: Love is Love: - www.extracriticum.com

Athena Reich, who is an indie rock/pop chick and practically a lesbian household name, won the award for Outstanding Pop Song of The Year for "Love is Love" from her 5th CD, Little Girl Dreams. Reich is a singer/songwriter, actress, TV Host/Personality, and Arts in Autism Educator originally from Toronto currently based in New York City. She wrote the theme song for “Living in Captivity,” a TV pilot accepted into the ITV Festival in LA this summer (animated by Emily Hubley of Hedwig & the Angry Inch). Most recently, Reich appeared in an Advil commercial (singing “Little Girl Dreams’) and on $12 Challenge on the Food Network. - About.com

She has meshed comedy, classical piano, guitar, TV and film appearances with theater and original songs in a career that has generated a hefty amount of press and loyal fans. - Tempo News in Taos, NM

...contains the kind of densely packed and 3 dimensional lyrical motifs and layers that are not part of any mainstream pop vulture...A Pop Vulture in which even as brilliant an act as Lady Gaga has nothing to say and that nothing is pretty big and very heavy-- all artifice and no art...(Athena's music is) such a refreshing alternative to the solipsistic nihilism that passes for pop song writing...

The topics she waxes eloquently on are multifarious: from the anti-authoritarian bent of What About Love, the excellent cover of Supertramp’s. The Logical Song with its leftist celebratory sangfroid, to the personal angst ridden almost pathetic cri de coeur of 'Money whore's line ‘Flying free across this false democracy’. Athena takes you there and won’t let go till you get the message. She is a thorn in the side of any sedentary ether surrounded by machinery in which as someone once pointed out cogently that this ‘Technology arranges things so that you don’t have to experience anything’.

This Early Dylanesque free verse is achingly married to catchy listener friendly pop musings. As well the production of each number is different from the last—little repetition in the imaginative use of instrumentation and composition is witnessed here.

For this reviewer, Athena was wise to leave the ‘farm’ and she should stay in OZ and keep writing and singing. It can only get better.

Two thumbs up for this CD.
- Lipstik Indie - Nik Beat

(Athena) far exceeded our expectations as a solo performer... Ms. Reich was able to connect with our audience, which was very diverse as to gender, age and ethnicity... Because of her passionate portrayal through song of her first hand experiences with violence, she expresses honesty and survivorship. As a professional, Ms. Reich is also a pleasure to work with. She is honest, skillful and very cooperative. The Women's Center truly enjoyed her performance and has invited her back... - Estelle Miller, Director of the Women's Resource Center at Kingsborough College

Underexposed Intriguing Indie Upstart Athena Reich - Village Voice

Athena’s songs take you places only the spirit goes. She's wonderful. What a joy. - Jerry Springer (Springer on the Radio) on Air America Radio

To witness the grace and electricity of an Athena Reich show is an experience.. In her shows, Athena expertly intertwines stand up comedy and storytelling into her energetic performances. IN one show, you'll laugh and cry and, at the end of the night, wish you could take her home with you. Her energy and comedic talent is infectious... - Out in Jersey

If she doesn’t have you laughing hysterically at her banter, you’ll be sobbing into your sour-apple martini with her brutally honest lyrics and a voice to die for. - HX Magazine