Joy Adler
New York City, New York, United States | SELF
Music
Press
4.0
excellent robertmichaelsutton USER (3 Reviews)
Summary: Folk-pop singer/songwriter Joy Adler balances the mellow, peaceful spirit of country, jazz, and the blues with a cover of a Goth-rock classic from the Cult
Folky and intimate with tasteful flirtations in country, jazz, and the blues, the last think you'd expect from an album like this would be a cover of the Cult's mid-'80s Goth-rock anthem "She Sells Sanctuary." For those not paying attention to the track listing, singer/songwriter Joy Adler's lovingly realized stripped-down take on a post-punk dance classic is quite startling. Thankfully, Adler doesn't add a blemish to the Batcave nostalgia of the original. While now torn from its New Wave roots, "She Sells Sanctuary" still retains its dreaminess, an enigmatic love song with an undertow of spirituality ("I'm sure in her you'll find/Sanctuary") that is actually consistent with Adler's own explorations of religious faith.
Remaking a Cult cut also further conveys Adler's creative versatility. The opening slice, "By Your Side," is propelled by jangling guitars that suggest the influence of country music or Americana. It is rootsy pop with a solid vocal performance that is sweet but not as sugary as you'd hear from today's Nashville populace. "Prayer" turns the page immediately after it, letting Mike Steiner's fiery blues riffs loose while Adler's voice soars through the clouds. "Our Rapture," on the other hand, is a delicate piano piece reminiscent of Tori Amos (minus the personal issues) and Norah Jones.
Comparisons to other contemporary female artists are inevitable since most of them are mining similar inspirations. But Adler is her own person. There is a mellow, peaceful spirit at play here, one that seems to be seeking calmness and stability more than expressing rage. While her singing on "Feels Good" may recall the husky tones of Fiona Apple, Adler is stating her happiness here and not introspective gloom. It all equals all pleasant, sunny-day affair, a welcome alternative to the upcoming wintry darkness.
- Sputnik Music
Glasswerks UK Reviews .... Joy Adler
"Joy Adler possesses a voice that is difficult to compare; the varied path which her life has taken has left her with a truly remarkable ability to turn to almost any style.
It is therefore admirable that rather than selling out to popular culture she has chosen to write songs in her own style which are ultimately timeless.
This means she may be missing out on her 5 seconds of fame, but she is also allowing herself a chance to build up a fan base of like-minded people, a group that will undoubtedly keep growing throughout her career.
Her music tastes of classic rock, blues and soul more than benefit from the passion she puts into each song. The production on the tracks is a little raw in places but this serves well to translate the emotion of a live performance into the recordings, which is undoubtedly where her true strengths lie. "
Written by Sarah Howcutt- 10th March 2008 - Glasswerks UK
"Joy Adler brings healing touch to Showbarn gig"
Joy Adler sees music as a healing force. The Albany, N.Y. native taught herself to sing without any formal training, by practicing for years and wearing out her records.
"Music is healing," says Adler, who performs Saturday, November 18, at The Showbarn in Smithville. "It's about living and thriving, and that's what I want to emphasize out in the world. I really believe that everybody has a gift from their experiences. Whatever their wound is there's a gift in it. Whatever trauma they've experienced you have to look for the jewel in it."
Adler's day job grew out of this philosophy. She works as a holistic counselor and healer. But she is serious about her music career. "Rebellious Dreamer," her debut CD, has songs that reflect liberating the spirit, and putting troubling experiences behind you. In essence she provides music as a means to help others get over their negative experiences.
"For me, it's being able to understand the isolation and loneliness that people feel when they've gone through a troubling time. Times where they feel like they're the only ones in the world that are going through that. They feel different from everyone else. That's really what the album is about, reaching out to other people and letting them know that they're not alone. And that they can survive and in fact thrive and can have happy and whole lives."
The CD takes its name from The Rebellious Dreamer Foundation in Ann Arbor, Mich. The foundation, which awarded Adler a grant, provides funding, support and guidance for women who have faced adverse circumstances, and need help making their dreams a reality.
Adler is primarily a singer, and performer. She does possess some facility on guitar, piano, and percussion. But these instruments serve her as tools for writing music rather than to accompany herself.
"I need to be able to express myself on stage", she say. "To have a musical instrument in front of me gets in the way. I need to express myself through movement and to really focus on the lyrics of the song. I'm really a singer/songwriter, and a great performer, and that's why I like to focus on.
And if I have good musicians to back me up, people that I really believe in or have just a solid connection with, then I can really soar; then I can perform from my soul and I can allow myself to reveal my heart in front of the audience, and this is healing."
At The Showbarn, "The Souls of Evolution", her backup band, will feature Mary Page on backing vocals. Adler met her after she moved from NY to South Jersey. Adler sang in the casinos of Atlantic City, but spent the bulk of her time hosting a local cable TV show focused on holistic health topics, and becoming a certified holistic-health counselor.
Many people backing Adler have high hopes fo the CD. They would like to have others moved by the voice, songs and style that made them fans. But Joy admits to having another goal in music-- composing film scores.
"One of the things that prevented me from doing that sooner in my life was the limitation that I placed on myself." Adler said, adding that her lack of formal training created self-doubt.
"And what I discovered when I let go of those limitations, is that I had a great affinity for being able to write lyrics and melody. The truth of the matter is you can basically do anything you want to in life." - Eric Fine
Singer celebrates the cerebral side of life through music
Singer /songwriter Joy Adler shines a spotlight into the dark part of the psyche on her CD "Rebellious Dreamer.
Adler doesn't just sing pretty songs about love and loss. She feels them, with every fiber of her being, and bares her soul to the very depth of her being, both on disc, and in live performances. Her music is a stunningly textural, melodically focused amalgamation of folk, jazz, blues and gospel. Hear it for yourself by going to Amazon.com. - Alissa Wolf
It is not often in the music industry, that someone comes along to challenge and raise the level of "performance" in subtle yet profound ways. Joy Adler, a singer/songwriter is doing just that.
Although her voice and songwriting has been compared to Sarah McLachlan and Jewel, she has an astonishing ability to sing and write almost any musical genre. After hearing her CD, I'd have to say, she is truly one of the most gifted singers of our time.
It is rare to witness someone who can sing and write music from such a deep place. This CD, "Rebellious Dreamer' fits no one category of music, yet provides tempting selections spanning blues, pop, jazz and even gospel. Joy's voice can transport you to the heights of the angels in "Freedom.": to the depths of despair in "Silent Scream", with a rich tonal quality and expansive range. The honesty and frankness of her lyrics, combined with the expressive openness of her singing provide the listener with something of an extraordinary experience. - Brenda Stinson, author of "Where the jewels lie."
News and reviews of the best independent music.
March 30, 2008
Reviewed by Kyrby Raine
Joy Adler/Postcards
Give Joy Adler credit for not trying to sound like any of the other female singer/songwriters out there. Her voice, soaring and radiant, flows like a waterfall.
Throughout Postcards, I found myself simply mesmerized by her singing; it wasn’t until after I listened to the album more times did I even pay attention to her words. Her vocals alone were the hook.
On “Prayer” and “Your Love Is Everything,” Adler seems inspired by a divine force; there is an otherworldly, almost ethereal, quality to her singing on those tracks that is quite magical.
Adler’s versatility is also impressive. The opening cut, “By Your Side,” is a lovely country rocker with enough jangling guitars to cross over into the Americana circuit. “Prayer” and a remake of the Cult’s “She Sells Sanctuary” feature sizzling blues licks while “Feels Good” touches upon funk and jazz as Adler’s voice is more sultry than ever.
This is a fairly emotionally uplifting album, even when the lyrics deal with love lost. That’s mainly because of Adler’s high spirits beaming through the grooves.
- Overground Underground
Reviewed by Brooke Curtis
Joy Adler/Postcards 3/30/08
There’s certainly no shortage of female singer/songwriters out there, and the number has certainly grown since the mammoth success of Sheryl Crow and Norah Jones. Alas, there are many women who arrive with a catchy guitar riff and a poetic pen but have no voice, either one that is stylistically distinct or technically impressive. Joy Adler is among the few with all of those qualities intact.
Although the songs on Postcards are easily accessible, they seem more personal to me than radio-ready attempts to achieve commercial success. You instantly get the feeling that Adler recorded this CD mainly to express herself and not just to acquire a quick pop hit, which has sadly become harder without a million-dollar record label behind you.
Avoiding the bland slickness of Adult Contemporary radio, Adler looks to Americana, blues, and jazz for inspiration. Even the Cult’s Goth-metal landmark “She Sells Sanctuary” is given a bluesy makeover, quite unlike anything you’d hear on alternative-rock stations either during the mid-’80s or today.
Of Adler’s original material, many of them sparkle, some way more than others. I’m partial to the pretty piano compositions like “Our Rapture” and “Your Love Is Everything,” wherein Adler is reminiscent of Tori Amos but with definitely more soul. It’s the passion that Adler equips these tunes with that make them crackle, give them added intimacy.
- Twangtown Press
Discography
Rebellious Dreamer
Angels Are Everywhere
Awakening to your Magnificence
Postcards
Community Heartshare
Keys to your cage, by Mark Shepard, featured vocalist, 4 tracks
Photos
Bio
Rare, stunning, transcending; Joy Adler is an extraordinary vocalist who sings from the depths of her being and risks revealing it to the world to create one-of-a-kind concert experiences.
Although Joy first began singing music in church as a child, because of the power and range of her voice, she began her career as a rock singer. She specialized in bringing her own interpretation to songs by Led Zeppelin, Journey, The Cult, Jimi Hendrix, Elton John, Heart, Bad Company, Thin Lizzy and the like.
Later she perfected her stage performing and stretched herself vocally by singing R&B as well as lighter musical influences like pop and jazz on the stages of Atlantic City. Joy appreciated the experience she gained from performing at this level, but longed to get back to her passion, songwriting and original music.
A recent 4-star review of her 2008 release "Postcards" sums up her multi-genre style: "The opening slice, "By Your Side," is propelled by guitars that suggest the influence of country music or Americana. It is rootsy pop with a solid vocal performance that is sweet but not as sugary as you'd hear from today's Nashville populace. "Prayer" turns the page immediately after it, letting Mike Steiner's fiery blues riffs loose while Adler's voice soars through the clouds. "Our Rapture," on the other hand, is a delicate piano piece reminiscent of Tori Amos (minus the personal issues) and Norah Jones.
Comparisons to other contemporary female artists are inevitable since most of them are mining similar inspirations. But Adler is her own person. There is a mellow, peaceful spirit at play here, one that seems to be seeking calmness and stability more than expressing rage. While her singing on "Feels Good" may recall the husky tones of Fiona Apple, Adler is stating her happiness here and not introspective gloom. It all equals all pleasant, sunny-day affair, a welcome alternative to the upcoming wintry darkness."
-From Sputnik Online Reviews
As Joy begins to hit her stride, enthralling audiences with her original songs played by her own group of talented musicians known as "The Souls of Evolution", as well as performing as lead singer and lyricist of The Patricia White Buffalo and the Heaven on Earth Ensemble; She continues to garner critical acclaim for her energetic performances and the raw emotion she emits onstage, as well as her songwriting.
Musician, Healer Patricia White Buffalo says "Joy has the ability to channel blazing light through her voice." Although self taught, Joy knew how to master the art of singing by studying and reproducing sounds she heard from her greatest teachers, Ella Fitzgerald, Art Garfunkel, & Aretha Franklin, and many rock singers.
She spent years attempting to replicate their vocal gymnastics, and wouldn't stop practicing a song, until she was able to hit every note that she heard them sing, and transform them into a sound of her own. As a result, her voice has been called "soulful" yet she has an astonishing ability to sing almost any musical genre. Joy says,” The strength of all the great artists is that they would allow the world to see their unique essence, by baring their souls onstage. This is what I seek to do. I know if I sing from my heart and soul, it moves the audience in profound ways."
But singing is not Joy's only forte. She is a songwriter who can write with honesty and frankness. The depth of her writing, combined with her voice and delivery can transport you to the heights of the angels or to the depths of despair, with a rich tonal quality and expansive range that makes Joy Adler one of the most gifted singer/songwriters of our time!
In 1999, Joy was presented with an award from The Rebellious Dreamer Foundation. This grant is given to women of exceptional talent and provides them with mentoring and financial support. She used this award to produce her CD of critically acclaimed original material, aptly named; Rebellious Dreamer.
Joy has performed on stages all over the world. In January, 2003, Joy was crowned The Royal Caribbean’s Idol Search Champion Female Vocalist. In addition to still occasionally performing and recording with other artists, with her wide vocal range combined with her ability to chant in different languages, she has become a sought after soundtrack vocalist.
And several of her original songs have been used for writing music for film and television. "Coming Home,” was chosen as the soundtrack song that plays under the final scene in the indie film, "Deer Baby." Additionally she has had 2 ambient songs from her latest CD used in film shorts.
She has clearly grown and developed as a captivating performer, singer and songwriter, to prove herself a lasting artist. Joy currently resides in NYC, and longs to continue touring all over the world, particularly Europe, and to write beautiful music for film. She enjoys marrying music with visual tapestries to move the viewer to new planes within.
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