Miriam Jones & the Red Sea
Oxford, England, United Kingdom | SELF
Music
Press
Fire-lives could easily have followed Alanis Morisette's Jagged Little Pill. - 6SenseMedia
"I defy anyone not to be charmed by the sheer naturalness of the melodies… "
- - Colin MacKinnon, Oxfordbands.com Review (Jul 04, 2008)
"Miriam Jones' sophomore album ‘Being Here’ is a well-written, well-produced effort that found its way onto our playlist moments after arriving in the mail. Jones' strong songwriting lends itself to a seamless blending of country and pop sensibilities on what is in essence, a lovely folk album. ‘Being Here’ is a fun, sometimes poignant, and entirely enjoyable effort from one of the West Coast's rising young artists."
North By Northwest - CBC Radio ONE - CBC
"Miriam isn't just mining the usual female singer-songwriter vein. She's got some fresh ideas, rhythmically and harmonically. It was a privilege to be a part of her new project. I hope lots of people find this music. It's got beauty and surprise all in one package. Which is a lot like life, right?"
Charlie Peacock
Sr. A&R Consultant-Sony/ATV - Charlie Peacock
Move over KT Tunstall, there’s a new singer songwriter in town. Miriam Jones brings a breath of fresh Nashville air to the UK music scene in songs that are both touching and catchy in equal measure.
- - Matt Baskerville, Channel 4Music
Discography
Fire-lives (2010), Inside Free EP (2008), Being Here (2007), Sign & Semblance (2005)
Always Been Between, Fancy Free, Custody - CBC Radio airplay.
Squander, aired on CTV's Falcon Beach, episode 11
Squander and Dust & Sand licensed for indie film 'Within', 2008, director Hanelle Culpepper.
Always Been Between licensed for indie film 'Shadows in the Trees', 2007, director Chris Smith.
Photos
Bio
Miriam Jones has a way of singing the soul back home without putting it to sleep, a feat not easily accomplished in the world of the woman singer songwriter. Poppy and memorable? Yes. Soulful and reflective? Indeed. Folky and human? Absolutely. Jones has a particular gift for writing earth and angels side by side, and a voice suited to sounding them so.
A girl with a long-time passion for singing and songwriting, Jones began pursuing her musical career full tilt after university, immediately self-releasing her first album, Sign & Semblance, a track off which quickly found its way onto a Canadian television series; 2 years later she followed with a folk/pop record under Nashville-based, Grammy award-winning songwriter and producer Charlie Peacock, which garnered praise from CBC Radio. Her latest effort, Fire-lives, released in December 2010, was produced in the UK under Matt Hay (has worked with the Who, Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams).
Recorded live (main tracking) in Jones’ Oxford terrace with a band of bass, drums, electric guitar and Jones’ own acoustic guitar and straight-forward piano, Fire-lives sparkles with raw spirit and power in a thoughtfully combined set of heartening songs, sometimes buoyant and winsome, at other times slow-burning and dark. Further additions of brass, layered vocals with rich harmonies, cello and percussion result in a lush, distinctive and beautiful album, reminiscent at times of Mumford & Sons folkish energy, and at others of Plant & Krauss’ Raising Sand with its spacey, gritty guitar sounds, percussive-drum treatments, and sweet melodies.
Off the back of this latest album, two of the local musicians with whom it was made have begun to play regularly as a trio with Jones, and together they are called Miriam Jones & the Red Sea. They have opened at the O2 for Gabrielle Aplin, as well as Sandi Thom, are a yearly favourite at Greenbelt Festival in Cheltenham, and were named by Oxfordbands.com as one of their top 20 favorite local artists of last year.
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