No Sinner

No Sinner have been featured multiple times on Bob Harris podcast. - BBC Radio 2

The Vancouver Sun's music critic Francois Marchand selects five bands primed to succeed in 2012.

No Sinner

Let’s start with newcomers No Sinner, who just released their debut single and video Boo Hoo Hoo.

The band, consisting of singer Colleen Rennison, drummer Ian Browne, guitarist Eric Campbell and bassist Matt Camirand (of Black Mountain fame), is said to have been inspired by the likes of Big Mama Thornton, Janis Joplin, Etta James and THEM.

The result is smouldering blues-rock heavy on the soul, and the video for Boo Hoo Hoo, shot at the Waldorf Hotel, pays tribute to that old fashioned style.

No Sinner will be releasing its debut six-song EP in March.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Five+Vancouver+bands+watch+2012/5958859/story.html#ixzz1l0sYBbQy
- Vancouver Sun

The 14th annual NON-COMM (the non-commercial radio conference, hosted by WXPN) at World Café Live got underway in the live music forum at 7 on Wednesday. It’s all about the musical sketches, with bands playing from 25 to 40 minutes. All eight bands on display deserved their place in the spotlight, but for the sake of comparison and sanity, I present my three favorites and some extra knick knacks:

1. The Districts Jumpeth onto the bandwagon I have after this crackling affair of youth and guitar. Gravity was elusive as the band was bouncing about, their folk rock exiting the stratosphere. Brightness abounds in their future. For a touch of darkness we go to…

2. The Afghan Whigs Greg Dulli and his band of gentlemen unleashed a noir-ish parade of guttural beats. Their newest work, Do To the Beast, and its lead single of Western rattlesnake vibes, “Algiers,” fit in quite well with ’90s staples like “Fountain and Fairfax.” Their masculinity contrasted with…

3. No Sinner On a night heavy on the Y chromosome, the final act brought out the lone lady — and, boy, could she rock. Colleen Rennison was a heady mix of Joplin and Winehouse in a setting of late-’60s rock. Her vocal might and theatrics were an entertaining end to night one.

The rest of the evening is best summarized by body parts. There was the radiant stripped-down version of Elbow, the guitar-sized hands of the brilliantly bluesy Matt Andersen, the arms, waving and flailing about, of The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn and the night’s most surprising cover: Asgeir’s take on Nirvana’s “Heart Shaped Box.” - City Paper

The thing about the blues is that it’s just totally primal. It’s the from the gut sound that your soul makes when it’s weeping. It’s deep and dark. It’s hungry and wailing. And yet, it remains so damn appealing.

For Vancouver based blues-rock band No Sinner, the last six months have been a dream come true. After penning a deal with European label Provogue Records/Mascot Label Group, they’ve recorded their debut album Boo Hoo Hoo, which is slated for release on June 24th, they’ve hit the road across the US (performing seven shows to crowds at SXSW), they took on Toronto during Canadian Music Week and are currently touring Europe.

Fronted by powerhouse vocalist Colleen Rennison, a hard-singing, hard-loving, hard-drinking, hard-working throwback, there is something so incredibly raw about this band. Her gravelly, soul infused, whisky-drenched voice carries the weight of artists like Janis Joplin and Nina Simone, and absolutely oozes sex appeal.

While on a stopover in Pennsylvania, we spoke with Rennison about the ups and downs of life on the road, the making of their debut album, her love for 90’s girl groups, Betty White, and whether or not the definition of success is being able to travel the world or simply to play music you love in a sweet bar in Asbury Park every night. - Vice / Noisey

The Band: Vancouver rock band No Sinner
The Album: The band’s upcoming EP Boo Hoo Hoo, out June 24
Fun Fact: Frontwoman Colleen Rennison recently scored a Canadian Screen Awards nomination for her work in the indie film“Down River.”
Songwriter Says: “Born and bred a few years ago out of misery and desperation, between cheap wine bottles and cigarettes on a dirty kitchen floor, No Sinner and Boo Hoo Hoo was born. This is an honest album with soul, pain, regret, and resurrection.”

Watch No Sinner perform an acoustic version of “Love Is A Madness.” - American Songwriter

No Sinner on MSN Music stream - MSN MUSIC Release Week Stream Feature Jun 24 2014

Coming off their first and very successful 7-gig play at this year’s SXSW Festival, Vancouver-based rock ‘n’ blues quartet, No Sinner, have revealed a brand new single from their upcoming debut album, Boo Hoo Hoo set to release on June 24th in North America.

Fronted by vocalist, Colleen Rennison, the bands authentic, yet gritty blues-rock infused sound shines through on this stripped down acoustic cover of Nina Simone’s “Work Song.” Both Colleen and No Sinner guitarist, Eric Campell trespassed behind an East Van alley for the exclusive performance. Mix that with 2 hangovers, a 78 Toyota Little Chief, 1 acoustic guitar (sporting a killer Superman sticker), one Nina Simone cover and 2 PBR’s, and you have No Sinner at their finest.

The band will be hitting the road again, with tour dates all over the US, Canada and Europe, including pit stops during UK’s Dot To Dot Festival. Check the new tour dates below: - VICE / Noisey

When Colleen Rennison was younger, her cousin pointed out that her last name was "No Sinner" spelled backward. This, paired with the fact that the actress/singer's voice has been compared to Janis Joplin's since she was five years old, paved the way for her career in rowdy blues rock. Now, the spunky songstress is gearing up to release Boo Hoo Hoo, the debut album from her aptly named band, No Sinner, and we're excited to premiere the latest single. Stream "Devel On My Back" above.

"'Devil on My Back' is the tale of a woman with a hole in her heart and the man who loves her," Rennison divulges. "Sometimes it's the people who love us the most that we hurt the worst..."

Boo Hoo Hoo is slated for a June 24 release in North America and is currently available in UK and Europe. - Pure Volume

By Gregory AdamsNo Sinner are a brand new band made up of a few Vancouver scene vets, including Black Mountain bassist Matt Camirand and Matthew Good skinpounder Ian Browne, though the group stray far from stoner jams and radio rock. Instead, the outfit, led by smoky singer/songwriter Colleen Rennison, trot out the kind of backwoods rhythm & blues that would have roughneck bar patrons lobbing full bottles of MGD around as a compliment.

Filmed all over Vancouver's Waldorf Hotel, "Boo Hoo Hoo" finds the group kickin' into the greasy rocker full tilt from the establishment's cabaret, while Rennison passionately delivers the tune's downtrodden and dire midsection while pounding a bottle of whiskey up on its rooftop.

If the bluesy stomp gets your blood boiling, No Sinner are playing a local show at W2 tonight. A six-song EP is expected to drop sometime in March, along with a seven-inch sporting "Boo Hoo Hoo" on the A-side, with "Love Is a Madness" on the flip. - Exclaim

see scan - Beatroute Magazine

Awarded to the best new rock band. - Classic Rock Mag

see scan - Beatroute Magazine

Bus Palladium, vendredi 30 mai

No Sinner, jeune groupe de rock blues canadien, effectue ce soir son premier passage parisien, peu de temps après avoir sorti un album efficace, "Boo Hoo Hoo". La place est à 6 euros, et la réputation de la formation, et surtout de sa fondatrice, la jolie Colleen Rennison, attirent quelques dizaines de spectateurs. A priori, aucun risque qu'ils soient repartis déçus.



Musicalement, les Canadiens assurent, malgré leur jeune âge, comme de vieux briscards. Mention spéciale à la chanteuse, déjà qualifiée à l'envi de nouvelle Janis Joplin, tant sa voix rauque évoque la légende disparue. Comme elle, elle possède aussi une personnalité enjouée, et a l'air de vouloir croquer la vie sans limites. Sur scène, elle chante la bouteille de bière à la main, et son show est tellement intense qu'elle en casse une bretelle de soutien-gorge ! La fin du show la voit à genoux, en extase devant son guitariste, qui lui aussi mettra genoux à terre. En interview, la Canadienne minaude, éclate sans cesse de rire, et fait semblant de ne pas voir les regards étonnés des clients du bar qui se demandent qui est cette exubérante jeune femme en robe très courte et très décolletée qui parle fort. Pas de doute, Colleen ne manque pas d'atouts pour aller loin (je parle de son talent et de sa voix, bien sûr), et mener de front sa double carrière, de chanteuse de rock et d'actrice (elle a déjà joué dans plusieurs films et séries TV). Au vu des photos de Dom, j'en connais plus d'un qui regrette déjà de ne pas être venu, et j'ai tendance à croire qu'il y aura davantage de monde la prochaine fois !

Autre élément fort de No Sinner, le guitariste, Eric Campbell. Look hippie 70s, mais avec un T-shirt MC 5 au moment de l'interview, il maîtrise sa guitare comme un chef, et décoche de longs solos, parfois à la slide, qui rendent hommage au rock blues carré de la formation. Sur scène, la plus grande partie de "Boo Hoo Hoo" est interprétée, avec un speedé "Runnin", un sauvage "Devil on my back", ou encore une version méconnaissable du "Work song" de Nina Simone. No Sinner se fend également d'un morceau cool d'AC/DC, "je crois d'ailleurs que c'est leur seul morceau cool", précise Colleen, "Ride on", où le Bus Palladium fait tourner la boule à facettes ! 50 minutes intenses qui laissent présager des futurs radieux. - Le Parisien

Time might be on No Sinner’s side.

The quartet fronted by Colleen Rennison has been growing from strength to strength ever since it released its six-song Boo Hoo Hoo EP in 2012.

The band was signed by Provogue Records a few months ago, added three new recordings to make Boo Hoo Hoo nine songs deep, and released the full-length album on June 24.

At the time, Rennison was excited by the eventual release but called it anticlimactic. No Sinner wanted to progress.

However, there is a saying in the recording business that you have your lifetime to write your first album, but six months to write your second.

What that means is that most bands put all their best material, material it has compiled over the life of the band, onto the first album. Rarely does it have songs as strong when suddenly it has to deliver a record.

At its current rate, No Sinner might have another lifetime before it has a second album and might avoid a dilemma.

Nonetheless, it plans to record again in early September.

“That has been one of the nice things,” Rennison said of the delays dogging Boo Hoo Hoo’s release.

“We have enough songs to do another EP.”

The album was supposed to be released twice before but was held up by Provogue. The label had to co-ordinate a marketing strategy while the band cooled its heels.

“There was a huge sigh of relief,” Rennison said. “It was supposed to come out in March, then April.

“You’re evolving in that time.”

The evolution was apparent to Rennison when the EP was expanded. Here was a band that had developed a sound and was confident. In Eric Campbell, Eric Browne and Bradley Ferguson, Rennison was fronting a blues-rock trio not unlike Free, a British band whose power in part derived from its clarity and simplicity.

In Rennison, the trio had a forceful personality who could be vulnerable on the gospel-like Rise Up or teasing on the title track and was not daunted by Work Song, which the band new from Nina Simone’s version.

“It actually was the first song we jammed when we got together,” Rennison said.

“Everybody was really capable,” she remembered of No Sinner’s first jam, which laid out the blueprint for what the group has become.

“It was great to work with people with such style and vision. We really don’t plan. It’s what happens.

“You try a little bit of this, a bit of that. Sometimes it works and sometimes it’s awful.”

A prison song, also known to fans of The Animals as Inside Looking Out, Work Song plays to the band’s strengths — Rennison’s imploring vocal, Campbell’s rich blues tones and a dynamic rhythm section.

“We are a dynamic band,” she said. “We don’t want to hit people over the head. It’s a nice song (Work Song) in your back pocket.”

She and the band aren’t thrown by the blanket characterization of No Sinner as blues-rock.

“The easiest thing for us to identify what it is that we do is say that we play rock and roll,” said Rennison, who’s obviously been asked to describe No Sinner often.

“There are many shades of rock and roll, and we’re one of them.” - The Province

It was only a couple of months ago that I found myself wedged in a hyped crowd of blues rockers at Our Black Heart in Camden Town. It was the debut gig for No Sinner in London and they certainly went on to impress with a relentless set of killer tunes. The album Boo Hoo Hoo has been long awaited and beautifully captures all the passion and intensity from the band.

The single “Boo Hoo Hoo” excels in every way. Colleen Rennison’s lead vocals are totally immersive; she has command of every listener. The track shows off the quality of the whole band as well. It has the impact and power, but also has the quieter moments showing great subtleties in the song writing.

The following tracks “Love Is A Madness” and “Runnin’” keep the vibe up and on par with the first. “If Anything” calms the pace, but still maintains the strength within the song. Rennison has a fierce, honest tone in her voice, making this album very believable and relatable.

The record is a fantastic debut comprising of well-written original material and dynamic covers. Its vivacity and variation make it the perfect platform for the future.

The Review: 9.5/10

Can’t Miss Tracks

– Boo Hoo Hoo
– Love Is A Madness
– If Anything
– Work Song
– That’s Be The Day

The Big Hit

– Boo Hoo Hoo - Blues Rock Review

What’s in Your Fridge is where the Straight asks interesting Vancouverites about their life-changing concerts, favourite albums, and, most importantly, what’s sitting beside the Heinz Ketchup in their custom-made Big Chill Retropolitan 20.6 cubic-foot refrigerators.
On the grill

Colleen Rennison


Who are you


I am the lead singer of the ne'er-do-well rapscallions that make up the band No Sinner, an adventure-seeking tramp who sings for her supper on the best of nights.
First concert

The first concert I ever went to was Coolio. It was right after “Gangsta’s Paradise” came out, and Dangerous Minds was the biggest movie in a third-grader's world. Pretty sure it was at GM Place (it will always be GM Place to me). My sister, who was two years older than me, was going with her friends and I wasn’t about to miss out. My friend’s dad was a writer for the Province and, bar-star in training that I was, I asked him if he could get tickets. It was my first experience with a press box. I was eight. The beginning.



Life-changing concert

A lifetime ago, when I was living in NY, through some magical chain of events I ended up in the legendary Apollo Theater as an audience member for Elvis Costello's Spectacle. It was John Prine, Lyle Lovett, and Ray Lamontagne. My father just so happened to be visiting at the time, and he had always been an appreciator of great music. Being able to bring him was definitely a moment I'll never forget. It was the first time I'd ever heard John Prine, and the song “Angel From Montgomery” shook me to my bones. The power of song is a wild-ass thing. I still can’t believe that wasn’t a dream.
Top three records

Temples Sun Structures The combination of Motown-esque beats and side effects mixed with the immaculate psychedelic harmonies, mystical lyrics, and vintage treatment really makes for a good bike ride after a wake and bake.

Lauryn Hill The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill This album changed me. I used to listen to it nonstop and sing to it over and over and over again and feel things that didn’t make sense until I was much older than 11. The music, the lyrics, and the heart and her voice on this record transcend comparable definition—it’s just a piece of work unto itself.

The Band The Last Waltz I watched the Martin Scorsese film in the laps of my parents when I was still wearing onesie pajamas with the feet in them, and looking back it stands out as some kind of hazy crystal ball. These people were cool, and there was so much more going on behind the surface that I even fathomed at the time, but I swear to God I could feel it. The fun but heavy performances mixed with the craftsmanship of all these classic songs (I mean, between Joni, Neil, Bobby D, the Band, Ronnie Hawkins, Ron Wood, Muddy Waters, Van the Man, the other Neil, the friggin’ Staples Singers, Eric Clapton, and Emmylou, there’s something for everybody) brings it into masterpiece territory.


All-time favourite video

Notorious B.I.G. “Sky's the Limit” I was basically the same age as the kids in the video at the time (10) and it was basically the coolest thing I’d ever seen—what a stroke of genius on (director) Spike Jonze's part. It felt like I was playing make-believe and there was some parallel universe out there where all my fantasies were in my reach. I was a child of the ’90s, what can I say. 




What’s in your fridge

A half-empty beer. Even though it’s been a few weeks, it still feels like I just got back from tour because my fiancé isn’t home yet and it’s depressing cooking for myself. I have a half-empty beer can because I was cleaning up last night’s festivities this morning and didn’t have the heart to throw it away. I’ll probably drink it later when it’s nice and flat and cold.

A cucumber. A big cucumber that’s seen better days, from our rider when we played Osoyoos on Canada Day, fresh from our Euro–U.S. tour. I keep telling myself I’m going to use it for a juice fast, but if I use it now it might kill me.

Sriracha. It’s almost gone and it’ll be the first thing I re-up on during my first posttour trip into Chinatown. They don’t have sriracha (or much hot sauce at all, for that matter) in most of Europe and the States, so when I first got home I was pretty much putting it on my Cheerios. - Georgia Straight

It's becoming more frequently that one is pointed out to a new band or release through social media. I for myself browse the www and twitter on the hunt for new talent, thus do friends of mine. During one of those long nights scrolling down my timeline, I came across a tweet by a remotely known promoter from my past. Things led to another and here I am reviewing the band he hailed in: NO SINNER!

No Sinner is a young Canadian based band around vocalist Colleen Rennison, who's last name spells backwards: No Sinner!

But it's not only the name and the appeal of Rennison that makes this album so noticed. No Sinner delivers an action packed album consisting of classic blues, injected with a rock 'n roll feeling. It grabs you on the spot.

Pitching a fastball with the party packed title track of the album "Boo Hoo Hoo." The songs swings up the joint and rocks forward with high acceleration. Colleen Rennison's soulful and powerful vocals are reminiscent to that of the acclaimed Beth Hart and Dilana Smith. Rough edges around powerful pipes drenched in soul. She shape shifts through the powerful stomping bluesy songs with panache. Whether she's unloading sheer power in "Runnin' or uses her bedazzling skills in lush a slow mover like "If Anything", Rennison manages to belt one of the most captivating performances in blues-rock this year. It's amazing how this 25 year old (!) colours her lyrical world with emotional and heartfelt passionate vocals. It's the depth and diversity uplifting this album from all regular blues releases. "Love is Madness" displays her wide vocal range as it starts up rather slow, unveiling power and raw energy halfway through. And the band?.... the band played on.

Musically it's all concentrated around a steamy groove and whammy riffs that warp you into a smoke filled and packed blues bar in the Mississippi delta. Browne and Furgesson lay down a rock solid foundation with a powerful groove. Eric Campbell can easily match the likes of classic blues giants such as Walter Trout and the late Rory Gallagher. His lush undertone and sudden hard-drive shifts sound reminiscent, but are refreshingly potent. Together with Rennison he might well be one of the new rising names....

No Sinner's rendition of the classic (Nina Simone) jazz track "Work Man" is the perfect example. It oozes perfection until it unloads a Bonamassa-like larger than life guitar ending. "That'd Be The Day" is another one of those delta blues tracks leaning strongly on a guitar pulling it forward.

Check out the gospel rocker "Rise Up" where she throws a vocalic curb-ball you are unable to adept to catching. The harsh upbeat rocker "Devil on my Back" displays her amazing skills as a vocalist as well as a lyricist, peeling back modern day life.

"September Moon" recaptures the volcanic eruption we've been pleased with throughout this record. The song is a moaning tune with a Hendrikx like guitar feeling vividly brought to life by Campbell and the backing rhythm section. Soul and blues are perfectly balanced in the scale of No Sinner and Mrs. Rennison!

"Boo Hoo Hoo" is one heck of an album offering a rare insight in the mind of a young star on the rise. Not only is it a captivating performance delivered by an eager band, it's also an album leaning on spiritual lyrics hitting everyday life spot on. The album isn't over steered by a big production but has that honest and organic feeling of the 60's punched up by modern technique. Drop dead honest, freakin' gorgeous!

Big plus goes to Provogue for releasing another blues giant on the rise. This engagement of talents will lead to another band flying high thanks to the solid backing by this label: I promise you that!

Musicians: Colleen Rennison (vocals), Eric Campbell (guitar, piano), Ian Browne (drums), and Bradley Furgeson (bass)

92 out of 100 - Unrated Magazine

a - Classic Rock Mag UK