Renee French
Austin, Texas, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
"a soft, tender, and quiet record .... Two Way Mirror is immaculately produced and is as crisp as a cold winter day."
Paul Zimmerman, First Coast News, Florida
- First Coast News
"...debut album from songwriter Renee French is a fine showcase for her way with words, her flowing lyrical lines, and her sense of rhythm..... this one I took into my car and let it play for three days without interruption and still wasn't tired of it."
Virginia DeBolt, MusicAustin
- MusicAustin
..."The resulting debut reflects her polished songwriting and showcases her expressive voice. All the songs lean toward soft pop with a dash of jazz, a mature sound for a debut- of course, this is not an ordinary first effort by a musical neophyte."
Ward Lowe, Austin Monthly Magazine
- Austin Monthly Magazine
Spending ten years honing your chops as a voice instructor in Austin is like learning about explosives by hanging out with Keith Moon. Renee French’s approach is well rewarded on her debut Two Way Mirror. Comparisons to Joan Baez are obvious and accurate, but beyond how similar they are in their ability to write a great song (Baez rarely pens her own songs) and their vocal maturity, any other association would just be lazy.
“House By The Ocean” is stark and mellow, and yet somehow that opens better than any double-guitar assault. The cymbals feel like the crash of waves on the shore and deep from within the piano the sea breeze gathers French’s voice and delivers it home.
The accordion on “Bedroom Window” plays down the sad nature of the lyrics, but both well-played and beautifully delivered, it punctuates how sad songs can still be so elegant.
The title track is a jazzy ode to broken love. Slow and delicate, there isn’t a feeling of depression when it’s over. This is a smoky barroom song that makes that last martini taste bittersweet.“Rain” and “Matagorda Skies” take soft melodies to a new level and deserve the buzz they’re destined to generate. Passing these over constitutes the smoking gun of industry-wide payola that I’ve long suspected.
“Deep Like A River” has all the styling that Patty Griffin has made an entire career from, an acoustic ballad that does no wrong except come to an end. Scylla and Carbides couldn’t hold a candle to what comes from this one song.
If tomorrow’s newest songstress has a face today, it’s that of Renee French, proving that Austin is where talent is born and LA is where it goes to die.
Derek Blackmon- indie-music.com - Indie-Music.com
"a cloudy bit of creativity".
Michael Barnes
American-Statesman - Michael Barnes Out & About Austin 24/7
A veteran vocal teacher at Austin (TX) School of Music, Renee French turns her talent to her own recording. The result is mesmerizing as her sweet voice with the poise and control of a classical or standards crooner fits pleasantly into a singer/songwriter backdrop. Backed by several noted musicians, the music is dreamy but attention-grabbing with a stunning vocal beauty.
-Mark Waterbury for Music Morsels
- Music Morsels
Renee French
"TWO WAY MIRROR"
©2005 (Matagorda Music)
Independent release
Review by Lucky Boyd
"Renee French brings her angelic voice to disc on this well-produced, well-written project. French, under the tutelage of renown vocal genius Debbie Beinhorn, delivers flawlessly on this collection of beautiful ballads that tell of life, love, and lament....Give a listen and you'll be hooked."
- Lucky Boyd
Jo Rae Di Menno
Phone: 512.236.0969
hardpressed@austin.rr.com
Renee has a fresh way of combining taste, intelligent lyrics and natural singing ability into a style all her own that takes her out of the "sensitive, singer-songwriter" world and puts her in a place all her own. –
Van Wilks
www.vanwilks.com
-Renee is a wonderful voice for her songs. She gets inside them and
makes you feel them. –Pat Pattison, Berklee College of Music
--“Renee has one of the sweetest voices in Austin. Birds wish they could sing like her.”-
Darden Smith www.dardensmith.com
"Renee's like a combo dinner special. A truly talented songwriter and a great voice to boot!"-
Kellye Gray
www.kellyegray.com
‘Great songs! I especially like "Two Way Mirror." It's a very pleasing balance between jazz and pop. The lyrics are very engaging. I hear something new each time I listen!' -
Robert Skiles www.betoandthefairlanes.com
- Hardpressed Publicity
Discography
"Two Way Mirror"
November 8, 2005
11 song CD
available at www.cdbaby.com/reneefrench
iTunes, and Waterloo Records, Austin, TX
Photos
Bio
Born and raised in a small Texas town near Houston, Renee French is an award winning Austin-based songwriter, voice coach, and more recently, recording artist.
While training hundreds of other singers for nearly ten years at the Austin School of Music, she began writing songs and performing at select songwriter showcases to eager audiences in such notable Austin area venues as Antone’s, Stubb’s, Threadgills World Headquarters, and the Saxon Pub.
"If tomorrow’s newest songstress has a face today, it’s that of Renee French, proving that Austin is where talent is born and LA is where it goes to die."
Derek Blackmon- Indie-Music.com
Her much-anticipated debut CD, “Two Way Mirror”, is in stores now. The music is soft, moody pop with savvy imagery and poignant, intelligent lyric content. Produced by Dave Sebree at ASM studios in Austin, with the expert assistance of Grammy award-winning engineer Chet Himes, the project features the talents of Roscoe Beck (Leonard Cohen, Dixie Chicks), Steve Samuel (Jerry Jeff Walker, Natalie Cole), Eric Daub on piano/keyboards and Dave Sebree on acoustic and electric guitars; it is further enriched by the appearances of grammy winner Joel Guzman on accordion, John Mills on soprano saxophone, and a rare acoustic number by Van Wilks, who co-wrote the last track with Renee. The vocals were exquisitely produced by Debbie Beinhorn/Beinhorn Vocals.
"a cloudy bit of creativity".
Michael Barnes- American-Statesman
Renee is a past president of the Austin Songwriters Group, and a SESAC affiliate. She has shared the stage with hit songwriters Eric Kaz, (Love Has No Pride), Mark D. Sanders, (I Hope You Dance), and Jim Rushing, (American Honky Tonk Bar Association). She has appeared on FOX television’s morning show, and played live on Austin’s KLBJ radio. She also watches a lot of baseball.
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