Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
This band has no press
Discography
Cuore: The Italian Sessions (2006- True Blue Record/ Mad Iris Music) (MIM0002)
No One To Blame (2004-True Blue Records/ Mad Iris Music) (MIM0002)
Includes:
1) Grits Ain't Groceries
2) Lonely Avenue
3) I don't Know what You Got
4) You Are My Sunshine
5) Two Steps From the Blues
6) Hey Memphis
7) Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
8) Driving Wheel
9) Doggin' Around
10) I Pity the Fool
11) Why Are People Like That
12) The Thrill Is Gone
13) I'm in Love Again
14) I'm so Lonesome I Could Cry
Breakfast at Midnight
(Northern Blues Music (NBM 0003)
Includes:
1) Woman in Blue - mp3
2) Horse of a Different Colour
3) Never Been Loved Before
4) Memphis Has Got The Blues -mp3
5) Midnight in Berlin
6) I Can Change For You
7) Since I've Had You On My Mind
8) Loving You (Is Killing Me)
9) If You Were Crying Over Me -mp3
10) Last Train
11) Eggs Over Easy
What A Night - Live
(Stony Plain/Warner) (SPCD 1236)
Includes:
1) Love You Too Much
2) Strange Behavior
3) Satisfied
4) 72nd Street
5) The Night Time is the Right Time
6) Hound Dog
7) Me and Bobby McGee
8) Tupelo
9) I'm Confessing
10) How Blue Can You Get
Just Gettin' Started
(Stony Plain/Warner) (SPCD 1197)
Includes:
1) Just Gettin' Started
2) Shallow Water
3) Hurtin' Chain
4) Tupelo
5) Heartbreak of the Week
6) Satisfied
7) Blue Rain
8) 72nd Street
9) Lawless
10) Love Me
Road Rockets
Originally released in 1992 on Stony Plain Records (SPCD 1173)
Includes:
1) Love Overload
2) Punish Me
3) Serves You Right
4) This Is My Life
5) Highway 61 (Back Porch Version) - mp3
6) Highway 61 Revisited
7) I'm Confessin'
8) Love U 2 Much
9) Strange Behavior
10) Slow Dance
11) Have You Seen My Shoes?
12) Tryin' To Get To You
: back to top
Rita's songs also appear on:
"Roadkill" soundtrack, 1990, Denon (CAN 9006)
featuring "Have You Seen My Shoes"
"Highway 61" soundtrack, 1991, Intrepid (N21S-0009)
featuring "Highway 61"
"Saturday Night Blues Compilation" 1991, Stony Plain/Warner (SPCD 1172)
featuring "Love You Too Much"
"A Celebration of Blues - The New Breed" 1996, Stony Plain/Rounder (CBL 25152)
featuring "Tupelo"
"A Celebration of Blues - Women in Blues" 1996, Stony Plain/Rounder (CBL 25122)
featuring "Lawless"
"20 Years of Stony Plain" 1996, Stony Plain/Warner (SPCD 1230)
featuring "Heartbreak of the Week"
"May Your Song Always Be Sung - Songs of Bob Dylan" 1996 Ariola/BMG (BMG-74321)
featuring "Highway 61"
"Beaches International" jazz/blues compilation 1999 Pacific Marketing (PM-10072)
featuring "Shallow Water"
"25 Years - Stony Plain Records" 2001, Stony Plain/Warner (SPCD 1274)
featuring "Tupelo"
"Tupelo" on Red White & Blue 2004 (Sony Records)
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Rita Chiarelli – Biography
She’s been compared to everyone from Bonnie Rait and Melissa Etheridge to Tom Waits, Lyle Lovett and Janis Joplin… Singer - songwriter Rita Chiarelli, while known as The Canadian Goddess of the Blues is in reality a consummate musician whose style defies definition - she performs mainly original material but in addition has a huge repertoire of blues and R& B tunes; or she can croon an Italian folk song or wail an Elvis Presley cover tune. At first listen it’s her voice – and that three octave range – that garners all the attention! But Rita’s songwriting is also a force to be reckoned with, and her four JUNO nominations have been for albums that consist largely of original material.
An accomplished entertainer who quickly develops a rapport with her audience, Rita has been performing since the age of fifteen. As Ronnie Hawkins (with whom she toured in the early years) noted “Once in a lifetime you hear a voice so blue it makes the angels weep. That voice is Rita Chiarelli”.
Beyond the blues arena, Rita Chiarelli distills a full measure of musical influences and creates her own unique sound that defies categorization. While CBC’s Shelagh Rogers has dubbed her the Goddess of Canadian Blues, her songs shimmer with blues based rock undertones, jazz riffs, Cajun and country tinged melodies blended with a folk - roots flavour. An exceptional songwriter of stunning vocal skill, few can match the wide range of Chiarelli’s vocal stylings and the consistently solid lyrics she pens. Rita Chiarelli is a gifted storyteller, lyricist and master of poetic imagery. A recent review put it this way “Rita Chiarelli…. A voice that can growl at her demons or soar with the angels, a gift for lyric, an ear for melody and the heart to combine them”
After spending most of the 1980’s working and performing in Italy, Chiarelli returned to Canada where her independent single “Have you Seen my Shoes” was included in the soundtrack of Bruce McDoanld’s 1989 film Roadkill, now a cult classic. Along with touring extensively in Canada, the USA and Europe throughout the 1990’s Rita released three albums: Road Rockets (Stony Plain) in 1992; the JUNO nominated Just Getting Started (Stony Plain -1995) and What a Night – Live (Stony Plain 1997). Released In the spring of 2001, Breakfast at Midnight (Northern Blues) is a collection of 11 original compositions - spanning blues, rock, rockabilly, roots, country, Cajun and jazz - which earned Rita another JUNO nomination for Best Blues Album. No One to Blame, Rita’s 2004 tribute to the blues, pays homage to some of the great blues masters whose music has influenced her over the years, and earned her yet another JUNO nomination. Rita’s vocals are up front and centre stage and the common thread linking the eclectic offering of tunes on No One to Blame is that amazing golden voice which permeates the entire album.
During the past decade Rita has toured continuously, playing festivals and concert halls throughout North America and Europe. She has earned numerous Maple Blues Awards and has been nominated repeatedly as Female Vocalist, Entertainer of the Year, and Songwriter of the Year, while Breakfast at Midnight earned nominations for Recording of the Year and Producer of the Year. The Manitoba Blues Society has made her an honorary lifetime member and in 2002 Rita was honoured by Canadian fans, receiving the “Great Canadian Blues Award” awarded annually by CBC Radio.
Rita’s most recent recording project, Cuore: The Italian Sessions is a dramatic departure from her usual repertoire. The album of old Italian folk songs (official release fall of 2006) shows Rita’s vocal range and brings listeners to tears. This album and her next CD of original songs – with an anticipated spring 2007 release date are on Rita’s newly formed record label True Blue Records and distributed by Festival Distribution. For regular updates on Rita’s Ramblings; projects, new works, and performing schedule do visit her home in cyberspace www.ritachiarelli.com
For information about Rita and her music contact By the Bay Productions 807-983- 3512 lizharvey@tbaytel.net or rita@ritachiarelli.com
Links
