Acoustically Inclined cd release party gig and The End Cafe on 2360 Commercial Drive this Thursday Dec. 11, at 8 pm. There is no cover so no reason to not be there! Sherri joins on percussion and Alice may sit in for a few tunes on keys too. It's going to be a great evening!

The first review came in today from Stuart Derdeyn the Entertainment Editor at The Province. It was under the headline, A few gift ideas for that person who loves to hear something a bit different.
He said.
With her powerful voice and strong writing, this prolific indie singer/songwriter offers up 16 tracks including a cover of These Boots are Made for walking on her eighth full length album.

For those of you out of town you can now download a copy at cdbaby or order a copy from my site. I happily autograph if you like.

http://www.norinebraun.com/products.html
http://cdbaby.com/cd/norinebraun7

I should have all the lyrics and samples up of the new album by this weekend but you can hear a few on the listen page at my site or all of them at cdbaby.

I hope to see you on Thursday!

Cheers,
Norine
http://www.norinebraun.com

Here is the official cover and yes that is my handwriting to add that personal touch to the package. The manufacturing of the cd is in process yahoo! I have approved all the graphics and the tee shirts will be approved on Monday. I have been checking around to get a place for the cd release party gig and The End Pub on 2360 Commercial Drive has confirmed for Thursday Dec. 11, at 8 pm
This newly renovated pub is sure to become a new music venue for the area, it should be alot of fun. There is no cover so no reason to not be there!

I was one of several artists Music BC selected to promote at the Japan China Trade Mission currently happening this week. For the second year, the Canadian Independent Record Production Association is spearheading a "music trade mission" to Japan, with industry representatives from a host of Asian countries expected to take in performances by and meet with Canadian artists as well as a slate of record labels.

CJSF 90.1 FM or cjsf.ca has a show called Melodies in Mind and I will be one fo 4 songwriters performing live on air at 9pm Dec. 2, 2008 followed by a live show with the same group at Highland Pub at SFU Campus on Dec 8 also at 9pm (PST) cover is $5.

I am compiling media lists and roots based acoustic lists for the release so am busy as ever. Will let you know soon how that is going too.
Cheers,
Norine

Had a great conversation with A.T. my graphic designer about the images and he had found some new images in keeping with the feel and idea of the album ..acoustic, introspective and i like his new direction. He is keeping the moodiness but with simple elegance. The steel blue tones really draw me in and gives listeners an idea what to expect when they hear the album. Here is the new perspective.
Cheers! nb

Happy Thanksgiving!
The gigs last weekend went very well. The one called Family Fest near Seattle had a major windstorm arise while I and others were playing. At one point 3 people were holding down the stage tent legs while I played, the show must go on! A tree came crashing down during my second song to boot and no one was hurt, quite an adventure. A friend said I really blew them away ( ha ha).
The Drift festival here on Main in Vancouver last Sunday was good too, with lots of people coming in and the place had a good sound.

Well I have decided to go with cdwest a local company here in the lower mainland. they have a great promo this month and with the dollar declining wise to stay local.

They will doing the graphics this week andhere are some shots that may end up somewhere on the new album. Alice took the photos of me the other are from an online source.

Let me know what you think.

Cheers,
Norine

Brian Ball from Women’s Radio interviewed me yesterday and you can hear the podcast now online at
http://www.womensradio.com/content/templates/?a=3079&z=8
(copy and paste into your browser sorry I still haven’t figured out the link system here)
Cheers,
Norine

Well great news the recording of the album is complete and ready to roll! I had a wonderful time at Rear Window Studios with multi-talented Adam Popowitz on Wednesday afternoon. He has an amazing little studio with windows facing the lush green woods and protected habitat. A great spot to feel inspired. I came with a metronome of sorts to help me get that rhythm down which was eluding me in cross town studios. I dusted of my old Roland key board and grabbed an r and b drum loop for Truth and Dares and then a crazy cheesy 90s dance beat at 145 beats a minute for Christmas Bells and practiced with this for several days and was indeed the answer to my troubles. I did Truth and Dares in 2 takes and am very happy with the energy and vocals of this live track, my guitar is almost smokin. Christmas Bells took a few more attempts but it too surfaced with the feel I was after. Neither of theses tunes have the cheesy drum tracks of course on the final mix but sure helped immensely in the delivery. I did Take Back the Power in free form without the click and it worked well too. This song was harder to program a drum loop as there is a tempo change midway but I get the groove with this one pretty easily. Adam was a joy to work with and got into the groove of the tunes. I look forward to working with him again. He reminds me of James Bowers a producer and friend and I worked with for many years and who also recorded some of the songs on this album from prior releases. Adam approaches songs in a similar manner and intensity and is also a multi-instrumentalist which is always any singer-songwriter’s dream ...the all in one package. Alice joined me in the studio for her ears and input on the creative process. She enjoyed the experience and was impressed with the session as well.

SO here is the lineup for the album:
Acoustically Inclined Norine Braun
1.Truth and Dares 3:31

2.Another Man's Fate 4:03

3.Ballad Of Magic Man 2:36

4.Take Back The Power 3:03

5. Christmas Bells 3:11

6. Love & Not Fear 4:21

7. Miles To Go 3:54

8. Dreams 2:49

9.There_s A Long, Long Trail A Winding 2:02

10. Little Girl With Golden Hair 4:07

11. Junkie 3;00

12.Be Brave 2:39

13. persephone 3:50

14. human kindness 3:00

15. Climb The Mountain 3:53

16. These Boots Are Made For Walkin 2:21


Truth and Dares is the lead track and here is the link to have a listen.
http://www3.telus.net/norinebraun/TruthandDares%201.mp3

The lyrics...

Truth and Dares
Never needed anyone
She always did it on her own
Life seemed always black and white
People get there on their own
Willful youth she sacrificed
Her glass filled half way
In the night, in the night
She plays truth and dares

She wakes up living on the street
She’s hungry can’t find enough to eat
She’s lonely, drunks lie at her feet

Downtown, she lives downtown

She looks at me with vacant eyes
I worry that she might recognize
My interest or my empty lies

Downtown, she lives downtown

Garbage in her livingroom
She threw her pearls to the swine
World’s my oyster anyways
You see I manifest divine
Mystic visions watching me
I get connected all the time
In the night, in the night
She knows truth and dares

I walk past her most everyday
She asks for change I give away
I give my penance for the day
Downtown she lives downtown

I stand corrected in front of truth
My mind unravels the naked ruse
The spirit moves me into use
Downtown she lives downtown

Never needed anyone
She always did it on her own
Life seemed always black and white
People get there on their own
Willful youth she sacrificed
Her glass filled half way
In the night, in the night
She knows truth and dares

©Norine Braun August 27, 2008



I am very happy with this collection of acoustic tunes and I think the album demonstrates my live performance well and how songs begin in their purest form...vocal and guitar. I hope you enjoy them too.

I called Craig Waddell from Gotham City Studios and we met for coffee on the drive Friday. He is the master of mastering and has mastered thousands of albums from indies like me to the big well known artists like Sarah McLachlan, Fear Factory, Grateful Dead, Loverboy, Delerium...
An honour to have such an incredibly talented mastering artist work on this recording.

Here is the definition of Mastering for you from musicbiz academy. Mastering is the audio step that comes just before manufacturing a CD. Once you have finished recording and mixing your songs, the tracks are shaped, sculpted, scooped, equalized, compressed, and finessed into sonic splendor (well, you hope) through the audio process known as mastering. Mastering is what gives depth, punch, clarity and volume to your tracks. It is part science, part craft, and part alchemy. . . just like songwriting, singing, performing and recording. Mastering is the crucial, critical, and final creative step in the process of making an audio recording,


The photos are of Adam at the helm in Rear Window studios, Alice at Rear Window and myself in the isoation booth at Rear Window, Craig Waddell is holding the brand new Acoustcally Inclined album in the brown envelope along with a panini to go from the drive. You can’t visit the drive without a panini.

The mastering will be done next week! Now for the design work....stay tuned!
Cheers,
Norine

On sunny Saturday Alice and I ventured over to visit friendly Paul Wohlstetter at his home-work studio also know as Wohl of Sound. We spent about an hour an half running through several live takes to capture the right one which was the last one. The new live recording of Little Girl With Golden Hair is now complete. Alice sat in with me as co-producer and helped me get just what I was after. Here is a link to listen http://www3.telus.net/norinebraun/1%20Little%20Girl24.mp3
Next stop is Burnaby tomorrow afternoon to visit Adam Popowitz and his studio. The live sessions continue....

Let’s try this link once more for you to copy into your browser. Cheers, Norine
http://www3.telus.net/norinebraun/There_s%20A%20Long,%20Long%20Trail%20AWinding.mp3

The isolation booth is on the left and the window below is looking into where I sat to record. Those are my guitars I used in the recording.










This is Allan sitting at his desk in Crossstown studios.














Yours truly in session is the last photo.

I ventured over to Crosstown Studios yesterday where Allan Rodger engineered and set up the live recording. It was good to see him again. I sat in the very warm, little isolation booth (not for folks with claustrophobia!) for about 4 hours playing 7 songs several times each. I am not sure I would take this approach again as it was tiring and hard to get a fresh attitude for each tune. I think it works great as a pre-production tool though and does capture the live sound. I am quite happy with There’s a Long, Long Trail A Winding, the song from 1915, penned by Stoddard King and music by Zo Elliot. I played the harmonica on this one and we captured the haunting Waltons idea. I like Human Kindness ,too, but there is work to be done on the rest. I played free form without click track or metronome in the headphones and in hindshite I think I will always request this.
This Saturday I am visiting the studios of PD Wohl, local singer-songwriter guy with studio to see what we can do with Little Girl. The nice thing about doing acoustic tracks as opposed to studio productions is you can visit and work with a variety of engineers and studios and see how they work without greatly affecting the overall album sound.

Talk again soon! luvnb

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