Bri-anne Swan

The new interview is with the sweet Bri-anne Swan who have already be on this blog few years ago. She is a singer-songwriter from Toronto, Ontario.

After an amazing first CD 'These Are All My Friends', Bri-Anne Swan is coming back for a new album 'Letters Home' next year. You can help her: Indiegogo Bri-anne Swan Letters Home Album Fundraiser

Visit her website and listen to her angelic voice and wonderful songs: http://bri-anneswan.com/


Can you tell us a bit about Bri-anne? What city did you grow up and where do you live now?

I actually didn’t grow up in a city. I grew up in the countryside within a township called Oro-Medonte. It’s near Orillia, Ontario in Canada. I currently live in Toronto.


How did you figure out you can sing and how did you learn how to do it?

I guess when I was little, it never really occurred to me that I couldn’t. Then, when I got a little bit older, nobody was really telling me to stop, so I figured I wasn’t terrible. When I was in 13 I won a singing competition, which really wasn’t a big deal since I was competing in a town with a population of 1000 people, but I was pretty excited about it. I don’t know how I learned. I have never had any instruction on how to sing (although I often wish I had). I’ve just always really loved doing it.


Who were your musical influences growing up?

I listened to so many different artists and genres when I was growing up that it’s difficult to keep track. I’ve always really liked Gordon Lightfoot. He’s kind of always going to be my platonic musical crush. When I was younger I listened to a lot of the music my parents listened to: The Moody Blues, ZZ Top, The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, etc. I was in love with musical theatre and at one point wished desperately I could be a stage actress, but I was enough of a realist to understand I don’t have the vocal chops for that. When I first heard Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” I thought it was the most perfect piece of music ever written. I also really liked The Rainkin Family when I was young, as well as Moxy Fruvous. This is basically what I listened to up to graduating elementary school. I even went through a phase of really loving Ace of Base, but I take no responsibility for that. It was the 90s. It wasn’t my fault.


Who are some artists you are currently enjoying?

I’ve just discovered a really great Canadian band called Trent Severn. I saw them live a couple nights ago and they really blew me away. Leonard Cohen and Sam Phillips are never far from my CD player right now, as well as The Civil Wars, Iron & Wine, David Ford, A Fine Frenzy, Rose Cousins, The Wilderness of Manitoba, Ingrid Michaelson, Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, The Tragically Hip, Beth Orton, Vashti Bunyan, Tom Waits, The Great Wilderness, Sufjan Stevens… Did I mention I like Gordon Lightfoot?


Your voice is very soft, we can immediately recognize your songs. How would you define your musical style?

The music you’d be listening to while sitting around a campfire, sipping hot chocolate on a mid-autumn evening.


How many instruments do you play?

None very well.


How many cd have you recorded? Can you give us the list?

I have released an album (...these are all my friends), an EP (Ballad of a Canadian Superhero) and two singles (May it Be & True Love Showers). I am currently in preproduction for my second full length record titled LETTERS HOME. I’m hoping to release it in April 2015. I have a lot of information about this project at http://www.bri-anneswan.com/lettershome


Do you feel you have grown as a songwriter since your first album?

Yes, definitely. Sometimes it’s difficult for me to listen to some of the songs from my first record because I wouldn’t have written them the same way now as I did then. It’s taken some time and some perspective to come to terms with this and be ok with it. My first record captures a certain period of my life. I’ve grown as a person since that record was released, so it only makes sense that I will have grown as a songwriter as well. I hope 10 years from now I listen back to the record I’m working on now and feel the same way - that I’ve grown and matured. In some ways, songwriting is the way I document my life’s journey.


Do you have a web site to publicize your music and can you give us the links?

Yes!
www.bri-anneswan.com
www.facebook.com/Bri-anneSwanMusic
But...your best bet to find me in cyberspace is on Twitter… www.twitter.com/swannybee


Can you explain your process of writing and composing songs? Music or lyrics first?

I start with music and lyrics together, but I usually finish the music and structure of a song first. Then I go back and fill in the rest of the lyrics.


I know you speak a little French, how did you learn this language? Are you planning to write more in French?

Most people in Canada can speak a little French, especially when it comes to food because all packaging in Canada is bilingual. My grandmother speaks an Acadian dialect of French which is used throughout the East Coast of Canada where she grew up. However, most of the French I know comes from what I was taught in school, and a short period where I lived in Quebec. I sing in French better than I speak it. I’m actually embarrassed I don’t speak French more fluently. Surprisingly, I am much better at speaking German. I would consider German to be my second language, although I would never say that I am fluent.

I am planning on singing more in French. Within a few years I hope to release a collection of traditional Canadian folk songs in English, French and even some of our First Nations languages.


There are many talented female singers in Canada, Lindi Ortega, Andrea DeBoer (BlueVenus), Emma-Lee, is what you've already considered working with them? Collaboration, duet or show?

I have had the pleasure of sharing a stage or a show with every single person you’ve listed here. Not only are all these singers Canadian, but they’re also based in Toronto (except for Lindi - she has recently relocated to Nashville). It is entirely possible that we will play shows together at some point, but to be honest, they are all a little further ahead in their careers than I am. I respect them all a lot for what they’ve been able to accomplish.


You have posted new pics and a new song, so does that mean there is a new album on the horizon?

Yes, and I am very excited for this project. “Letters Home” has been a project brewing for some time, and I really excited to be heading into the studio to start recording. We’ve been raising money to fund the project this month at www.bri-anneswan.com/lettershome. So many very generous people have contributed already. I’m very grateful for this, and look forward to creating an album I hope people will love.


Can you give us some details of this recording?

Four years ago, my parents sold their little farm in Central Ontario and moved to the Maritimes.

With the departure of my parents, the last ties to the community where I grew up disappeared. My brothers had moved away. Most of my friends had left the countryside (just as I did) and moved into the cities. The older farmers I knew growing up and saw as adopted grandparents are slowly passing away.

Things have changed. "Home" is different. The small town where I went to high school has changed, dramatically in some ways (actually, my high school was just demolished!), with large suburban box stores.

After my son was born in 2012, my new family returned to the river where I played as a child and planted him a tree, attempting to reestablish roots to a place that holds deep, often bittersweet memories and has shaped who I am. "Here's where I come from. Therefore, here's where you come from."

We made the drive from Toronto to visit my son's tree regularly. We watered it. We made sure the weeds were cleared away so it had enough sun and room to grow. 18 months after we planted our tree, I returned to the riverbank to find it buried under a pile of dirt, carelessly bulldozed over during the construction of a nearby bridge. It got the gears turning for a new writing project creatively based around the idea of "home". Does it ever stay the same? Can we ever really go back? Does it even matter? This project, Letters Home, is just that - artistic love letters to time, people and places that hold influence and are slowly disappearing. The project isn't necessarily specific to where I grew up, but rather the general concept of home and how it shapes who we are.


You seem to be wearing your glasses in a lot of your new pictures. Has my blog influenced you to wear them more often?

Perhaps your blog is one of the influences. When I did my first promo shots, there was an issue with my lenses reflecting light back into the camera so we couldn’t see my eyes. When I received the photos back I thought they were really nice, but I didn’t really think they looked like me. People would comment how they didn’t recognize me from my photos when I was wearing my glasses - and I wear my glasses all the time. I would be constantly walking into walls without them. So, I decided that all of my future photos I’d wear my glasses because it’s a better representation of who I am.


What do you think of this blog and have you discovered some singers?

I enjoy the blog a lot. I found Misty Boyce and The Empire Lights though your site and really like what they’re doing.

I think it’s really, really great how you’ve worked so hard to promote independent musicians who are visually impaired.


How important is your overall appearance?

I don’t even know where to begin with this question. I’ve just asked my toddler what he thinks about my appearance and he has responded by pulling my hair out of its ponytail and smearing tomato sauce on my freshly laundered white t-shirt. Most days I consider it an accomplishment just to be able to look after my personal hygiene.

How important is my appearance to my music career? To my sense of self? In my day to day? To the people around me? I don’t really know.

I do know that I like to dress up for shows. It’s about the only opportunity I have these days to wear anything pretty.


What kinds of times and places have you played music in your life?

I have performed in cafes, clubs, theatres, churches, community centres, living rooms and parks in 9 out of 10 Canadian provinces. I once found myself inadvertently booked at a marijuana speakeasy. I also once agreed to be the musical act for a benefit gala, but realized when I arrived that all the other performers were putting on a burlesque show. I was the only one who kept their clothes on throughout the entire performance. Nobody really seemed to mind.


When were you most satisfied in your job?

When somebody told me that they had shared a song I had written with a friend of theirs. This friend was going through a very difficult time and found the lyrics to be very moving and helpful. I also find myself sometimes playing a part in significant life events; singing at weddings, proposals and especially funerals. I find it extremely moving to be able to share these moments with people through my music.


What do you like and dislike about this job?

Likes: Being my own boss, showing up to work in my pyjamas if I want to, connecting with people through art, creating something lasting

Dislikes: Being my own boss, not having motivation to get out of my pyjamas, not having a clear or set path to success, feeling like I spend more time booking shows, writing grant proposals and looking after administrative tasks than I do actually writing songs.


What plans do you have for 2014?

Making a record. Playing more shows. Pushing a baby out of my body.