Vonda Shepard to Release 14th Album 'Rookie' on Friday, July 10, 2015
-Two-time Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning singer-songwriter set to release first album of new material in seven years-
Singer-songwriter Vonda Shepard announces the upcoming release of her 14th album, Rookie, on July 10, 2015, funded through Kickstarter and under her own label. Shepard will release this album in celebration of being 25 years since the release of her self-titled Warner Bros. debut.
“For me, Rookie is a landmark album. Suddenly, I’m a highly experienced human, who has nothing to lose, so I’m throwing myself out there on this album in a very raw, real and unadorned way,” says Shepard. “The album features songs looking back on long lost love, fading into the distance, from the perspective of a person who is digging deeper and reconciling these relationships.”
This is Shepard’s sixth collaboration with producer Mitchell Froom (Crowded House, Elvis Costello and Randy Newman). To produce Rookie, Shepard raised $35,000 through Kickstarter, with the help of her family, fans and friends. The album contains original, concrete poetic images that showcase what someone can do with experience, talent and deep belief. The tone of Rookie harks back to the raw soul and sound of the seventies, sometimes reminiscent of the early Aretha days.
“We really should have vinyl for this album with an ‘A’ side and ‘B’ side, as half of the songs I’ve written are these super-funky tunes and the other half is piano/vocal ballads," Shepard says. "I’ve got a few songs that really focus on the soulful groove element—not as a cliché, but in my own way. There are also a couple of very catchy, pure pop songs in the lineup that I’m excited about.”
The optimistic lyrics of the album mirror the stage Shepard is at in her career and the title of the new album plays an ironic comparison to Shepard’s life—she’s an artist that has been around all the blocks. Shepard is coming off of her debut as a musical stage actress in Randy Newman’s “Faust: The Concert,” where critics have raved about her outstanding performance. Theatermania.com critic even stated that Shepard’s performance was “One of the year's great stage moments to date, Newman and multi-Emmy and Grammy winner Shepard brought the house down in the second act with the gorgeous duet "Feels Like Home.”
Shepard released her first hit “Can’t We Try” in 1987 and followed it with “Don’t Cry Ilene” from her first album on Reprise Records in 1989. She went on to record three solo albums before rising to prominence in 1997 as the creative force behind the memorable theme song “Searching My Soul” for the TV series Ally McBeal. She played an integral part in writing and producing the music for the soundtrack as the show’s musical director and appeared in every episode as the resident performer at a bar where the characters would hang out after work.
In the 13 years since the TV hit ended its five-season run Shepard has released five albums and toured extensively in Europe and at her own international and domestic concerts.
Fans can download Rookie on iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby and at www.vondashepard.com.
To learn more about Shepard’s latest album, watch behind the scene videos or to learn more about her upcoming performances please visit www.vondashepard.com.
About Vonda Shepard
Vonda Shepard is a singer-songwriter and musician, best known for being former musical director of Ally McBeal and recently acting and singing on stage in the New York revival of Randy Newman’s “Faust: The Concert” starring Randy Newman. Shepard is currently recording her fourteenth album, Rookie, set to be released in July 2015. The album, which has been funded through Kickstarter, will feature a mixture of moods and tempos, with slightly more emphasis on the upbeat than previous albums.
For more information on Shepard and her music, visit www.vondashepard.com. Become a fan at Facebook.com/VondaShepard or follow on Twitter @VondaShepard.
No comments:
Post a Comment