Archive for the 'Dallas Area Live Music' Category

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Photo Interview- Camille Cortinas

Now we move into the third photo interview presented by ZLew.net. The idea behind these interviews is quite simple:A photo shoot, along with a simple and short interview with a local artist. For this entry, I present to you the lovely and talented Camille Cortinas.

Camille Cortinas and Eric Neal14

Z- Name, Rank, and Serial Number?
Camille-Camille Cortinas, Princess, 2-28-22

Z- On the stage you sing and play the guitar; are there any other musical talents we don’t know about?
Camille- I dabble in the flute and piano… a little bit untapped and rusty, but worth mentioning.

Z- What are some of your favorite venues to play around town?
Camille- I love any environment that acknowledges the audience, and is listener friendly like Opening Bell, or Sue Ellens. We get people there who really listen, and we as song writers are really able to tell our stories.

Camille Cortinas

Z-Can you tell us a little bit about your first live performance?
Camille-It was at my high school graduation. It was pretty weird; I’m not even sure how I got the gig. Someone asked me to play at the Sr. Luncheon. I had just learned how to play and was rusty, but it was fun!

Z-One of the things I struggle with is trying to define someone’s sound or style. I think “folk” and “indie” are overused and most times don’t do justice or accurately describe any given music. How would you characterize your style and sound?
Camille- Of all of the adjectives that describe our music, I think quirky and sweet are most accurate. Kinda like the first few weeks of falling in love. A little mystery, a little darkness, with a lot of layers, but still sugar sweet.

Camille Cortinas and Eric Neal1

Z-If you could only keep one of your possessions, what would it be?
Camille- Does it have to be G rated?
*note from Z, you should have seen the grin on her face when she said this!

Z-Who are some of your favorite local bands/ musicians?
Emily Elbert, The O’s, The King Bucks, Chameleon Chamber Group, Backsliders… anyone who does things outside of the box.

Z- If you could only listen to one album, what would it be?
Camille- The White Album, Beatles (both discs thank you!)

Z-How do you want to be remembered-
Camille- As a person who always looks at her glass as half full……of wine ;)

Camille Cortinas

For more on Camille, and hear some of her music, check out her myspace. Her schedule can also be found there, and I would highly recommend checking out one of her live shows. Stay tuned: I also did a shoot with her husband to be, Eric Neal, at the same time I shot this interview. I hope to have that one posted in the next week or so.

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Photo Interview- Vanessa Peters

Welcome to the second installment of the ZLew.net photo interview. Like the interview with Shanti Michelle, the concept of this photo interview is a simple one: A photo shoot, along with a simple and short interview with a local artist; for this entry, I present to you the lovely and talented Vanessa Peters.

Vanessa Peters-  Blue

Z-Name, Rank, and Serial Number?
Vanessa- : Vanessa Peters, General, 916ITTX

Z- How long would you say you have been a musician?
Vanessa- In my mind I have been a muscian all of my life. As far as other people, or the public are concerned I have been performing since 2002.

Vanessa Peters

Z-Anytime I think of Vanessa Peters, I think of Italy. Many of your stories at your live shows include Itialy, many of your youtube videos (note, this video is not from Italy, but was picked for the recording quality) are from there, and your touring schedule is always packed with shows on the boot. Can you explain the Italian connection?-
Vanessa-I was a student there in 2000 in a university study abroad program. Since I graduated from college at age 20, I thought it would be fun to see the world and travel. I ended up moving back to Italy for a year. While I was there I met the guys who ended up becoming my band and now it is my home for half of the year. I even have a job there working for the study abroad center.

Z-On the subject of traveling and touring, your tour schedule is more packed and more spread out all of the country and the world than any local musician I can think of. How many miles did you put on your car last year?
Vanessa- About 30,000 or so. My car is 3 years old, and has around 90,000 miles on it.

Z-What has been your favorite destination so far?
Vanessa- In the U.S., I love going to Brooklyn, Minneapolis, and Chicago. The most beautiful places I have been to were West Virginia, and Eastern Tennessee.

Vanessa Peters

Z-One of the things I struggle with is trying to define someone’s sound or style. I think “folk” and “indie” are overused and most times don’t do justice or accurately describe any given music. How would you characterize your style and sound?
Vanessa- I always fall back on singer/songwriter. Genres something that I really struggle with as well, but “singer songwriter” seems to be a good catch all. Folk Rock, or Alternative Country also accurately describe my music.

vanessa5

Z- You said you graduated at 20 and started at just 16 years old; where did you go to school, and what did you study?
Vanessa- I went to A&M, and got my degree in Literature/ Creative Writing with minors in Latin and History.

Z-If you could only keep one of your possessions, what would it be?
Vanessa- My guitar.

Z- If you could only listen to one album, what would it be?
Vanessa-You Were Here, by Sarah Harmer.

Z-How do you want to be remembered-
Vanessa- as a kind person and as a songwriter.

If you get the opportunity, check out Vanessa and her band: Vanessa Peters and Ice Cream on Mondays. You can get a taste of her music on her myspace or on youtube. Drownding in Amsterdam and Little Films are two of my favorites. If you want to see her live, she will be in in Texas for a few more weeks before she starts globetrotting and putting more miles on her poor car.

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Downtown Music and Summer Ames

summer ames

It’s been a tough few weeks for Dallas music venues! I had really high hopes for “The Listening Room” at Club Dada, and really enjoyed Club Dada itself, and I was sorry to hear that they closed their doors. I was also sorry to hear that Opening Bell (Mosaic) is no longer associated with Pascale Hall, the creator/owner of the original Opening Bell (South Side on Lamar). The Mosaic location is still open, but from looking at their posted calendar online, and talking to some insiders, it looks like the singer songwriters and other bands you are used to seeing at OBC will be all but gone, and spoken word and DJ’s may fill that space. The good news is that Pascale and OBC at Southside are still there and doing what they have always done for the local music scene.

On a related note, I did hear that Trees is going to open back up. That brings back many memories from high school! Back in the day, that was the only place you could get in to see music in Deep Ellum at 17 years old. We couldn’t get in anywhere else, but we spent a good amount of time at Trees. They open back up Aug 14th, and I wish them the best!

summer ames

Of course, it only seemed fitting that my weekend travels took me down to OBC Southside. I was talked into having a root beer float, with a shot of Irish Cream on top, and must recommend it to anyone who is reading this. So good! There was supposed to be a double or triple bill of music, but the visiting act from Nashville didn’t ever show up. That left just Summe Ames to play along with her husband for the evenings entertainment. Summer had a really well developed, and very strong voice as she sang her tunes. Her husband backed her up on a single drum, and she played the guitar and keyboard on different songs. The audience responded very well to her, and I enjoyed what I heard. As is the case many times, her style reminds me of someone, but I can’t place it. Make sure to check her out if you get the chance.

Backsliders new (free!!!) album: Thank You

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What is better than good music? Good music that is freeeeeee to download! The Backsliders have released their new album Thank You, and have made it available free for download with no strings attached. I asked the band how long they were going to keep Thank You available for free, and they assured me they had no plans to charge for it. Just go to their main page, and click on the store tab. Click the songs and download them for your listening pleasure. The album has some great tunes on it, including some favorites from their live shows like Keep a Knockn’ and Have You Ever Been Down.

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These guys come with a great history and long list of accolades for their rockn’ Dallas grown music. The band’s rocky beats, topped off with Kim’s raspy voice are sure to give you a swift kick in the pants right when you need it. I was going to go to their show last weekend, and some how managed to put down the wrong date in my calendar. That was dumb. So don’t be dumb like me, and make sure to take advantage of the free album!

Morning Elephant

Morning Elephant

I am happy to report that I finally got the chance to see Manya’s newest project “Morning Elephant” (or a.m. Elephant if ya nasty) and check out a new venue at Live at Mokah.
I’m going to see if I can review a show and a venue in one sentence each… and I reserve the right for those sentences to be poorly punctuated run-on sentences.

Morning Elephant

Morning Elephant sounded great, with a 7.5 piece talent filled band (including keys, 3 guitars, bass, 2 singers, drums, and one little girl (that was the .5)); make sure to keep an eye out for these guys!

Morning Elephant

Live at Mokah is a different sort of venue just south of Deep Ellum, with a large listening room, Coffee Bar (no beer), and comfortable couches; for intimate shows, I would go again.

Morning Elephant