Recent Press for Anne's Cordial
Providence Journal (Rick Massimo)
THE PROVIDENCE-BASED female vocal trio Anne’s Cordial put their beautiful vocal blend (as well as piano, guitar and harp) to a variety of original songs ranging from trad jazz to bluegrass to country blues and covers ranging from Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Help Me” to The Church’s “Under the Milky Way,” but it all comes out sounding like themselves. Last year, some dope from The Providence Journal said they “can make a 16th-century Spanish Christmas carol sound like the blues, then turn around and make Robert Johnson’s ‘Hellhound on My Trail’ sound like a piece of medieval music.” Well, even a broken clock’s right twice a day (though they’ve added percussionist Joe Auger since then as well).
Singer and pianist Eva Kendrick says that their debut self-titled record will be available at this weekend’s show, but that mostly it’s going to be sold as a download. The group’s third member, on vocals and harp, is Erin Reed Ferenbaugh.
The disc took a couple of months to record, and Kendrick says that the disc holds nearly all the group’s originals to this date, and the covers were “the ones that showed us off the most as a trio.”
“[Singer-guitarist] Natalie Markward does most of the arranging” of the non-original material, Kendrick says, and it sometimes leads to anxious moments: “We’ll go ‘Really? You think that’s gonna work?’ But we trust her, and ourselves, enough to know that it’ll sound like us.” Not only that, but you’ll see connections between songs that you didn’t know were there, as well as the original songs, which use well-observed lyrical detail to produce effects alternately chilling and sweet.
Providence Phoenix
MUST BE NEO-CLASSICAL . . .
When is classical music not classical music? When a trio of singers put their pristine voices to work infusing the vernacular with bossa nova and blues. That’s the tack of ANNE’S CORDIAL, three women who harmonize while playing harp, keyboard, and guitar. Their approach is disarming: I’ve never heard a Sonny Boy Williamson tune positioned to make it possible for a fugue to break out. I wasn’t even aware that medieval music had a sensual side. They’ll share a show with the FRANKENSTEIN CONSORT, Erik Lindgren’s latest concoction. The famed Boston keybster has been on the avant side of things for years, and his Birdsongs of the Mesozoic ensemble is a novel outfit with a singular slant on innumerable musics. After connecting with the Sonare Wind Trio, he began personalizing Satie, Scott, and that beloved composer, Edgar Winter. The Frankenstein Consort is bound to burn some-thing memorable into your head, and you’ll have a good grip on why they call their disc Classical-A-Go-Go. The show is at White Electric, 711 Westminster Street, Providence, at 7 pm | Suggested donation $5 | 401.453.3007 | annescordial.com
THE ANNE'S CORDIAL EP HAS ARRIVED!
The self-titled Anne's Cordial EP is now available for download! This album features six tracks you can purchase individually, or buy the whole album for only $5! The songs include Anne's Cordial originals: "Faceblind" (Kendrick), "Night Terrors" (Kendrick), "Sweeter Each Year" (Markward), "Cold Black Stone" (Kendrick), plus two covers, "Under the Milky Way" by The Church and the blues standard "Help Me," by Sonny Boy Williamson. (04-06-09)
