Press
Review- "These are all my Friends."
by Michael Thomas, Grayowl Point:::::::::October 25, 2009
Read it here!
...characterized by the strong vocals and lyrics of Swan. The album shows that there is more to a love song than just "I love you" or "Take me back".
Bri-anne Swan Performs at opera house Oct. 15
by Frank Matys, Orillia Today::::Thursday, October 8, 2009
Bri-anne Swan "grew up going to the opera house."
On October 15, the 20-something Oro-Medonte native returns to the grand old building as the star attraction
"The opera house and Massey Hall, those are the two venues I'd love to do," she says over the phone from Toronto, her home for the past several years.
An upcoming concert in the intimate Studio Theatre marks Swan's first local appearance since the release of her debut CD, "these are all my friends..."
Produced by Mitch Girio, the album draws on the myriad of musical influences that inspired her passion for songwriting and performing. "It just comes from so many varied places," says Swan. "I grew up listening to so many different kinds of music. My dad is really into ZZ Top and Classic Rock. My mom likes that stuff, but she's also into musicals and Celtic music, and folk music as well"
A graduate of Park Street Collegiate Institute, Swan studied theology at the University of Toronto before pursuing a career in music.
Along the way she earned a living working a variety of jobs, though her chosen profession was never out of view. "A lot of my songs I've written when I should have been doing other things, like spread sheets and other tasks my employers were paying me for," she adds with a laugh. What began as an occasional performance on open-mic nights in her school days grew into multi-province tours that included Canada's east cost, northern Ontario and Manitoba, as Swan pursued her calling full-time.
"It's awesome to be able to play a little place like Matheson with a population of a thousand and there are a hundred people at your show," she says. "To have 10 percent of the population at your show is wild."
Buses and trains are the preferred mode of transport to remote outposts like Kapuskasing, where Swan drew an appreciative audience to the local United Church.
Her voice has been heard closer to home, too, at St. Paul's United Church just weeks before musical hero Gordon Lightfoot played for the local congregation. Swan, a devout fan, hopes to one day open for him. "It would be so incredible, I wouldn't know what to do with myself."
Bri-anne Swan is the Clever and Alluring Songbird Here to Share her Friends
by Jessica Rae, Sofa Chip::::::::::September 16, 2009
Read it here!
Her voice is as strong as a siren's beckoning call, and as sweet as the angels in your most private moments of longing and reverie. Her lyrics are advocating ambassadors that honor the spirit within the most tender and poignant of feelings. After listening to her album, a sense of hope is hard to deny.
