Welcome to the home of Shining City Productions! We are very excited about the 2008 fall line-up which features Lissa Schneckenberger, Laura Love, Meg Hutchinson, Slaid Cleaves, Richard Shindell, Eliza Gilkyson, Anais Mitchell, Annabelle Chvostek, Catie Curtis and more. Check the shows page for details.
Visit the Siren Nation web site to see what's up with Portland's own festival of music, film, and art by women artists (Nov 3-9, 2008).
Lori McKenna has been one of my favorite artists since the very first days of my involvement in the music business in Boston in 1999. She was all the buzz there then, and I quickly fell in love with her first album, Paper Wings and Halo (not to mention that she's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet). A few years ago, Lori was discovered by Faith Hill and then signed to Warner Brothers Records. She just finished a stint opening for Faith and Tom McGraw's Soul II Soul tour (which I attended in Portland, quite the show...). I am not generally of fan of mainstream country music, and I still don't see how Lori's music fits in there, but her music is still great, her songwriting is still amazing, and her voice is still very much her own. I was nervous about how her latest CD would be affected by Nashville, but I absolutely love it as much and maybe more than some of her last few. It's a little more rock in a few places, but it's still Lori all the way. And if all this brings her the recognition she has so long deserved, I can't knock that. Here are a few reviews:
"Lori McKenna comes into her own on “Unglamorous,” her first major-label release. With her keen eye for the human condition and her knack for engaging melodies, this singer-songwriter shines on homespun tunes about family life (the title track), true love (“I’m Not Crazy”) and twists of fate (“Falter”). Keep a box of tissue handy for “Leaving This Life,” a gut-wrenching ballad dealing with the loss of her mother, who died when McKenna was a child. Grade: A-." - The Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Stoughton, Mass., singer-songwriter Lori McKenna's major-label debut is a testament to the power of intimate storytelling... McKenna offers a warm, earthy blend of folk, country and rock. Her songwriting skills put her on the path to well-deserved stardom." - OKNews.com (Oklahoma)
"Unglamorous, her major-label debut, is a startling collection of alt-country melodies and folksy ruminations. Her writing doesn't rely on easy sentimentality, but it often incites a flood of emotion. It's all held together by a weary grace that echoes through each tale of domestic despair and desperation. McKenna's alternately plaintive and emotive delivery sometimes recalls Emmylou Harris. She doesn't have the pop sheen of [Faith] Hill or [Mandy] Moore, and it makes each song feel crisp and revelatory... It's a devastatingly beautiful moment in McKenna's gloriously unglamorous songbook." - Houston Chronicle
Deva Premal is almost as different from Lori McKenna as you can get, but this is another new album that I love. Another artist I've been aware of for a long time (since I was in India in 1998), I also fell in love with Deva Premal's first album, "The Essence." Her voice is sublime and the combination of Eastern and Western instrumentation on all her albums, and especially this new one, is lovely. She makes Indian/chant music accessible to people who may not have listened to it before. And who else has quotes from the Dalai Lama and Cher in their press kit?!? I am thrilled to be able to present her first Portland concert on September 26th. Come check it out!
"I have always been fascinated by music from the Indian sub continent. The structure of the compositions are so completely different from what we are used to, and the instruments so exotic. The sitar is in my opinion one of the best stringed instruments ever invented, the sound is so alluring. It is completely different from the guitar, yet it is intrinsically the same design. Over the years many bands have attempted to incorporate the sitar into their repertoire, Quintessence from the early 70’s were probably the first, even the Beatles gave it a whirl, unfortunately it really is an instrument that does not fit easily into the western style of composition. Deva Premal has found that magic middle ground, where the guitar does live in harmony with the Indian instruments... Diva Deva (yes, I really did write that) performs flawlessly, and the end result is a very smooth journey to a place of serenity and pleasure with this CD... These two great musicians are joined by Special guest musicians Jai Uttal (dotar), Manose (bansuri), Debopriyo Sarkar (tablas), Kit Walker (piano), Benjy Wertheimer (esraj), Peter van Gelder (sitar), and Moses Sedler (cello). This is certainly not a traditional matching of instruments, [it is] East meets West, and then some."
- BloggerNews.com
"Deva Premal’s “Sings the Moola Mantra” is the quintessential album to meditate to... This multi-faceted performer brings a refined fusion to this record that includes a single, 15-word Sanskrit mantra played over six musical arrangements... [This is an] album that will cause listener's nerves to be unruffled instantaneously. Her gentle voice will appease listeners’ will and make them drift into a place of complete tranquility." - CelebrityCafe.com
LORI MCKENNA 
DEVA PREMAL