Ann Vriend is a Canadian singer-songwriter and pianist based in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Alberta. Vriend has played festivals and venues around the world.

Recording career

Vriend released a popular demo in 2000 which received immediate radio play on stations across western Canada and earned her a spot at the

Edmonton Folk Music Festival The Edmonton Folk Music Festival (EFMF) is an annual four-day outdoor music event held the second weekend of August in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, established in 1980 by Don Whalen. and a core group of volunteers. The festival continues to draw man ...

. A year later she won a songwriting contest which took her to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

and helped fund her debut album, ''Soul Unravelling'' (2003), which was well received by critics and sold well for an independent release. The album is now in its fifth pressing. Vriend's second album, ''Modes of Transport'', was released two years later. "Feelin' Fine", the album's first single, was put on

heavy rotation In broadcasting, rotation is the repeated airing of a limited playlist of songs on a radio station or satellite radio channel, or music videos on a TV network. They are usually in a different order each time. However, they are not completely sh ...

by a local

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

radio station. A third album, ''When We Were Spies'', was released on 11 March 2008. Produced by Juno-nominated Douglas Romanow, it contains fuller production, drawing on modern pop sounds. A single, "St. Paul", received heavy rotation in her hometown of Edmonton and hit the Top 30 on radio stations in Toronto and

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

(Germany). Vriend's first music video, for "(If We Are Not) Spies", was released in mid-2008. ''Love & Other Messes'', Vriend's first studio album in almost three years, was released in early 2011. The album features a seven piece band, including vocalists

Coco Love Alcorn Coco Love Alcorn is a Canadian pop music, pop and jazz singer. The daughter of jazz singer John Alcorn (singer), John Alcorn, she released her debut album in 1995. She toured as an opening act for Burton Cummings, Chantal Kreviazuk, Jesse Cook, a ...

and Chloe Albert, and includes a duet with Matt Epp. The recording, produced by Vriend herself, was influenced by

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Muscle Shoals Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located on the left bank of the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, its population was 13,146. The estimated popula ...

, classic R&B and

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

sounds. Vriend released a video for "Graffiti on my Heart". ''Love & Other Messes'' was number 1 on the

CKUA CKUA Radio is a Canadian donor-funded community radio station based in Edmonton, Alberta. Originally located on the campus of the University of Alberta in Edmonton (hence the UA of the call letters), it was the first public broadcaster in Canada ...

album charts for two weeks and received a 3.5 star review in the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

''. In 2011, Vriend provided vocals for a topical single called "William and Kate".

Live performances

Vriend has toured Canada, Australia and Europe extensively, both solo and backed by a band. Live recordings from 2008 and 2009 shows, along with new songs recorded live "off-the-floor", were released in late 2009 as ''Closer Encounters''. She released videos for "A Dollar and a Suitcase" and "On Your Street", the two new songs on the album, in 2010. Vriend is also the curator and host of the Bluebird North performance series in Edmonton. She also performs with the popular 1980s cover band Valiant Thieves.

Television

In August 2010, Vriend appeared on the Australian music and comedy show '' Spicks and Specks''. She has also been featured on a regional news program in the Netherlands and has performed on network television in Canada and Australia.

Musical style

Vriend's literary writing style reveals the influence of 1970s singer-songwriters such as

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

, and

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion st ...

. Her distinctive voice has been compared to the clear and vulnerable Nashville sound of

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

, the playfulness of

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...

, and the raw power of

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

and

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known as the Ch ...

Career highlights: 2015 – present

*Winner of the 2017 Maple Blues Award "Cobalt Music Prize" for recording and composition "All That I Can" *May 2017 release (EP) reached No. 1 on CJSR chart (Edmonton), No. 5 on Soundslike Café (Australia), No. 19 on CKUA chart (Canada), No. 90 on North American overall campus charts *Winner of nation-wide "She's The One" contest at the Ottawa Bluesfest *Nominated for "Female Artist of the Year" at 2017 Edmonton Music Awards *Semifinalist at the International Songwriting Competition, pop category *Selected to showcase at the Reeperbahn Festival, Big Sound, MIDEM, SXSW, Popkomm, NXNE, Contact East, Junofest, Breakout West *Featured in Songwriter's Association of Canada magazine and ''Elle'' magazine *Appeared on TV talk shows in Germany ("Arte TV"), Australia ("Spicks and Specks, Mornings With Keri Anne"), Canada (CBC National) *Songs placed on DVD release of ''Party of 5'', Russian film ''Kitchen In Paris'', YouTube online banking ad, short "Toonlife Dating" *Backing band The Rooster Davis Group semi finalists in the 2016 Memphis Blues Challenge, and winner of the Best Self-Produced Blues Album in Northern Alberta, 2015

Performance highlights

*Kitchener Blues Festival *Calgary Bluesfest *Ottawa Bluesfest *Burlington Sound Of Music Festival *Edmonton and Calgary Folk Music Festivals *Woodford Folk Music Festival (Australia) *Port Fairy Music Festival (Australia) *Australia Blues Festival *Lethbridge Jazz and Blues Festival *Medicine Hat Jazz Festival *Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris, France *Vinyl Cafe with Stuart MacClean, CBC Radio *Radio National (Australia), "The Inside Sleeve" *Alainait Arts Festival (Iqaluit) *Neukolner Oper (Berlin) *Radio Bremen (Germany) *Canadian Tourism Events (Sydney, London, Melbourne, St. Louis, Washington D.C., Frankfurt) *The Basement (Sydney) *Commonwealth Games (Melbourne) *New York City: Bitter End, CBGB's, Fez, Arlene's Grocery, Rockwood Music Hall *Koerner Hall (Toronto) *Canadian Embassy in Brussels for Canada Day celebrations

Discography

*2003: ''Soul Unravelling'' *2005: ''Modes of Transport'' *2007: ''The Clandestine'' (EP) *2008: ''When We Were Spies'' *2009: ''Closer Encounters'' *2011: ''Love & Other Messes'' *2014: ''For The People In The Mean Time'' *2017: ''Everybody's different'' (EP)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vriend, Ann Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Musicians from Edmonton Singers from Vancouver Canadian women singer-songwriters Canadian singer-songwriters Canadian pop pianists Canadian women pop singers 21st-century Canadian pianists 21st-century Canadian women pianists Singers from Alberta