Noe Venable (born April 20, 1976) is an experimental

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

/pop singer-songwriter. She has earned a loyal fan base in her native San Francisco, in part through frequently performing in small, intimate venues. Her advocacy of small venues caused a stir in the San Francisco music community when she took ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' reporter

Joel Selvin Joel Selvin (born February 14, 1950) is an American San Francisco-based music critic and author known for his weekly column in the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', which ran from 1972 to 2009. Selvin has written books covering various aspects of po ...

to task for claiming that the city's music scene was "dead".

Education

Venable attended

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont, United States. Founded as a women’s college in 1932,

as a Dramatic Writing and then a Music major before deciding to pursue music as a career. In 2004, Venable moved to

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York where she obtained a bachelor's degree at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

of the

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

. In 2007, she relocated to

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

to begin graduate studies at

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the religious studies, academic study of religion or for leadership role ...

Theatrical career

She performed in numerous theatrical and musical productions as a youth with the San Francisco-based Young People's Teen Musical Theater Company. She was also in the cast of the

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

-themed musicals "Right Mind" and "Right Mind is Nowhere" directed by George Coates. Her original one-act play "Annie Beckstead Does Her Homework" won at the Rocky Mountain Student Theater Project in

Telluride, Colorado Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County, Colorado, San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River (Colorado), San M ...

Music career

She spent a month opening for

Ani DiFranco Angela Maria "Ani" DiFranco (; born September 23, 1970) is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. She has released more than 20 albums. DiFranco's music has been classified as folk rock and alternative rock, although it has additional influenc ...

, and toured with artists as varied as

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants, often abbreviated as TMBG, is an American alternative rock and Children's music, children's band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as ...

Boz Scaggs William Royce "Boz" Scaggs (born June 8, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was a bandmate of Steve Miller (musician), Steve Miller in the Ardells in the early 1960s and a member of the Steve Miller Band from 1967 to 196 ...

and

Dar Williams Dorothy Snowden "Dar" Williams (born April 19, 1967) is an American pop folk singer-songwriter from Mount Kisco, New York. Hendrik Hertzberg of ''The New Yorker'' has described Williams as "one of America's very best singer-songwriters." She ...

. Venable continues to compose and perform with longtime-collaborators

Todd Sickafoose Todd Sickafoose is an American jazz and rock musician, composer, and producer/engineer from San Francisco, California. He is best known for playing acoustic bass and keyboards with Ani DiFranco but has also led his own group, Todd Sickafoose's ...

and Alan Lin. Her songs are noteworthy for their striking melodies and complex subject matter, and she invites comparison with musicians

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known as Elliott Smith, was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of his life in Portland, Oregon, whe ...

and

Mazzy Star Mazzy Star is an American alternative rock band formed in 1988 in Santa Monica, California, from remnants of the group Opal (band), Opal. Founding member David Roback's friend Hope Sandoval became the group's vocalist when Kendra Smith left Opal ...

. She is reportedly working on recording new music, has been performing approximately twice per year and has performed most recently in September 2010. In March 2014, Venable completed funding for her album "Cascadia" which was released the same year.

Music used in film

Her music was featured in the 2002 low-budget film '' Cherish'' directed by

Finn Taylor Finn W. Taylor (born July 4, 1958) is an American film writer and director. Background Taylor was born in Oakland, California, and lived in Norway for a few years in his childhood. He attended the University of Montana and later San Francisco ...

, and stars

Tim Blake Nelson Timothy Blake Nelson (born May 11, 1964) is an American actor, writer, and director. Described as a "modern character actor", his roles include Delmar O'Donnell in ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' (2000), Gideon in ''Minority Report (film), Minori ...

Robin Tunney Robin Tunney (born June 19, 1972) is an American actress who made her film debut in '' Encino Man'' (1992), and later rose to prominence with headline parts in the cult films ''Empire Records'' (1995) and '' The Craft'' (1996). Her performance in ...

, and

Liz Phair Elizabeth Clark Phair (born April 17, 1967) is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Phair was raised primarily in the Chicago area. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1990, she attempted to sta ...

. The movie was filmed in and around the

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

and San Francisco area.

Discography

* ''You Talking to Me?'' (1996) – Venable's first recording, produced by Noe Venable and Tom Meshishnek and recorded in Meshishnek's basement, San Francisco. Featuring untraditional percussion including pots and pans, a vegetable steamer, a squeaky oven door, and a metal candy machine. * ''No Curses Here'' (1998) – This recording was produced by

Lee Townsend Lee Townsend is an American independent music producer, curator, artist manager and co-owner of Songtone (Songline/Tone Field Productions), specializing in recordings of singer-songwriters, contemporary composers, improvising musicians, and cross ...

, who produced

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist. He first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts, notably as a participant ...

and

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

, and was released by the German independent label, Intuition Music and Media. Arrangements are eclectic but center on acoustic instruments. Alan Lin plays violin,

Viktor Krauss Viktor Krauss is an American musician who plays acoustic and electric bass. He has released solo albums and has worked as a sideman with many musicians, including his sister, singer and fiddler Alison Krauss. Music career Krauss was born to Fre ...

(

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American country singer and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded 14 albums and released 25 singles to dat ...

) plays acoustic bass,

Scott Amendola Scott Amendola (born February 6, 1969) is an American drummer from the San Francisco Bay Area. His styles include jazz, blues, groove, and rock.Andrew Gilbert"Exploring New Degrees In Drumming" ''sfgate.com'', October 3, 2004. Early life and ed ...

(T. J. Kirk) plays drums, Rob Burger (

Tin Hat Trio Tin Hat (formerly the Tin Hat Trio) is an acoustic chamber music group currently based in San Francisco, California. Their music combines many genres of music, including jazz, southern blues, bluegrass, neoclassical, eastern European folk mus ...

) plays keyboards, Ryan Rosenberg plays pedal steel guitar, and Tom Meshishnek plays electric guitar. * ''Down Easy'' (2000) – Live recording of the Noe Venable Trio performing at

house concert A house concert or home concert is a musical concert or performance art that is presented in someone's home or apartment, or a nearby small private space such as a barn, apartment rec room, lawn, or backyard."VIDEO: House concert in Royal Oak," ...

venue Mo's Melody Mansion in San Francisco, January 20, 2000. (Part of the album's songs were featured in the 2002 movie ''Cherish''.) Featuring Noe Venable (voice & guitar), Todd Sickafoose (acoustic bass), and Alan Lin (violin). * ''Boots'' (2002) – Produced by Venable and Todd Sickafoose, the lyrics explore the meaning of womanhood. Arrangements are dominantly acoustic, and the music is very melodic. * ''The World Is Bound by Secret Knots'' (2003) – Produced by Todd Sickafoose, this is Venable's most well-known work, receiving attention on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

. Secret Knots was recorded at Eary Canal studios in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. Much of the material was written while opening for

Ani Difranco Angela Maria "Ani" DiFranco (; born September 23, 1970) is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. She has released more than 20 albums. DiFranco's music has been classified as folk rock and alternative rock, although it has additional influenc ...

, and

. The album introduces more variety to Noe's songs, including electronic sounds and effects and often a more foreboding sound that hearkens back to some of her earlier work, such as "Jamie Comes Home". There are also some acoustic songs, including "Is the Spirit Here?" * ''The Summer Storm Journals'' (2007) * ''Cascadia'' (2014) – Released in 2014 after being successfully funded by her first

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign, ''Cascadia'' is Noe Venable's seventh album, dedicated to the natural world. It was recorded without synthesizers, using only acoustic instruments and the human voice, and its lyrical themes include the beauty of nature, the growing separation between humankind and nature, and the spiritual implications of this increasing separation. * ''Gift of Embers'' (2022) – Featuring songs composed on

Celtic harp The Celtic harp is a triangular frame harp traditional to the Celtic nations of northwest Europe. It is known as in Irish, in Scottish Gaelic, in Breton and in Welsh. In Ireland and Scotland, it was a wire-strung instrument requiring gr ...

, an instrument newly added to Noe Venable's repertoire.

External links

Official website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venable, Noe Living people 1976 births American women singer-songwriters Hunter College alumni Harvard Divinity School alumni 21st-century American singer-songwriters