Ann-Marita: Press

Feature Artist: Ann-Marita!

"I try to always tell my stories exactly the way they feel to me, as opposed to trying to guess what the majority of people might want to hear. It seems to work. Turns out, a lot of us feel the same way about certain things, but you just have to look for that raw, sincere way to say it."

The LIST: How'd you get into Music?
Ann-Marita: I was born and bred in a tiny farming community in Norway. I have since then lived in Sweden, Iowa, Australia and now Los Angeles, California, so yeah, I've been getting around. I always gravitated to music, but there wasn't much of a supply of it in rural Norway, so I took to listening to my Dad's old country records, then trying to re-create what I was hearing with my voice - and an antique church organ that you had to stomp on to get a sound. The sound wasn't all that great, though, so instead I started jamming on a big boulder that with a bit of imagination could look like it had the shape of an upright piano. To a little kid of five, the rock piano sounded fantastic. But luckily, I finally got a guitar at fourteen...!


The LIST: Who are some of your influences?
Ann-Marita: My musical influences are very diverse. I find something I like in pretty much every genre, and it just depends what kind of mood I'm in. Timeless artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone and Etta James are always major sources of inspiration to me. As songwriters, I adore Roger Miller, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. Strong women with distinct voices, including Bonnie Raitt, Patty Griffin, Shelby Lynne, Shawn Colvin, Allison Moorer, Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton...well, they rock my world. Stepping outside music for a second, I must say that Oprah Winfrey has been a great inspiration to me through the years. I mean, what has the lady NOT done?

The LIST: What have you been up to recently?
Ann-Marita: I've been getting ready for lots of touring in the coming months. I'm performing at all these festivals and fairs over the spring, summer and fall, including Norway Day Festival in San Francisco, California Music
Industry Summit in Oakland, and Norsk Hostfest in North Dakota - the largest Scandinavian Festival in the U.S., where I'm on the bill with headliners Martina McBride, The Judds and Trace Adkins. My music has also been getting a lot of internet radio play lately. In addition to my solo career, I'm also part of rock'n'roll band The McGrath Project as my rock chick alter ego...and our latest album "Love is a 4-Letter Word" reached gold status in the U.K. last year. In addition, I've been getting these really cool endorsement deals with companies like Daisy Rock Guitars, Tradition Guitars and Shubb Capos.


The LIST: What do you bring to the industry?
Ann-Marita: Well, there's the obvious thing; I'm a country/americana artist from Norway. Not many of us around. I've also brought with me so many different influences from the corners of the world I've called home at some point, and some of the comments I get about my music is that it defies any formula. I try to always tell my stories exactly the way they feel to me, as opposed to trying to guess what the majority of people might want to hear. It seems to work. Turns out, a lot of us feel the same way about certain things, but you just have to look for that raw, sincere way to say it.

The LIST: What's next for Ann-Marita?
Ann-Marita: I'm beyond excited at the moment, but some of it I can't talk about just yet! Let me just say this: the new record by The McGrath Project will be out in the near future, followed by the next Ann-Marita solo record, and both of them might just be making their way all around the world, if all goes according to plan...! I'm about a third of the way through making my new album, and I'm incredibly proud of it so far. It's got more ofa laid-back, folky California sound than my earlier work, but it's still very much country. You can take the girl out of the country, and so on and so forth... well, I guess in my case you gotta make it plural.

MUSIC + CONTACT + BOOKING
www.annmarita.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Ann-Marita-music/194902733859249
www.myspace.com/annmarita
www.sonicbids.com/AnnMarita

The second album by Santa Clarita Valley-based rock band The McGrath Project, "Love is a 4-Letter Word," scored gold a few weeks ago from the British company CRA, which monitors electronic downloads, for more than 500,000 requests, spins and downloads.

The Project plans to celebrate by playing a show at the Courtyard Marriott in Valencia Saturday night, Sept. 25.

The band also played the grand opening of Rock Candy Music and More retail record store in Saugus Saturday night, Sept. 18.

There's more big news on the McGrath front: Later this month, the band's label, GB Records, will re-release the second solo album by the Project's newest member, country-rock-folk-blues singer, songwriter and guitarist Ann-Marita, along with a video for the single "State Line."

Originally from Norway, Ann-Marita grew up in poverty, and at age 15 ran away to the United States as a foreign exchange student. She returned to the States a few years later to attend Musicians Institute in Hollywood.

After her student visa expired she moved to the land Down Under, where she recorded a pair of well-received solo albums - "Ann-Marita" and "Intuition" - and developed a following among fans and media. Touring Australia and Europe, she earned more accolades for her albums, but wanted to return to the U.S. to continue her career.

Green card in hand, Ann-Marita bounced around the States until she landed in the Santa Clarita Valley and connected with musician, bandleader and producer Gary McGrath.

"I got up on stage and jammed with the band when they played a little bar in the fall of last year, and I guess they wanted me to stay," she said.

"Ann-Marita's our ace in the hole," McGrath said, adding that she joined the group just as it was completing "Love is a 4-Letter Word."

"I ended up doing all my vocals in a couple of sessions - one of them ending at 7 a.m.," she said. "It was a bit of a stylistic departure for me at first, but I had a blast with it, and I think it came out great."

McGrath and Ann-Marita have begun working on what will be her third solo album, due later this year on Viking Girl Records, a division of GB Records.

"My second solo record, ‘Intuition,' can definitely be described as country-rock," she said. "Since I've now gotten to flex my rock 'n' roll muscles a lot more with The McGrath Project, my next solo album will probably be a lot more bluesy and rootsy. So I guess in an indirect way the Project has influenced my solo work."

Between her Project and solo performances and sessions, Ann-Marita is also a private music instructor, with more than 40 loyal students in the SCV. Search "State Line" on YouTube for the video and visit www.annmarita.com for more info about her, and check her out with the band Sept. 25.

Artist: Ann-Marita

CD: Intuition

Quote: "Country music is really more international than we realize."

By Derek Blackmon

Upon first hearing Ann-Marita's latest release Intuition, there is no immediate evidence of this being country music performed by someone born in Norway and now living in Australia. Bringing a punchy driving sound that recalls the Jack White-influenced rebirth of Loretta Lynn, there is a breath of fresh air being exhaled in the music industry, and we should hope that others follow suit.

Shunning the Skoal-ringed redneck that is Gretchen Wilson, this is a better sound ("A Woman's Intuition") without the 'try this, it'll give you cancer' quality of Wilson's songs.

"Under the Iowa Sky" will leave you asking how a Norwegian can bag a winner so easily, especially upon realizing she's been handed a raw deal on occasion (bogus label flies by night, singer perseveres), showing she has no problem facing the beast and staring him down when he rears his ugly head. "Company Town" is an edgy number that harkens to days when things were more deplorable and fascist than now, whether we'd like to admit it or not.

I would like to find something to point out about an Aussie making such a damn fine country album, however there just isn't anything on Intuition that would make that justifiable. Maybe that's the point: Country music is really more international than we realize.

The Norwegian born blonde beauty Ann-Marita is back with her second CD, a follow-up to her self-titled 2004 debut. Instantly I am taken back as that warm honey voice and the bright guitar by husband (and producer) Brett Garsed weave the magic again. Definitely on a par with the classy high-price efforts that come out of Nashville, the production is near perfect. From Ann-Marita's lips comes a voice that is not just a voice - it is a musical instrument. Ann-Marita has written some excellent tracks; A Woman's Intuition, Under the Iowa Sky, State Line, Gettin' On That Bus, Mrs. You. Every song is deliciously listenable and wraps you up in the sentiment, perfectly blended between vocals and backing. Three Magic Words is my personal favourite - I had to hit replay several times - a feisty rocky country blues finger snapping toe tapper. Australia should be very glad Ann-Marita chose the Land Down Under to call home.

April 19, 2007

CD REVIEW: Ann-Marita’s ‘Intuition’ is a Great Fusion Country Sound, Artful Blend of Country and Rock: Original Songs by a Powerhouse Singer with a Great Future

By David M. Kinchen
Huntington News Network Music Critic

Hinton, WV (HNN) -- When Wildfire Publicity in Smyrna, TN asked me if I wanted Ann-Marita’s sophomore CD, “Intuition” to review, I told them to send it on.

I’m listening to this Norwegian-born powerhouse blonde singer/song writer as I write this review and I’m convinced Ann-Marita’s better than all of the Dixie Chicks combined!

She’s already as good as Martina McBride and has the potential to be one of the immortals like Emmy Lou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, Ashland, KY's Loretta Lynn, WV’s own Kathy Mattea.…even Patsy Cline, my all-time favorite country singer, a woman who broke through the stereotypes of the genre.

Ann-Marita has that kind of potential. I’m going to seek out her 2004 debut album, “Ann-Marita.”

The following biography is from Ann-Marita’s web site and is no exaggeration…she’s outstanding. If you love country music, you’ll like … make that…love! Ann-Marita. If you turn up your nose at the thought of listening to a twangy girl singer, take a chance on “Intuition”: You’ll love it. She’s a girl singer, but not so much twangy!

The part in the material below about her experiences in L.A. reminds me of a 1983 song called 'California Promises' by the late great Steve Goodman. (I have everything I could get my hands on by the guy who wrote 'Good Morning, America' (Riding on the City of New Orleans).

Ann-Marita's 'Intuition,' from Viking Girl Productions, should be available in well-stocked record stores and can be obtained through www.cdbaby.com., a wonderful site for indy albums. Her 2004 debut album is available at www.amazon.com.

Ann-Marita has come hacking through the jungles of the music industry with the machete of her songs, and with a strong voice and sturdy melodies, she’s not backing down. Intuition is a confident stride onto the country/rock scene, with songs of love and strength paving the way. “Under the Iowa Sky” has a fresh Tom Petty jangle to its guitar and frank, hard-luck lyrics in which the singer refers to herself as a “pop star wannabe,” but if this album is any indication of what’s to come, she won’t have to want for long. “Three Magic Words” is a rompin’ honky tonk rocker, while “Two-Faced” stakes Ann-Marita’s claim as the next queen of country. The most moving song on the album, “Company Town,” starts off with a haunting protest-folk harmony and leads into a country ballad about a dismal miner town given one short moment of joy from a traveling band. The song has a warm swing to it, vaguely reminiscent of “Hotel California” in tempo, tune and spirit. Ann-Marita’s Intuition serves her well, and helps her find her way, through her songs, into your heart.

Favorite: Track 5 “Company Town”

Ann-Marita

"Intuition"

(Viking Girl)

3.5 stars

You don't expect a Norwegian girl recently relocated to Australia to turn up with a great country-rock album, but that's what Ann-Marita did with her independent self-titled debut in 2004.

When that disc was released I wrote that she should easily score a major record deal, but so far, no dice on that prediction. She's still on a tiny label. But with "Intuition," she proves unequivocally that her first album was no fluke.

Described by one critic as "better than all of the Dixie Chicks combined!" Ann-Marita delivers crisp and emotional vocals that range from sweet to sultry on her second album of self-penned songs.

She opens the disc with some big riff strutting electric guitar work on "A Woman's Intuition," which extols the virtues of listening to your gut.

Then there's the emotional electric guitar frustrated-in-love ballad "What the Hell (Goes On In There)," where she sings of a lover who won't open up: "I love you madly/you drive me crazy/you're not under my thumb/you're under my skin."

While the disc is filled with songs of tough relationship issues, it doesn't stick with just a twangy country delivery. Ann-Marita slips in touches of rock and blues guitar on some songs, and with "Three Magic Words," she adds a little funky rhythm to the story of another lover who promises again and again those three words that you just know will never come true: "I will change."

In "Company Town" she uses an old-fashioned male background chorus as she tells the story of a girl ready to strike out on her own after chronicling the mysterious origins of her birth. And with "Mrs. You" she slips in some harmonica and a bluesy twang as she tells the story of a woman who decides that she will no longer simply be the second fiddle of her husband.

The album closes with the gentle "Done Doin' Time," which has a couple melodic notes that bring to mind "Me and Bobby McGee" as she sings about leaving behind the shackles of the past.

If you like an honest singer with some catchy country roots, seek out this album and discover a true treasure in Ann-Marita. For song samples and more information, check out her Web site at www.annmarita.com.

Ann-Marita - "Ann-Marita"

Australia has been invaded by Norway! And I surrender! Ann-Marita Garsed has travelled a torturous route to reach our shores, both geographically and personally, but along the way she found love, inspiration and a new home.

With a voice rich with honeyed tones and intense emotion, she also is a quality song crafter, and this, her debut album, is full of attention grabbing tracks. Opening track, Class Of '93 sets the pace, followed by another eight exceptional tracks. Alive And Kicking really makes you sit up and blink; a fantastic country rocker. My goodness, this girl has something special. The Ex-Boyfriend Song is another fast paced statement of girl power; "useful as a fly in the ointment" - a great lyric. That Girl and You Said Forever are softer offerings, More Than Meets The Eye is a personal declaration. If you're looking for fresh, driving, affirmative country rock, look no further.

“…a debut album which shows plenty of class”.
“…Ann-Marita breathes life into modern contemporary country without falling into a formula…”
“This is a very worthy introduction to an artist who obviously knows where she wants to go and has plenty of confidence in her ability to get there.”

“Ann-Marita has an impressively strong and versatile voice that’s gentle and sultry one minute and a lion’s roar the next”.

“…Ann-Marita has penned a strong debut of countrified pop that is a joy to listen to.”
“The perfect execution of the evocative “More Than Meets The Eye” alone should score her a major label record deal.”
“…a Down Under gem…”

“Fantastic.”
“This artist has what it takes from great songs, a great image and a voice to match.”
“Look out for this artist – big things coming her way.”

“Whoo! Traditional country she is not, but this woman has it. 4.5 stars out of 6.”

“With the countrified vocal style of Kim Richey and the heart driven emotion of Radney Foster, Ann-Marita connects on every tune.”

“Her talent is as stunning as her looks, and you can expect to see a lot more of Ann-Marita in years to come.”