Featured
Artist ~ September 2006
 Leah-Carla
Gordone
Bio
Female singer-songwriter and live music/recording
artist Leah-Carla Gordone is currently performing her own music as an
acoustic solo artist and with her new band. She plays a mean 12-string
guitar that is black and bedazzled with butterflies! Gordone has received
critical acclaim for her performance intensity and compelling stage presence
as well as for both her CDs, BUTTERFLY CHILD and DANCING ON THE DRAGON.
Her music has been described as rock, soul, folk,
alternative, pop, powerpop, R&B, funk and acoustic. Obviously, she’s
combining it all with the exception of heavy metal! Her voice has been
described as sultry, genuine, gut-wrenching, song bird, angelic, husky,
raw, powerful, unique and incomparable.
Once in a very great while, someone comes along
who sets the standard for a whole new category of music. She calls it,
"Breaking new ground with a new sound for a new era".
Born and raised in the heart of New York City,
Leah-Carla is the daughter of the late Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright
Charles Gordone. Recently, she opened for Norah Jones and The Indigo Girls
at Promowest Pavilion. She began singing, acting, and dancing professionally
as a child and went on to attend Fiorello H. Laguardia High School of
Performing and the Arts as a drama major. As a Theater Arts major at SUNY
New Paltz, she starred in the musical "Cabaret". She is maintaining
momentum by touring and playing club scenes all over. This summer will
make her fourth year performing at Columbus, Ohio's well-known annual
COMFEST - a 3-day/6- stage outdoor music festival - the only community
volunteer-run festival in the country.
Leah-Carla Gordone has just completed her second
full-length CD "Dancing On The Dragon". If the "dragon"
represents the obstacles one must overcome in order to achieve a higher
ground, Gordone seeks to make peace with the "dragon", and make
her music dreams a reality. Her debut CD "Butterfly Child" captured
her vibrantly unique and soulful voice, and let us glimpse her struggles
and vision through lyrics that took you on an intensely personal journey.
"Dancing On The Dragon" celebrates life and its challenging
lessons.
From NYC, the Village (a regular at CBGB's, Bitter
End, Mercury Lounge) to Woodstock (Joyous Lake, Tinker Street Cafe), from
Boston to Key West, Los Angeles (The Gig, Genghis Cohen) to London (12-Bar
Club), Nashville, Chicago, New Orleans, and Columbus, OH, as a one-woman
show or with her band, Leah-Carla Gordone sings out, hoping to spread
her voice far and wide. She’s got big plans so keep eyes and ears
peeled!
"Leah-Carla Gordone is an excellent young
singer with the sensitivity of Norah Jones and the intensity of Alanis
Morissette...A modern day Carly Simon burst forth [during her live performance]
with a touch of Joni Mitchell thrown in for good measure!" - Laura
E. Phillips (Music Connection)
Interview
1.. How old were you when you started writing songs and how many years
have you been writing and performing?
I started writing songs, singing and performing (as an actress as well)
at the age of twelve - the guitar playing came later.
2. Who were your major influences with your music?
My mother was a big Carole King fan...Tracy Chapman and Suzanne Vega
gave me hope that music with some substantial depth could be appreciated
on a mass commercial level and be rewarded by the industry...Sinead O’Connor
was a combat boot-wearing rebel and I identified with the power with which
she sang on "The Lion And The Cobra". I feel there are so few
commercial female singers that sing like their lives depend on it. That's
me too!
3. How would you describe your music?
It’s alternative/rock/soul/R&B/folk and funk all rolled into
one with a pop sensibility.
4. What is the best review or statement that someone has written about
you and your music and who said it?
"Leah-Carla Gordone is a powerful, authentic singer who lives
her music by voicing her convictions through her passionate, poetic songs.
In a way she is a throwback to the best traditions of the sixties, but
she simultaneously leads the cutting edge of the new millennium, for those
who appreciate music as substance rather than style and hope for it to
‘light the way’". - Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul and Mary)
5. How many personal CD projects have you finished and are you working
on or have any future project in the works? Also how involved are you
in the recording process and producing of these projects?
My debut CD was BUTTERFLY CHILD. My latest CD is called DANCING ON
THE DRAGON. They are both available at cdbaby.com/gordone and /gordone2
I have many new songs -- enough new material for a third CD -- coming
soon! Also, I have a lot of older material that could be used for a fourth
album...I am very involved in the recording process. I cultivate the musicians,
arrange the music considerably, and produce the albums myself...I always
have a clear vision for the final outcome.
6. What special honors or awards have you received over the years in
your music career?
I have yet to receive any awards, although we just submitted me for
seventeen categories of Grammy nominations, as well as for The Independent
Music Awards. I think of myself as a sleeping giant, when I wake up -
watch out! It’s more like, when everyone ELSE wakes up - my fans
are mystified by the fact that no record label has snatched me up yet.
7. What is your favorite venue to perform live and why?
I have no one favorite. I appreciate all the many different venues
for different reasons...The coffee house - for the attentiveness and intimacy,
the rowdy bar - for the festivity in the air and the challenge of winning
the crowd over and the concert venue for the sheer ego-enhancement (hah!).
But seriously, a large stage, great lighting and sound usually accompany
the concert venue...they really help create a very dramatic crowd anticipation.
A rising black curtain or a video screen as a backdrop add to the excitement.
I’m very dramatic and these little extras really give me butterflies!
I have a six foot, full-color banner of me but I don’t get to use
it much!
8. What music organizations are you affiliated with?
Indiegrrl, Songs Alive and ASCAP
9. What is your view of expressing political view points in songs?
For those who are especially informed and feel a passion for a political
topic, by all means...educate us. I, myself don’t feel a strong
pull toward putting politics in my songs.
10. Do you have any politically themed songs and if so tell us about
one of them?
I have a new song called "Sleeping Dogs" which addresses
homelessness, not specific to America. It also touches on my compulsion
to follow my conscience when it comes to recycling "Garbage is disposed
but where does it go? It’s not recycled, NO", to quote some
lyrics. I want to write a song about war, but it’s such an overwhelmingly
complex topic...I’m not sure where I’ll begin. My songs are
very emotional so my heart will go out to ALL the soldiers in that song
- American, Iraqi and the many others. I try to stay really positive in
my music. I try to get people to look upward--I sing of peace and hope
and "The trees, they are my friends, and I say ‘Thank you’"
and "When a tree falls in the forest, my heart hears the sound."
That’s about as political as I get. I think all that positive singing
puts out some good war-counteracting vibes.
11. Do you find as an Indie artist it is easier to express yourself
and view points in music instead of following main stream marketing in
songs?
I’ll always express myself EXACTLY as I need to. Nothing holds
me back. I think it’s called freedom of speech. If it hits mainstream...even
better.
12. What does Indie mean to you?
It means "independent"...not needing to rely on anyone but
yourself. But in reality, don’t we all get by with a "little
help from our friends"? Musically, it means you’re making things
"happen" regardless of the "movers and the shakers"--
you’re doing your thing, singing your song, marching to the beat
of your own drum. And you’ll keep doing that. I’m like a locomotive.
I’ll keep rolling. No actual destination. When I win a Grammy will
I retire? NOT. That’s icing on the cake. First and foremost I do
my music because I have to -- it is my lifeline and I will always make
music regardless of any help I get from any outside sources -- major labels,
indie labels, managers or agents. All I need is my guitar. I sing for
ME, first of all. It gives me immeasurable joy and I am so grateful that
I have this gift that continues to pull me through all my difficult times!
13. Do you own your own record label or publishing company?
Yes. Fat Dragon Productions, LLC is the record label and Butterfly
Child Music, LLC is my publishing company.
14. If given the opportunity would you sign on with a major record
label?
It all depends. Artistic control is important. There are a lot of factors
but I certainly am very open to getting with a major label.
15. What advice can you give to someone who is just starting to market
themselves in the Indie music market?
Advice for marketing? I’m the worst person to ask that! I just
sing, write and play my guitar. I have a new band and I’m trying
to get us as many gigs as possible. Touring and gigging like crazy seem
to be the best focus of energy. My ultimate goal is to get my music heard...I
don’t think of myself as a commodity to be marketed. I guess that’s
where my mother comes in! She’s my manager and she works nonstop
and leaves no stone unturned when it comes to marketing ideas. Ya gotta
have t-shirts, music videos, cds to sell, try to do college gigs, festivals,
conferences, showcases, radio exposure (satellite, college and commercial
if possible)...music reviews are very important to me.
16. How many instruments do you play and what are they?
Piano and keyboard were my first instrument. I approached them humbly
and wrote many "baby steps songs" on them but my expertise is
in guitar. I am a self-taught musician. I don’t know the names of
the chords I make up. I just know what sounds good to me. That’s
it.
17. What are your main goals for 2006 and in your music career as a
whole?
Well, a Grammy nomination would be amazing, though not very likely...but
anything’s possible. A big goal is to play Madison Square Garden
one day! Most of all, I hope that I continue to evolve as a musician,
singer and songwriter...to just keep getting better and better. I do have
a NEW MUSIC VIDEO of my charting single "The Road" which is
now available for viewing on myspace.com/dancingonthedragon. A major goal
is to get as many people to see that as possible!
18. What does Indiegrrl mean to you?
Indigrrl made me feel like I was part of the bigger picture...a band
of women determined not to let anything stand in their way...their music
being their driving force. I was one of the first performing members when
it all began and toured with a little troop of Indigrrl rocker women through
seven states! It was my first tour and the level of professionalism made
me proud to be a member...And I still am proud. We’ve come a long
way.
19. Is there anyone you would like to thank that has helped you along
in your career or in the music industry as a whole?
My mother, my mother, my mother....my....
***Please feel free to contact me at any of these sites. I will always
read your mail and write you back!
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