Music's Journey INTERVIEW #204 w/ R & B Singer/Songwriter Ann Vriend's Latest Single and Video ‘’If You Were Here''
Description
w/ R & B Singer/Songwriter/ Producer
Hosted by Kim Cyr
Presented by NOW and THEN Magazine
https://www.nowandthenmagazine.com
New Single
‘’If You Were Here''
feat. Jory Kinjo
Music's Journey INTERVIEW #201
Canadian artist AV (Ann Vriend) is an internationally recognized singer-songwriter, musician, and producer, whose effortless blend of Blues, Roots, and Soul has recently landed her a nomination in the Keyboardist of the Year category at the 2023 Maple Blues Awards at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre in January. Her latest album, "Everybody Matters", has sold thousands of units worldwide to date, ranked #28 on Alberta's CKUA Radio Network's Top 100 Albums of 2022, and reached #20 on the Earshot National Chart.
AV performed at the event that took place at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre Theatre on Monday, January 30th, 2023. AV has twice been the recipient of the Cobalt Music Prize at the Maple Blues Awards, an annual event celebrating Blues music across the country and honouring outstanding achievements in the field.
With radio play around the world and on commercial radio in Germany, currently sitting at #2 on VHR's "International Hits", AV's soulful, socially focused project is continuing to have an impact across the globe. The two-time "Cobalt Music Prize" winner at the Maple Blues Awards has also taken home the "R&B/Soul Recording of the Year" Award at the Edmonton Music Awards and has played some of the world's most coveted music festivals, including SXSW and Reeperbhan, along with having her music featured in Elle Magazine, CBC Radio, CTV, and Global News.
As AV prepared to take the stage at the 2023 Maple Blues Awards in Toronto at the end of January, she had just released a brand new video for "If You Were Here" from "Everybody Matters" - a soulful and haunting ballad that features AV's powerful, longing vocals alongside the rich and rough-edged voice and bass playing of well-known Calgary artist Jory Kinjo. Kinjo has toured with B.B. King and a long stream of other legendary Blues artists, as well as many well-known Ska and Reggae groups.
AV - Wish You Were Here Official Music Video
About "If You Were Here":
“If You Were Here”, is a lonely, haunting, Blues duet based on a wordless chorus sung in harmony about longing, wandering, and what keeps people in relationships. Originally released in 2012, the song was co-written with Canadian singer-songwriter Matt Epp while at a Folk Alliance conference in Memphis. The tune was initially penned in dedication to Jeff Buckley, who drowned in the arm of the Mississippi River AV and Epp could view from the conference hotel. The stand out, somber harmonies for the track were crafted in the hotel stairwell, where the natural reverb and constant stream of musicians chiming in as they went past was the initial musical inspiration for the song's vocal hook; a long stream of people wandering in hope of finding something more.
From AV: "My first tour since the pandemic was in Western Europe, and many audience members told me it was their first outing and concert in more than 2 years. You could see the toll that being apart from other people had taken, but also a new-found appreciation and joy of being together socially again. Many refugees were in the audience, being billeted with families who'd taken them in due to the war in the Ukraine. Many of the refugees were teenagers and young adults, away from their parents and families, and though they were grateful for the hospitality, the stress of the war and being apart from people they loved was very evident. People really seemed to connect then to this haunting duet about being apart.
For me the song mirrored what I felt myself; after such a long hiatus of not touring and performing with the people who have become close friends, and not seeing so many people on t
United States
