other people i love who also play with me: darren criss - vocals, guitar michael swain - drums laurel premo - dobro, banjo
for booking, questions, and other nice things, email me at kayechar@gmail.com.
Influences
Jim Roll, Perhapsy, The Dirty Birds, Sondre Lerche, Liann Kaye, Alex Brumel & Janel Elizabeth, Darren Criss, Laurel Premo, Matt Jones, Luke Winslow-King, Cesspool, Matt Jones, M. Ward, Rufus Wainwright, Jenny Lewis, Jens Lekman, Belle & Sebastian, Joni Mitchell, Andrew Bird, mccormick road, Sufjan, reading, prog rock, chamber music, pop radio, traveling, musical theater, disney, taking entirely too many pictures, the books, tumbling towers on weeknights, never on time, IHOP at 3 am, art history, arizona, burt bacharach, coffee shops with big windows, oceans, steam engines, pumpkin flavored things, desert storms, string arrangements, the ones I haven't met, three-part harmonies, elliott smith, and the idea of something else.
BORN in Hawaii and raised in Arizona, Charlene Kaye is
a classically trained pianist turned pop songwriter and
multi-instrumentalist who gathers all the essential elements
of classical and pop to create a lush sonic palette blurring
the lines of both worlds.
Her independently released debut album, Things I Will
Need in the Past, was self-produced and recorded with
renowned songwriter, engineer and local legend Jim Roll
(Chris Bathgate, Frontier Ruckus, Misty Lyn & the Big Beautiful). The album is a deftly
orchestrated work whose varied nature offers the magnitude
of a symphony and the modesty of a haiku, any one song just
as likely to be adorned by pizzicato strings and gritty guitars
as it is by twinkling bells and castanets. Playful pop,
mournful waltzes, and wild-eyed tango are all deftly folded
into Things' abundant embrace, underlying heartfelt lyrics
exploring the depths of love's underbelly and the idea
of time as a malleable entity. Since its release, the album has
been met with rave reviews, described as "a grand blending of
orchestral classicism and neo-folk pop anglings" (Real Detroit),
“a full-fledged rumination on the nature of time and love”
(Metro Times), and "a blending of perfect balance, showing
strength in arrangement and ambiance” (Current). In
November 2008, Kaye was selected as Ann Arbor 107.1's
"Artist to Watch" among dozens of other aspiring artists.
Hailed as “an indie spirit headed for greatness” (the
Michigan Daily), Charlene Kaye is indeed the kind of
songwriter and performer whose work listeners will return to
for years to come. Pure, poetic, and full of personality, each
song bears a sincerity and absolute musical clarity that lingers
long after the music has stopped.
Debut album "Things I Will Need in the Past" out now!!!
or buy a hard copy on CD BABY (click the CD) for the sweet album art!!!
1. Andromeda
2. All the Life Around
3. Strike a Chord
4. Amber Light
5. Magnolia Wine
6. Ellilpsis
7. Skin & Bones (ft. Darren Criss)
8. Bonnie Parker
9. Bound Red Gideon
10. Human
11. Different Colored Eyes
"Take the heady, theatric dressing-ups of Rufus Wainwright’s baroque-pop, the sly, swing-able, indie-jazz of Feist with Kaye’s own earnest folk-punch and you find her blend of classical poignancy with pop’s whimsy...mystic, absurd, and elastic." -Real Detroit
"Kaye's strong vocals rise and soar, wispy at the edges, but burning sun-fire at their thickest exertion...[Things is] a blending of perfect balance, showing strength in arrangement and ambiance"
-Current
"Impossibly mixes symphonic pop with operatic folk and piano rock...a force to be reckoned with." SongsIllinois
"The album's best described as a balancing act of sound. The songs don't allow the listener to rest too long in either the saucy or wistful, the warm or the cold... And it's just that kind of rhythm of change that keeps the savvy listener suspended, waiting, excited." -Metro Times
"Her style is distinct and cannot be categorized...an indie spirit headed for greatness"
-The Michigan Daily
I just bought your album today, and it's seriously fantastic. :) I love listening to it- I can see it being one of my favorites! Such lovely lyrics, instrumentation, and a beautiful voice to match. Thanks for sharing your talent!
hey charlene, i recently got your album. it's fabulous. one of my favorite albums! hope you visit northern california sometime. i'd love to see you live.
hi! i just wanted to thank you so much for the add, and hope you know that your music has got to be one of the best and most original i've heard in a long time! thanks so much for restoring my confidence in the independent music industry :]
Hi Charlene! Thank you for becoming a Friend. BelongToTheEarth Ecology Group supports new safer inventions, research and awareness for a better environment. Our field work, original photography, journalistic reporting, information, articles and links are all brought to you by BTTE Creators. We hope our photos & info enlighten & inspire you to make a difference in your world.
Hey Charlene...I know I totally missed out on your last NYC show--I'm like an hour north of there and still had school. Hopefully I'll be able to see you in June (although I'm debating on maybe coming out to Boston too). Hope all's well!
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