Elana Stone - vocals and piano (Jackson Jackson, Cat Empire)
Aaron Flower - guitar (Vince Jones, King Curly, The Alcohotlicks)
Zoe Hauptmann - bass (King Curly, Wanderlust, Zoe and the Buttercups)
Evan Mannell - drums (Bertie Blackman, King Curly, The Alcohotlicks)
Influences
Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Shins, Rufus Wainwright, The Police/Sting, Billy Joel, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Queens of the Stone Age, Tom Waits, Ray Charles, Betty Carter, Nina Simone, Bobby McFerrin, Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, Dr John, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Jeff Buckley, Nancy Wilson, George Benson, Clark Terry, Tys Tys (Denmark) etc.
PLUS - All the great artists I see playing in and around town: Gian Slater, Rai Thistlethwaite, Harry Angus, James Muller, Zoe Hauptmann, James Hauptmann, Ben Hauptmann, Phil Stack, Holly Throsby, Josh Pyke, The Cat Empire/Jackson Jackson crew, Julian Wilson, Steve Magnussan, Steve Grant, Jake Stone (my brother + singer from Sydney band Bluejuice), Megan Washington, Cameron Undy, Matt Keegan, Edoardo Santone, Virna Sanzone, Tim Curnick, Brian Campeau... this list could go on for ages!
Raw, soulful, and uplifting Elana Stone and her band present a powerful combination of skillful musicianship, a commanding stage presense and damn good songwriting. 'I didn't know what to expect from this band, billed, variously, as jazz, experimental and indie. Fact is, it's all of those. And more.'AUSTRALIAN STAGE ONLINE
Having spent her formative years as a singer, Elana centres her song writing on her powerful, flexible voice, which ranges from blazing, Janis Joplin style soul, rock and roll, and Joni Mitchell-esque piano balladry.
As a jazz singer, Elana received high accolades. She was named Best Jazz Artist at the Musicoz awards in 2004, she won the prestigious National Jazz Award competition in Wangaratta and was a semi finalist in the Montreux Jazz Vocal Competition in Switzerland in 2005.
With her own original project Elana and her band have toured Europe and appeared at festivals around Australia including the Perth International Arts Festival, Sydney Festival, Melbourne International and Fringe Festivals. They have supported such artists as Holly Throsby, Jackson Jackson, Bluejuice and Kate Miller-Heidke.
Elana has also toured as a guest vocalist with The Cat Empire and has been a permanent member of Melbourne based dance act Jackson Jackson since it formed in 2007.
Last year (2008) Elana was headhunted by Australian Rock icon Deborah Conway to be included in the line up of 'Broad' the acclaimed all female singer-songwriter extravaganza. Broad has seen the likes of Sally Seltmann, Katie Noonan, Clare Bowditch, Kate Miller Heidke and Jade McRae in its ranks.
Elana currently has two songs on high rotation on Triple J. The first, 'Slippery Slidey' is the single from a soon to be released Elana Stone album - and the second is a tune written with Blue Mountains based electronic outfit Hermitude and The Herd's Urthboy called 'Your Call' which was released on the recent Hermitude album 'Threads'.
Elana is currently being featured as a Next Crop artist on the Triple J website and she was recently featured as a guest on SBS's Rockwiz (and won)!
You can buy the new single "Slippery Slidey" here now for only AU$10 + P&H.
And at iTunes
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You have surely heard about the tragic death of a brave young woman who was murdered in Iran just for peacefully protesting with her father on the streets of Teheran.
This is a goddamn I missed your Beach Hotel gig a few weeks ago because I wasn't in the area, doh - message. But I'm sure it was killer. Maybe I gotta hang out for some recorded music :). Keep the tonsils healthy!
HEY BABE!!!REMEMBER ME i CAME AND WATCHED A SHOW WITH TAZMAN....IM PLAYING THIS SUNDAY AT sPECTRUM MAY 31ST 10PMYOU SHOULD COME AND LISTEN!!WE SHOULD DO A GIG TOGETHER SOMETIME!!,
