On an "as needed" basis: Bob Muller: drums, Bon Lozaga: guitar, Hansford Rowe: bass
Happy Rhodes? For real?
Yes, it's her real name!
Note: There is a male Canadian Country-Western singer nicknamed "Happy Rhodes" (real name: Jack Chapelle). He owns
www.happyrhodes.com, but doesn't use it.
Who's that guy?
One of the most common questions (after "Is that her real name?)" is
"Who's that guy singing with Happy?" That's Happy singing with Happy! That astonishing range is all her and it's not done with studio
trickery. Anyone who's not convinced should watch the live videos on this page and on YouTube.
Worked with
Happy has also worked with: Kevin Bartlett, Carl Adami, David Torn, Jerry Marotta, Mitch Elrod, Kelly Bird, Rob Taylor, Martha Waterman,
Dave "Blaze" Sepowski, Chuck D'Aloia, Monica Wilson, Dean Sharp, Peter Sheehan, Ray Jung, Andy Wyman, Mark Foster, Bob Van Detta,
Paul Huesman, Jamie Edwards, Elizabeth Jones, Matthew Guarnere (M.D.G.), Teddy Kumpel, Rob Schwimmer, Jon Catler, Trey Gunn, Fab, and
Michael Seifert. (If you've worked professionally with Happy and your name is not listed, please write me and let me know).
Collaborations
Happy has collaborated with (provided vocals for) Bon Lozaga and Project Lo, Will Ackerman, Bob Holroyd, Samite and Jeff Oster. Visit Jeff's MySpace page to hear
more
Happy vocals.
Covers
Happy has covered Peter Gabriel ("Mercy Street"), David Bowie ("Ashes To Ashes") and Yes ("The Yes Medley") on album releases and
various other songs live, and Kate Bush, Duran Duran, Queen, Crowded House, Genesis, the Bee Gees and Annie Lennox in live performances
only.
Aside from fan endeavors, Happy has only been covered live twice that I know about. Charlotte Martin performed "100 Years" at shows in
Chicago and Philadelphia in 2005. Thank you Charlotte! A live cover of a Happy song ("I'm Going Back") was recorded in 1992 by Matthew D.
Guarnere and his duo project What's Real.
Other Happy
Rhodes MySpace Pages
For those fans looking to put music on their page, here are other Happy Rhodes pages with some more songs.
(Disclaimer: all of them were put up by me)
Happy Interviews
A recent (pre-album release) interview at Michael Foster's Cutting Edge Voices web site:
Many downloadable songs from most of these albums can be found at wretchawry.com
2007
Find Me
1998 Many Worlds Are Born Tonight
1995 The Keep (compilation of acoustic tracks and rarities)
1994 Building the Colossus
1993 Equipoise
1993 RhodeSongs (compilation including live versions and rarities)
1991 Warpaint
1987 Ecto
1986 Rearmament
1986 Rhodes II
1986 Rhodes I
Why monsters?
She loves monsters. They were her friends while growing up (see lyrics to He's
Alive) and
she loves painting them. When she needed covers for her early cassette-only albums she took paintings she'd already done as a teenager and
used them. She refused to change the artwork when they were released on CD in 1992 (though they were changed slightly), and good for her.
The Rhodes I monster was originally painted on the saddlebag of a motorcycle that's probably long since been trashed or painted over. I
(Vickie) now own the original painting that was used for Rhodes II. It scares the cat. Ha.
Podsafe Music
Many of Happy's songs are Podsafe.
Visit the Podsafe
Music Network for a list.
If you know of a Happy song not on the PMN list (that isn't a cover) that you would like to play on your Podcast, it will almost certainly be ok.
Just send me a message to ask about specific tracks.
Finding Happy's Music
Unfortunately Happy has no label or distributor, so you're probably not going to be able to walk into a store and find Happy's music, not
unless it's a used record store and someone decided they didn't like her (in which case, please buy it and give it a good home), or it's a
mom&pop store and they really really love Happy.
The CDs of Find Me, Many Worlds Are Born Tonight, and The Keep are available via CD
Baby. Those three, plus RhodeSongs and Rhodes II are available as digital downloads from CD Baby.
Find Me, Many Worlds Are Born Tonight, RhodeSongs and Rhodes II are now available via iTunes.
The Keep will soon be on iTunes. Warpaint and Ecto are coming to CD Baby (and then iTunes) too.
You'll often find the others used on amazon.com at sometimes outrageous prices, and though you regularly see Happy on ebay, the money
is not going into her pocket.
HOWEVER, you can go to Happy's web site and order them directly
from her. Since it is directly from her, she gets all the money, you get to feel good about yourself. Some of the CDs
that were close to being, or were, out of print are being re-pressed.
Influences
Kate Bush, Wendy Carlos, Yes, Peter Gabriel, Queen, David Bowie, Genesis
Sounds Like
Fans say her high voice is very similar to early Kate Bush, and her low voice calls to mind Annie Lennox or Julia Fordham.
In any event, Happy's a living, breathing Jigsaw Puzzle.
Music's the way, the only way I know
It's time to let the brooding heart
Choose the way to go
FIND ME IS FINISHED!
Happy's 11th album, and her first since
1998's Many Worlds Are Born Tonight, is finished and available at CD Baby (though they
keep selling out). Click the logo above to go to the Find Me MySpace page, with songs.
Hello, welcome to Happy's (2nd) MySpace page. This is a FAN-RUN PAGE, but
the music is used with her permission. I started this 2nd Happy Rhodes page to put up more songs that can
be played on fan pages. I thought I would make it a "Promotional" page too, since the other one was started for fans
and musicians. Of course, anyone can request adds at both pages. This page came in very handy for spreading
the word about what happened when Happy's main profile was deleted by MySpace last year, so I'll always
keep it. -
Vickie
In case you didn't come here from the other page, here is a link to
Happy's Main Profile, with more songs
Yet even MORE song samples, by album and in chronological order, can be found at wretchawry.com
Happy Rhodes (her real name) has released 11 albums in her 20+ year career. She's just released her 11th album, Find Me. You can hear snippets
of 8 songs (out of the 11 songs on the album) at http://wretchawry.com/happy/findme/ or
over to the left. Happy lives on a beautiful farm in upstate New York with her husband, musician Bob Muller. They're building a home studio to
make more music. She has a day job building pro audio equipment for Dangerous Music, and lives her life. She appreciates people who listen to
her music, and thanks all her fans for supporting her over the years.
Ok, not actual videos, since Happy's never made a video to any of her songs, but there are a few dozen live clips (audience recordings), one
interview
and two in-studio performances (one of those is below) on YouTube and Google video (the ones at Google Video are subtitled with the lyrics and
chatter).
Here is a COMPLETE list of subtitled Happy videos on Google Video.
There are more to come.
Happy singing LIVE! This was being recorded at the same time it was filmed. This is the acoustic version of "Temporary and
Eternal" that ended up on her album The Keep. I wasn't kidding. Happy's never made any videos of her songs so this is as close as we'll ever get.
It was never released to the public so few fans have ever seen it until now. That's Carl Adami on bass and Kevin Bartlett on electric guitar. This
was recorded in 1995.
YouTube is responsible for it cutting off before the very end. If the video isn't showing up (it comes and goes), the direct URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XVVkbUwprc.
Google video of Happy's cover of Queen's "Lily of the Valley" and her own "Possessed." Turn the captions off by clicking
on the "CC" at the bottom of the player. This is at the Tin Angel in Philadelphia in 1996. Kevin Bartlett is on electric guitar
and Carl Adami is on bass.
Don't try to tell me there's no
Reason for any moment in time
Every memory of mine
Those years are lines of
Color on my face
My past is warpaint
The past is warpaint
Feeding the fire
If you feel suddenly cool while lying in bed
Open your eyes, I'll be over your head
Now don't be afraid, don't reach out
Just be glad that I exist
I'll be here, I'll be ecto
I'll be here, but I'll be ecto
Happy was the inspiration for the creation of the ecto mailing list and the Ectophiles Guide To Good Music. Ecto the mailing list has been going strong since June 1991 (born from
a Kate Bush mailing list) and, while still the main home for Happy's fans, encourages discussion of other arists, especially female artists
(male artists are NOT excluded). Ectophiles are often the first to know about up and coming artists. Thanks to Ectophiles in the UK, they
were enthusiastically discussing Tori before Little Earthquakes was released in America. Sarah McLachlan was an early favorite, long
before she gained national recognition. Jewel live tapes were being passed around when she was still playing in coffee houses in San
Diego. In that spirit, I (Vickie) am working to invite many different artists to be Happy's, and Ectophile's, Friends.
Thank you to all the artists who have accepted my Add request!
Back when ecto first started we designated the term "Ecto music" as a genre to encompass people like Kate Bush, Happy Rhodes,
Jane Siberry, Peter Gabriel and others who didn't quite fit into the Rock/Pop/Alternative/whatever categories. Hence the "Other" genre, which is
Ecto.
H
appy Rhodes is an enigma. This is according to the Music Industry, which has never been able to
pigeon-hole her into any category. Her music is otherworldly yet substantial and her 4-octave
voice has a haunting familiarity to it.
Most listeners find her work difficult to describe and yet she incites an almost unheard of
devotion among her fans. She goes from Kate Bush highs to David Bowie lows and you
find yourself being beckoned to follow her into her
multilayered worlds.
She was born on August 9th, 1965 and named Kimberley Tyler Rhodes. Three days after
her birth, while still in the hospital, her brother Mark called her "Happy-baby" because
she was so smiley and he couldn't pronounce Kimberley.
It seemed so fitting that it stuck. The family never knew her as Kimberley and so when
she was 16, she made Happy her legal name.
As time went on though, she became increasingly removed from the outer world. High School
became a place of alienation for her because she was already driven for a musical future and
depression was slowly becoming part of her everyday existence. She knew she needed to do
something or she would explode. At age 16, Happy left school and got her G.E.D.
For the next two years, she wrote and made some Open Mic Night appearances at a legendary cafe
called Cafe Lena in Saratoga, NY. During this time, she met up with Pat Tessitore, a co-owner of
Cathedral Sound Studios in Rensselaer, NY. She approached him with the idea of becoming an
intern of sorts, just so she could learn the basics of audio recording. "I knew I wanted to be a
professional musician, but didn't really know where to start. So I decided I'd learn how to MAKE records first,
get my foot in the door and then figure the rest out later."
Happy never really got the full recording education she was looking for because as soon as
Tessitore heard her sing, he insisted on recording everything she'd written up to that point.
"She played and it absolutely blew me away. And I had heard a lot of voices in my day", recalls
Tessitore. "She brought tears to my eyes."
Soon, Happy met up with another musician and mutual friend of Tessitore's, Kevin Bartlett.
Bartlett had been writing his own instrumental music for years and had a small, cassette-only
label, called Aural Gratification. He heard Happy's work and asked if she'd like to release her
music to the public on his label. She accepted. One of these cassettes made its way to a woman
named Vickie Mapes, who at that time, was doing an all-female-artist radio show in Kansas City.
She began to play Happy's tapes and circulating samplers to unsuspecting music-lovers. From
her efforts, a small fan-base was forming. They organized themselves into what is now known as
ECTO, a Happy Rhodes Mailing List. This is a forum through which, music lovers can discuss
Happy's work, as well as other "Ectophilic" artists.
Happy released approximately 9 CD's on the Aural Gratification label. In 1997 however, Happy
decided that it was time to seek out a different kind of record label. A good friend recommended
her to a newly forming label called, Samson Music. Founded by Norm Waitt Jr.(co-founder of
the Gateway Computer company), this was a label that Happy felt would take her music to the
next level. She signed with them and released "Many Worlds Are Born Tonight" in August of
1998. "I went through a lot of darkness to make that album. It was also the most fun I've ever had
making a record." Happy and Samson Music parted ways in early 2000.
She just self-released her 11th full-length album, called Find Me.
== End auntiesocialmusic.com biography ==
I am transparent
An open book
There's no choice in the matter
But the breath from my mind
Is living air
And the notes from my heart
Are what I share
Words weren't made for cowards
There's not much to hide behind
We can see for a mile
Without our eyes
I can see through a smile
To any lie
Feeding the fire
My ears are lucky to hear
These glorious songs
Of inspiration
And voices crafted from
Thunder
The power of life
My ears are lucky to hear
These glorious songs
Of inspiration
And voices crafted from
Thunder
The power of life
happy is definitely on my front page.
absolutely extraordinary.
i was introduced to her music through pandora.com and my "kate bush" customized radio station.
again.
absolutely extraordinary.
Pat will be very pleased to hear that. Still got the first couple CD's kicking around the downstairs studio, they still get played regularly. If you ever find yourself back in our neck of the woods stop into Cathedral.
I'm sure Pat would love to reminisce a bit.
Just thought I'd let ya know I've updated my site with new songs, videos, interviews, pics, blogs, blah blah bluugh. Come by and say "hi." Hope you're well:-)
Happy Rhodes if you or any band you know has enough material recorded for a cd check us out, we produce high quality cd's and cases and sell them online, the best thing is there are no catches or hidden fee's like the other guys! Check out the graphic below and visit our website for more details. Thanks for looking, if you support what we're doing help get the word out about us, we want independent artists/bands to have a better chance than what they have now!
Happy Rhodes if you or any band you know has enough material recorded for a cd check us out, we produce high quality cd's and cases and sell them online, the best thing is we provide our service for free! Check out the graphic below and visit our website for more details.
Hey Happy Rhodes! Hope you are having a HAPPY HOLIDAY!
Things here are great. We won 3 more festival awards and it's only 4 weeks until our DVD comes out, and we are so excited! Wooo Hoooo! Feel free to comment back if you like! ttfn... Have a great holiday!
xoxo from the cast and crew of PH!
A really great new discovery for me. Awesome vocal range.. infact when I first heard the jump from falsetto to deep deep where ever I jumped out of my skin. It was like audio exorcist!Sorry if that sounds extreme but you ARE extreme.. quite amazing jx
Just wanted to take a sec and say thank you for a fantastic first three months on MySpace! Your support has been overwhelming and invaluable. I've updated my page and have all new songs up. Looking For Sunday will be premiering at the STARZ Denver Film Festival on November 12th (7 & 9:30) and the 13th (6:15). Due to sellouts, new screenings are being added daily. I'll be playing live shows the whole week so I'll keep you posted. HAPPY HALLOWEEK! And remember, if you're given the choice, take the trick! :) Much love, Spence
Happy was the inspiration for the creation of the 
She was born on August 9th, 1965 and named Kimberley Tyler Rhodes. Three days after
her birth, while still in the hospital, her brother Mark called her "Happy-baby" because
she was so smiley and he couldn't pronounce Kimberley.
It seemed so fitting that it stuck. The family never knew her as Kimberley and so when
she was 16, she made Happy her legal name. 
For the next two years, she wrote and made some Open Mic Night appearances at a legendary cafe
called Cafe Lena in Saratoga, NY. During this time, she met up with Pat Tessitore, a co-owner of
Cathedral Sound Studios in Rensselaer, NY. She approached him with the idea of becoming an
intern of sorts, just so she could learn the basics of audio recording. "I knew I wanted to be a
professional musician, but didn't really know where to start. So I decided I'd learn how to MAKE records first,
get my foot in the door and then figure the rest out later." 
Happy released approximately 9 CD's on the Aural Gratification label. In 1997 however, Happy
decided that it was time to seek out a different kind of record label. A good friend recommended
her to a newly forming label called, Samson Music. Founded by Norm Waitt Jr.(co-founder of
the Gateway Computer company), this was a label that Happy felt would take her music to the
next level. She signed with them and released "Many Worlds Are Born Tonight" in August of
1998. "I went through a lot of darkness to make that album. It was also the most fun I've ever had
making a record." Happy and Samson Music parted ways in early 2000.
