A FEW WORDS ABOUT LISA MARKLEY AND BRUCE BALMER******************************
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"THEY ARE THE REAL DEAL." --Terri Hendrix
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"...SOME OF THE MOST ACCOMPLISHED MUSICIANS I'VE EVER HEARD. THE SECOND COMING OF ELLA AND BIRD,...THE TUCK AND PATTI OF THE SINGER-SONGWRITER WORLD." --Tom Prasada-Rao
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A FEW MORE WORDS ABOUT LISA MARKLEY AND BRUCE BALMER***********
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REVIEW: MARKLEY & BALMER - Markley & Balmer
Somewhere, wherever the musical gods hang out, there is rejoicing. Lisa Markley and Bruce Balmer met each other,
fell in love and got married. Lisa is one of the three amazing Malvinas, currently on hiatus (one of them is a new mom,
we hear). We knew Bruce as a habitue of the Fast Folk scene, a singer/songwriter and monster guitar player. This was
before he moved to Texas and met Lisa. Their self-titled CD is sophisticated and chock full of depth. Most of the songs
are by Bruce -- we only noticed two by Lisa. No matter.Their voices blend together like two strains of rich honey. There
are wicked, jazzy guitar riffs by Bruce over their rich harmonies. Bruce's songs tend to be hard-charging, propelled by
fast-fretted patterns and jaunty strumming. The witticisms are still there, like we remembered: "My mom and dad were
20th Century / Somehow got by without serious injury…Who's gonna stop you from pretending it's all a carousel? /
Tell 'em all 'Go to Hell or high water' / Just do it … kindly." Lisa's are playfully relaxed. She's almost languid as she sings
in "Overhand Knot," "Wrap your arms around me / lace your arms around me / tie your arms around me / let your love
be an overhead knot." They have each other. We have the songs and we'll wrap them around us. Often.
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"Mr. Balmer fuels their debut cd with spirited guitar work that owes as much to Django Reinhardt as it does to Mississippi John Hurt. But the real draw is the duo's songwriting, which is full of wry lyrics and melancholy melodies. Or as Ms. Markley puts it in one song: "Happiness is a minor key". ---Thor Christensen, Dallas Morning News, July 27, 2008
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"[BALMER'S] SONGS CHOC FULL OF COOLNESS." --Ken Beasley, Greenwich Village Songwriters' Collective++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"WHATEVER THAT MEANS. IT SOUNDS GOOD. THEY SOUND RIGHT TOGETHER." --Buddy Magazine
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"MARKLEY HAS MORE DEPTH CONTROL AND BEAUTY TO HER VOICE IN A LIVE CONCERT SETTING THAN MOST SINGERS GET IN A STUDIO." --Paul Slavens, KERA Dallas**********************
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"ELEMENTS, WRITTEN BY GUITARIST BRUCE BALMER REVEALS ANOTHER TALENT OF LISA MARKLEY. A REMARKABLE ABILITY TO INTERPRET NEW SONGS, AN ADROIT RARITY." --Dick Crockett, "The Voice", 88.7fm, Sacramento++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Bruce was born a guitar player in Margaretville, NY, from a musical family. After music at Marlboro college, he’s played lead guitar for rock, jazz, and country bands, and composed for film (including credits on a Bill Plympton animated film) and dance performance. He is a singer/songwriter recently of the NYC area. He and his thousand pound upright piano have now officially transplanted themselves to Texas. He pounds nails while singing.***********************************
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Lisa was born a three-and-a-half pound Capricorn with a set of lungs. She is a survivor of the University of North Texas where she played trombone in the lab bands, sang in the Jazz Singers, skipped out on music history classes, composed suitably atonal pieces for an assortment of instruments, and crashed the hard-drive on the Synclavier (many times). Lisa tours performing her songs (and more) as a soloist, as one third of The Malvinas, and with her partner in crime here--the lovely and talented Mr. Bruce Balmer. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
View Markley & Balmer's EPK
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I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4
Hey hey Bruce and Lisa, A favor? If you know any house concert fans in the San Antonio area would you please send them our way. Urban Campfires will kick off our 20th season on Sept. 12 with the beautiful harmonies and feel good show of BiG WiDE GRiN. Our myspace page is all decked out for the occasion. We love to see new faces in the crowd. See you at the ranch? Janet BTW - BiG WiDE GRiN will also be at Wine and Music on Sept 5.
<> Jitterbug Vipers <> <> In These Shoes <> <> The Kat’s Meow <>
=> THIS WEEK + <=
THURSDAY (September 18, 2007) 7:00 PM ‘till 9:30 Lambert’s, The Jitterbug Vipers with Tom Wells, Meaux Jeaux & Katie Holmes, 401 W 2nd Street, Phone: 494 1500 Fancy Barbecue, Wood Grilled Steaks, Chops & Seafood. info@lambertsaustin.com, www. lambertsaustin. com/ No cover. NOTE: SWING NIGHT HAS BEEN SWITCHED TO THURSDAY. (but the Jitterbug Vipers won’t be playing first Thursdays)
FRIDAY (September 19, 2008) 7 PM ‘til 9:30 Lamberts, The Kat’s Meow with Kat Edmonson and Laura Mordecai, 401 W 2nd Street, Phone: 494 1500 Fancy Barbecue, Wood Grilled Steaks, Chops & Seafood. www. lambertsaustin. com/ No cover.
HEADS UP DFW! SATURDAY (September 20, 2008) 4:30 ‘till 5:30. The Jitterbug Vipers, 7th Annual Jazz By the Boulevard in Fort Worth. Headliners this year are Buddy Guy, Lee Ritenour, David Sanborn, and Randy Brecker. The festival goes form Friday to Sunday night. Hot swing music and fun! We're head-lining the Jazz Heritage Stage. It is outdoors - on the lawn area the lawn in front of Will Rogers Coliseum & Auditorium on Lancaster between Montgomery and Arch Adams - across from the Kimbell Museum, where the statue of Will Rogers on his horse resides. (produced by Historic Camp Bowie) http://www. fortworthjazz. com/
SUNDAY (September 21, 2008) 8:00 PM ‘til 9:15 Momo’s, The Jitterbug Vipers with guest singer Leeann Atherton & Thad Scott on sax, 618 W. 6th Street in downtown Austin above Katz's Deli, www. momosclub. com/ or www. myspace. com/momosclub. 479.8848 A swinging night: Warren Hood and the Hoodlums or another hot swing band on the same night. $5.00 cover. IT’S IMPORTANT TO SAY YOU CAME TO SEE THE JITTERBUG VIPERS. THAT WAY WE GET PAID!
MONDAY (September 22, 2008) 6 PM ‘til 8:00 Cedar Street Courtyard, In These Shoes featuring Gaila Kenneally, plus Beth Galiger, Tom Wells, Slim and Meaux Jeaux.
Nice energy in your music. New videos now at Myspace! Wishing you all the best. David Rice Liston to my song for peace in this world "Where are we going to" at cdbaby. com/all/collection
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