Welcome readers, to the future.
Bill Hicks said, “Music is a great energizer. It's a language everybody knows”.
Seattle helped shape this language and made it a reality. In the 90’s an influx of a genre happened and the Seattle sound was created.
Many years have gone by along with the passing of Kurt Cobain, Mike Starr, Andrew Wood and Layne Staley, all due to addiction, but also an evolution of pioneers, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and the reformed Soundgarden. 2014 has a new sound, a new flood of Seattle musicians that carry the torch around the globe. One person to mention is Ellensberg raised musician, Star Anna.
Many have a dream; the dream for me was to be at the entity of my music scene, Seattle. This was fulfilled and on one cold evening, I arrived at the Chop Suey club in downtown Seattle. Sitting in a dark room surrounded by a table of candles, upon a wooden chair sits Star Anna, just her and an acoustic guitar. Her head bowed down towards the body of this instrument, her voice passionate which immerses the small audience in realising we are in the presence of a talented musician. “I’m going to sing a sad song”, she informs us with a hint of sarcasm.....
The dark room encompasses the haunting vibe within this set, the guitar playing resonates around the venue, her voice strong, effortless, belting out a tune that offers a smile along with a certain truth, the music is what gives listeners that peace of mind.
She plays a cover of ‘Girlfriend’ the track made famous by Robyn, two musicians that have a completely different style, Star Anna performs a task that cannot always be achieved, not only does she add her own style to this track, but she makes ‘Girlfriend’ sound like it’s a song written and bled by herself. Not many musicians can overcome that stigma of the original writer and performer.
From a city that gave us Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Jimi Hendrix, Sir Mix-A-lot and Nirvana, a growth that allows a new breed to come through. Star Anna is someone to hear and feel the passion that comes from her vocals, lyrics and the guitar playing that accompanies her charm.
The evolution happens from ‘Crooked Path’ to 2013’s ‘Go to Hell’ that includes the Nina Simone track ‘Go to Hell along with Tom Waits’. ‘Come on up to the House’ that blends with original material. ‘Mean Kind of Love’ is a soulful number where the heart beats to the groove and a definite highlight of the album. A story is laid out within this record. Her first solo, since ending association with ’The Laughing Dogs’ has allowed her to concentrate and embrace her vocal and strong songwriting skills.
This is another step closer to gripping the musical world, which has yet to listen to the sounds that emanate from Star Anna. You may agree with Mike McCready (Pearl Jam) and Dufff McKagan (G’N’R, Velvet revolver and Walking Papers) that her talent is the real deal. This is what you will hear from her latest offering ‘The Sky is falling’, available now (only on digital). Emotional, powerful all from the start of opening track ‘Annie’. To Stranger than Silhouettes, you can watch the video for the highlight of the record’ Killing Time.’ below.
There is more to come from Seattle and its wonderful musical children, which doesn’t stop at the death of a legend; it allows the intensification of more talent to be heard.....
We hope to run a full interview with Star Anna in the not too distant future, fingers crossed! In the meantime, here's some social media pages to check her out in more detail.