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Feb. 10, 2010
Interview with Janiva Magness
1. You played a show in
Hood
River back in
2007, so we must have made you feel good enough to come back! What
can we expect musically from you and your band this time around?
I'm very happy to be returning to
beautiful Hood
River!
I have a stellar ensemble and I'd tell folks they can expect a
butt-rocking good time! It's definitely a show!
2. Congratulations on signing to Alligator
records, (thank you!) that's a huge label for blues.
(Yes it is.) Has working with Alligator opened up more
connections to artists you'd like to work/tour with?
Alligator is the biggest blues label in
the world. That says a lot and it means more. I am very proud to
be an Alligator artist. Something I never expected ... So it's
good to be wrong! Folks seem to be taking a lot more notice of me
since I signed with them, and that is really nice!
3. I watched your video on your MySpace
page where you talk about the new record, your band and different
aspects of your life. It was actually a refreshing break from some
of the clutter that can be found on the Web in general. (Thank
you) Where did you get the idea to put that video together?
That was a request from Alligator and I
thought it was a very smart idea...
4. Who are you listening to nowadays/
(Who’s on your iPod?)
Maria Callas, Jimmy Reed, Ollabelle,
Koko Taylor and a lot of funk! Also been listening to mixes of the
new CD which I just finished for Alligator. Release date is April
13 .... Very excited about this one ... ; )
OK thanks, Janiva, and thanks for coming
to Hood
River!
Thanks for having us back. Hope you can
make the show!
Janiva Magness press release from Alligator
Records:
JANIVA MAGNESS TO PERFORM IN
HOOD
RIVER!
“A superb, powerhouse R&B singer who
delivers blues and soul with show-stopping authority.”
—
Los Angeles
Daily News
Award-winning blues and soul
vocalist Janiva Magness, touring in support of her Alligator debut
CD, WHAT LOVE WILL DO, will perform in
Hood River
on Feb. 19.
In May 2009, Magness won the Blues Music
Award for B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year (she is only the
second woman to ever win this award, the other being Koko Taylor),
and for the third time in four years, she received the Best
Contemporary Female Artist Of The Year award.
Magness is an incredibly gifted performer
with a rich, soulful voice and has absolute command over her
material. She leads her audience through a range of emotions, from
the deepest sorrow to overwhelming joy.
In 2008, she traveled to
Iraq and Kuwait
co-headlining Bluzapalooza, the first-ever blues concert tour to
perform for American troops. Look for Janiva’s second Alligator
release in April.
A survivor of an impossibly rough
childhood, Magness’ life experience informs her music in a way
that is brutally honest, emotionally moving and, above all,
spiritually healing. Part of her healing includes helping others
in need. In addition to her musical accomplishments, Magness, a
foster care alumni, is also a National Spokesperson for Casey
Family Programs, promoting National Foster Care Month.
WHAT LOVE WILL DO, co-produced
by Magness and Dave Darling (Brian Setzer, Meredith Brooks, Dan
Hicks), features 13 powerful songs, each overflowing with Magness’
expressive emotional intensity.
Magness reaches heights only hinted at in
her previous recordings, interpreting new material written
especially for her and songs from Little Milton, Tina Turner, Bill
Withers, Al Green, Candi Staton, Dorothy Moore and Marvin Gaye.
Her impassioned singing takes each
song from deep within her being and projects it out directly into
the heart and soul of her audience, making WHAT LOVE WILL DO
essential listening for blues, roots rock and soul music lovers
everywhere.
Born in
Detroit, Magness was inspired by the blues
and country she heard listening to her father’s record collection
and by the vibrant music of the city’s classic Motown sound.
By her teenage years, though, her life was
in chaos. She lost both parents to suicide by the time she was 16.
She lived on the streets, was in 12 foster homes in two years,
became a teenage mother who gave her baby daughter up for adoption
and bounced from city to city, feeling hopeless and desperate.
One winter’s night, Magness
hitchhiked across Minneapolis
to attend an Otis Rush concert, and for the first time saw a path
forward. She began going to as many blues shows as possible,
soaking up the sounds of her favorite blues and soul artists.
While working as an intern at a recording
studio, she was approached by her boss to sing some supporting
vocals on a track. Finding her voice, she soon began working
regularly as a background singer.
By the early 1980s, Magness made her way
to Phoenix and befriended
Bob Tate, the musical director for the great Sam Cooke. With
Tate’s mentoring, she formed her first band, Janiva Magness And
The Mojomatics, and before too long the influential Phoenix New
Times named her group the city’s Best Blues Band.
She moved to
Los Angeles in 1986 and slowly began finding
work. She married musician and songwriter Jeff Turmes, with whom
she recorded It Takes One To Know One in 1997.
After three more independent
releases, Janiva signed with Northern Blues and recorded Bury Him
At The Crossroads in 2004 and Do I Move You? in 2006. Both CDs
were co-produced by Magness along with Canadian roots star Colin
Linden, and both garnered Magness a massive amount of critical and
popular attention.
Magness and
Linden won the prestigious Canadian Maple
Blues Award for Producers Of The Year for Bury Him At The
Crossroads in 2004. Do I Move You? debuted at #8 on the Billboard
Blues Chart and was the #1 Blues CD Of The Year in 2006 on Living
Blues magazine’s radio chart.
With WHAT LOVE WILL DO and a
major U.S. tour planned
with more dates and countries to be added, there is no doubt that
even more recognition will come Magness’ way.
Janiva Magness continues to wring the
truth from every note she sings, amazing and delighting both old
and new fans all over the world.
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