Indie, grassroots for the discerning listener

annabelle chvostek
be the media
“Indie, grassroots for
the discerning listener...”
—Americana, UK
Release Date: June 1, 2015
Available at iTunes, CDBaby.com
Bandcamp.com & AnnabelleMusic.com
Label: MQGV
AnnabelleMusic.com
annabelle chvostek
Annabelle Chvostek is a Juno nominated singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
based out of Toronto and Montreal. Americana, UK has described her as an artist
“whose talent is so exceptional that [she is able] to explore and master any musical
genre she wishes”.
Her fifth solo recording, Be The Media, may take some by surprise. After releasing two
albums with Canada’s foremost folk label, Borealis Records, Annabelle has gone back
to her independent roots, picked up a 1957 Kay electric guitar, and is releasing a new
recording in collaboration with NY producer Jeff Oehler of Beehive Productions, drummer Tony Spina and bassist Jérémie Jones.
Be The Media takes an unconventional approach featuring Beehive’s signature ‘liveoff-the-floor’ feel. The songs were recorded live with the trio in a tight knit circle in the
acoustic ambience of an old century home. Additional parts were recorded later in Montréal and Montevideo. Her 2008 album Resilience placed a meticulously crafted vocal
style under the microscope. In this new album, Annabelle’s voice is given free reign to
let loose with songs that express raw emotions and a groove that tends more towards
rock’n’roll than conventional roots.
Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Annabelle’s musical career began at the age of
eight when she began performing with the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus. While
pursuing a degree in Interdisciplinary Fine Arts at Concordia University she released
two recordings, One AM to Five AM (1997), a 4-song EP put out on cassette featuring
Annabelle solo on acoustic guitar, and Full Stop (2000), her first full length album,
in which she experiments with electronic music. In 2003 she released the jazz-fueled
Water and in 2005, the raw, angst-ridden EP Burned My Ass, featuring Annabelle on
violin and guitar. All four recordings were self-produced and self-released under the
label MQGV (Massive Quantities of Good Vibes).
In 2006 Annabelle joined the Wailin’ Jennys and toured the world with their award winning
album Firecracker, in which she wrote four songs. Upon leaving the Jennys, she released
Resilience (2008), co-wrote two songs with Canadian legend Bruce Cockburn on his
Juno winning album A Small Source of Comfort (2011), and put out Rise (2013), an
unabashedly political album inspired by the wave of grassroots uprisings that emerged
all over the world – from the Occupy Movement in New York to the G20 protests in Toronto in 2011. Rise was nominated for a Juno Award in the Roots and Traditional Album
of the Year category, and both Rise and Resilience were nominated for Contemporary
Album of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards.
In the last year Annabelle composed and produced a score for NYC-based dance
company Drastic Action and collaborated with Toronto’s Echo Women’s Choir, a 93-voice
choir that performed songs from her album Rise in a packed Trinity St. Paul’s Church.
She also toured in the UK, Western Europe, and the Canadian Prairies and became a
mom to her daughter, Anaïs Lou.
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
Mariposa Folk Festival, Orillia, ON
Hobofest, Saranac Lake, NY
Wakefest, Wakefield, QC
Blue Skies Festival, Clarendon Stn, ON
Rocky Mountain Folk Festival, Lyons, CO
Home County Folk Festival, London, ON
Atlin Festival of Music and Arts, BC
Harrison Festival of the Arts, BC
Stan Rogers Folk Festival, NS
North Devon Festival, England
Brampton Live Festival, England
COLLABORATION HIGHLIGHTS
Co-wrote songs with Bruce Cockburn on Juno
winning album “Small Source of Comfort” (2011).
Member of the Wailin’ Jennys, 2004-07
Featured artist with Echo Womens Choir
performance series, 2013.
Scored music for upcoming film
‘Tranzicija/Transition’, directed by
Tamara Vukov.
Scored music for NYC-based dance company,
‘Drastic Action’, 2008
MEDIA, AWARDS &
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Juno nominee. Best Roots and Traditional
Album, Solo. 2013
Canadian Folk Music Awards
nominee –Contemporary Album of the Year. 2013
CBC Radio, DNTO performance and interview
with Sook Yin Lee, 2013.
OCFF Panelist - Social Justice in Music, 2013
Guest lecturer at York University - Media,
Culture, and Society, 2013
BBC Radio, in studio sessions with Bob
Harris (London), 2011
BBC Radio, in studio sessions with Ricky
Ross (Glasgow), 2010
Canadian Folk Music Awards
nominee – Contemporary Album of the Year. 2009
Touring the UK, Europe & North America,
beginning May 2015