The Transcript.com
By Bruce Whitney
With cabin fever in growing toward a Berkshire epidemic, Ananda Rose picked the perfect time to release her first CD, "Fourteen," and throw a party to launch it to the world. The title is derived from her writing all the songs when she was 14.
The Transcript.com
By Bruce Whitney
With cabin fever in growing toward a Berkshire epidemic, Ananda Rose picked the perfect time to release her first CD, "Fourteen," and throw a party to launch it to the world. The title is derived from her writing all the songs when she was 14.
The just-turned 17-year-old didn't linger in the dressing room to emerge and perform. Instead, she confidently walked the room engaging people in her path as her performance time drew near.
This was an evening of celebration and support for the young artist and her freshman effort. Friends and music lovers were joined by a triumvirate of power who continue to professionally help her blaze her trail.
Ananda Rose delivered a markedly different performance than the one that another room heard a few months ago when she opened a show for current Grammy nominee Roger Sall-oom, another singer-songwriter. Her playing was more crisp, her stories more sweet and her voice even more angelic and passionate.Songs spanned "Fourteen" as well as newer pennings ("Steady Second," "October Snow"). Openers "Tornado" and "So Pretty" are among the most memorable from her new CD. Her interstitial stories, although brief, flowed like sweet sorbet between courses. From this confidently and powerfully delivered set, it was clear that much of the weight of the musical world was removed from Ananda's young shoulders with the CD's completion.
"Same Little Girl" still rang as perhaps the strongest track from the recording. The story of reflection of youth and fear of the future is set in a softly hook-laden track, all written by Rose, possesses many characteristics of a radio song as well as a solid film title track or a multigenerational wedding song.
Many songs exuded such deep feelings that at least one show-goer was openly weeping, which I hadn't seen since Allman Brothers' Warren Haynes emoted U2's "One" in a raining, rare solo show a few summers ago.
W'town teen releases first CD
TheTranscript.com
Thursday, January 26
Singer/songwriter Ananda Rose of Williamstown will perform at a party at Gideon's Nightery on Saturday night, celebrating the release of her first full-length musical recording. She invites the community to join her.
Her CD is entitled "Fourteen," which was her age when she began the recording the songs she wrote. Ananda, a junior at Mount Greylock Regional High School, recently turned 17.
She has carefully balanced an academic schedule filled with advanced placement courses, daily rehearsals for her lead role in the upcoming play "Meet Me In St. Louis," travel to Virginia for recording sessions, voice coaching and everything else it takes to be a teenager.
Music takes center stage in the Plunkett home. "My father plays different instruments — several forms of guitar and flute and drums. My mother improvises
beautifully on the piano," she said.
While all of this music filled her world, "my first dream was to be on Broadway," she confessed. "People have told me that some of my songs sound as if they could be show tunes."
Her first professional encouragement came from her voice teacher, Ridley Chauvin, whom she met in eighth grade. "He was the one who heard my songs and told me I had a chance to make songwriting a career," she said.
The freshman CD from the high school junior exhibits several vocal and writing styles including striking similarities to such famous names as Jewel and Tori Amos. Perhaps unusually, she had not even heard of Amos before the raft of comparisons.
"One day in middle school, I played an original song for my family. My Aunt Judy exclaimed that I sounded a lot like Tori Amos. The name sounded familiar but hardly rang any bells. But when the comparison to Tori was drawn repeatedly by different people, I realized I had to find out who this woman was. I listened to her song 'Winter' and was blown away," said Ananda.
In many cases, an artist's first recording with a seasoned producer can include everything but the kitchen sink. Producer David Perry, long known for his work with powerful voices in opera, provided a sparse yet complete musical arrangement involving core instruments including keyboards, strings, guitar and percussion. Overall production in this recording is pleasing and lilting as it follows the young singer's near-flawless voice.
The road to the finished tracks was rough for the young singer. She described the two-year experience as "amazing, frustrating, incredible, painstaking, eye-opening, heart-wrenching — I probably felt every emotion possible. I would literally be bouncing on the balls of my feet in excitement. Other times, I would break down after the seemingly hundredth take of one vocal line and rush outside to take a breather.
"Having the opportunity to record my own songs in a professional studio gave me a chance to learn a lot about myself. I found that I am impatient, stubborn and defensive. But I also found that I am strong — for I would always push past fatigue and frustration and I would sing until my throat was sore," she said.
Perry pairs Ananda's voice closely with the piano that she plays in solo live shows. And it truly works. Songs "Tornado," "Same Little Girl" and "His Oblivion" pour out a balance of angst and emotion usually locked away in people of all ages as they look at their world. Her voice is rich and full-sounding like a singer of many more years striking at emotions in listeners much older than she. While the lyrics are genuine and poem like, some songs may cry out for deeper lyrical or musical hooks.
While not included on the CD, her song "October Snow" tells the timeless tale of a battle with the faceless white winter flakes and should be experienced by anyone, not just a first-time winter driver, who struggles to return home in a weather or emotional storm. In her mostly literal songwriting, metaphors still run rampant.
Like many famous musicians, including Carly Simon, Ananda is currently challenged by stage fright.
"Most people don't know that about me because, as I'm told, I look completely at ease on stage. But secretly, I am shaking and nauseous and dying to run away and hide. It's silly because I've been performing since I was 5."
She finds the moments of silence after the applause between songs most challenging. "I still feel like a fool when the song ends and I've got hundreds of eyes staring at me."
After a performance balancing between her mental script and extemporaneous stories, one of her friends told her that he could tell she was trying too hard to be funny and her spontaneity had actually won the truest laughter.
The young singer has great plans beyond this recording.
"I dream of traveling, of becoming a better performer and musician. I'd love to collaborate with other singer/songwriters. I want to learn guitar. Maybe get into fashion. Or Broadway. Create many more CDs. Continue to write songs, but find topics other than love, unrequited or otherwise," she said.
Mt. Greylock teen cuts CD
By Dave Madeloni, Special to The Eagle
Mount Greylock High junior Ananda Rose, 17, will launch her new CD, 'Fourteen,' at Gideon's Nightery on Eagle Street in North Adams tomorrow.
Friday, January 27
WILLIAMSTOWN
Adolescent girls tend to be their own worst critics, and Ananda Rose is no exception. When asked to describe what she learned about herself during the process of recording her just-released CD "Fourteen," she was emphatically self-effacing.
"I found that I am impatient, stubborn, and defensive," she said during a recent interview
Of course, these traits can be found in extremely talented artists three times her age.
What makes the 17-year-old Mount Greylock Regional High junior such a promising talent is her exceptionally mature voice and prodigious songwriting skills.
When she was in eighth grade and dreaming of a career on Broadway, those qualities drew the attention of her voice teacher, Berkshire Music School's Ridley Chauvin.
"He was the one who heard my songs and told me I had a chance to make songwriting a career," explained Rose from her home in Williamstown. "From then on, this new dream took flight and, thankfully, was not shot down but rather was allowed to fly."
That flight will land her at the intimate Gideon's Nightery on Eagle Street in North Adams tomorrow night at 8 for her CD launch party where Rose will perform compositions from her record that were written at the tender age of 14.
Another key figure in supporting the songwriting flight of Rose is renowned Washington D.C.-area producer David Perry.
"He plucked me up when I was just 14, put me down in front of the mic and wouldn't let go of my hand until the very end," said Rose. "And I'm so glad he didn't, because now I have something I am immensely proud of, and I wouldn't trade that in for anything."
Perry, whose production company has developed projects for PBS, NPR, and BET as well as operatic superstar Denyce Graves, served as Ananda's mentor over the course of the nearly two years it took to complete "Fourteen."
"My intention as producer was to capture this small point in time of her life on this recording," said Perry. "What is remarkable to me is her depth of being able to describe in words and music her true feelings at the time she was feeling them.
"So many times writers go back to describe their youth but rarely do we get an artistic glimpse into it while it is happening to them. It makes for strong emotions and insight only a 14-year-old may understand."
Although the recording process was long and arduous for Rose, it also was an invaluable artistic journey.
"I could muster a whole slew of words to describe what it was like. Amazing is one. Frustrating is another," she said. "Incredible, painstaking, eye-opening, heart-wrenching—all of these fit.
"There were times when I would get in front of the microphone to record and I would literally be bouncing on the balls of my feet in excitement. Other times, I would break down after the seemingly hundredth take of one vocal line and rush outside to take a breather. It was hard work. I'd do it again in a second.
"Having the opportunity to record my own songs in a professional studio was mind-blowing, and it gave me a chance to learn a lot about myself both as a musician and as a person."
Rose was raised in a musically supportive household where her father played guitar, flute, and drums, while mom proved to be an adept improviser on the piano. But it was another relative who heard in Ananda the echoes of a piano-playing pop star.
"One day back when I was in middle school I played an original song for my family," Rose explained. "Upon finishing, my Aunt Judy exclaimed that I sounded a lot like Tori Amos.
"The name sounded familiar but hardly rang any bells, so I merely smiled politely and accepted the compliment. When the comparison to Tori was drawn repeatedly by different people, I realized I had to find out who this woman was. I listened to her song 'Winter' and was blown away.
"Now, I credit Tori as being my greatest inspiration. I strive to be like her and someday inspire someone the way she has inspired me."
Rose realizes that her flight to reach the level of stardom of a Tori Amos requires diligence, sacrifice, and a strong dose of self-confidence.
"Yes, I dream of fame, of being recognized and idolized, but I also dream of staying grounded, keeping close friends, providing for my family," she said.
"My biggest wish, though, is to be happy, and frankly, as long as I get to keep doing what I love, I don't see how I couldn't be."