Catie Curtis has been a fan favorite on the acoustic music scene for a number of years now. Curtis has created a dedicated following that has grown steadily over the course of her 15-year career. With her live shows, film and TV placements, the 2006 International Songwriting Competition Grand Prize, and now the Hello Stranger string-band project, Curtis has proven that she’s the real deal: a musician with the kind of raw talent and artistic maturity that makes her a force to be reckoned with, albeit a sweet force. Rising star Elana Arien, a New Yorker, has a new CD out — How to Stand in the Rain. In addition to having composed all of the songs on the album, Elana also wrote all of the string arrangements and plays an impressive range of instruments on the record, including guitars, violin, tenor banjo, viola mandolin, celeste, & glockenspiel. This concert blend of established star and rising star is not to be missed.

In the fall of 2008 Catie Curtis released the critically acclaimed Sweet Life (her ninth recording), an album dedicated to Lynne Ramsdell, the neighbor who gifted a 15-year old Curtis with her first guitar and traced out the first steps of Curtis’ life path. Throughout the fall of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 Curtis toured Sweet Life, began a youth music endowment (“Aspire to Inspire”) and gave away guitars to underprivileged youth, and in January 2009 performed at the Human Rights Campaign’s official Obama inaugural ball beside LGBT icons Melissa Etheridge and Rufus Wainwright. The Washington Post, The Advocate, TimeOut Chicago, and Curve Magazine all lined up to praise Sweet Life and Blurt went so far as to hail 2008 “The Year of Catie Curtis.” After a year of amazing, life-changing experiences, it’s no wonder Curtis was itching to jump back into the studio to try something she’d never done before: make a string band album.

“While I grew up influenced mostly by rock and pop-oriented singer/songwriters, I have spent the last fifteen years touring in the Americana/roots music scene, playing many festivals that include bluegrass and old-time string bands. I developed a passion for that sound, and so I have toured with mandolin, fiddle and acoustic guitar accompanists a lot over the years. This is the first time I’ve taken it in to the studio. I thought it would be neat to try this instrumentation out on a handful of cover songs that I love, as well as a few of my most requested tunes that call out for a more rootsy production style. Of course it helps that I’m signed to Compass Records, owned by a Grammy Award winning banjo player and a top bluegrass producer, both of whom worked to make this CD really special,” says Curtis.

Over the years, Curtis’ many fans have requested stripped down versions of her classic songs, capturing the spirit and intimacy of her live shows. With Hello Stranger, Curtis achieves that career goal. When the singer/songwriter movement boomed in the mid-1990s, Catie Curtis was at its core. A veteran artist with a 15-year career, Curtis has recorded ten solo albums and has toured with the Lilith Fair as well as Dar Williams and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Her songs have appeared in numerous television shows (Dawson’s Creek, Felicity, Grey’s Anatomy and Alias) and independent films (500 Miles to Graceland, A Slipping Down Life). In 2006, Curtis and Mark Erelli won the Grand Prize in the International Songwriting Competition for their song, “People Look Around,” a song written in response to Hurricane Katrina.

Multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter Elana Arian has done it again. After three years of extensive touring to promote her debut release Foreword, Elana returned to the studio . . . with a vengeance. She brought with her an impressive cast of musical collaborators: producer Tim Bright (Lisa Loeb, Toshi Reagon), drummer Dan Rieser (Norah Jones), keyboardist John Deley (Dido, the Weepies), and bassist Joe Quigley (Lisa Loeb). The result is How to Stand in the Rain, a stunning new chapter in her burgeoning career as a performing and recording artist. Elana was raised on equal parts Mozart, Mingus, and Mitchell — influences that guided her to study conducting and violin, jazz guitar, and songwriting in college. On How to Stand in the Rain Elana seamlessly blends the discipline of classical, the freedom of jazz, and the candor of folk music into her own unique style as a singer/songwriter. A 2007 Kerrville New Folk Finalist, a 2007 Great Waters Folk Festival Finalist, and a 2007 Regional Finalist for the Mountain Stage New Song Competition, Elana is making waves on the national level. She continues to pack houses at legendary music clubs up and down the East Coast, including the Living Room (NYC), the Rockwood Music Hall (NYC), the World Cafe Live (Philadelphia), the Tin Angel (Philadelphia, PA), Club Passim (Cambridge, MA), and the Iron Horse (Northampton, MA). Elana has opened for Catie Curtis, Erin McKeown, Girlyman, David Wilcox, and she tours regularly with Edie Carey.

Singer-songwriter Catie Curtis is one of those rare talents: someone who can spin compelling, interesting and engaging music out of domestic happiness . . . Highly recommended. All Music Guide

Curtis’s songs are beautifully and deceptively well crafted, her production tastefully understated, and her singing so heartbreakingly pure, pained, and devoid of artifice as to suggest she knows not only your secrets, but your soul. Alanna Nash, Amazon.com

Any fool can write a love-gone wrong song; it takes a real genius to write a love-gone-right one. No urban songwriter does that better than Curtis. Scott Alarik, Boston Globe

. . .

Many well-hyped young singers who straddle the Jazz-Folk divide seem lost in a time warp, imitating another era’s stars. But at age 26, New York singer/songwriter Elana Arian writes songs that hint at many influences. Whether it’s the vulnerability of Joni Mitchell or soulfulness of Ella Fitzgerald, her songs are distinctly her own. John Schaefer, WNYC

On How to Stand in the Rain:
She has a fabulous way with melodies. I am always impressed when songwriters come up with melodies that are unexpected. Writing songs is hard! I know this, this is why I am a critic, not an artist. I especially love how Elana takes some chances with style. She’s not all folk or pop. “Here We Go Again” is almost rock-a-billy and it’s wonderful. “Because of You” also has a bit of an old-tymie swingin’ feel. She’s very proficient at all these styles. The piano on the latter is amazing.

I am simply adoring this record. I’m actually not sure why this woman is not already famous. She has a fantastic voice, writes incredible songs and plays a plethora of instruments. Record labels, are you listening?! Amy Lotsberg, Producer of Collected Sounds
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