KatyWren

WREN'S DEBUT EP: LETTERS UNSENT IS AVAILABLE @ .. (click it!) -but be aware that I only have one release as yet which is my debut EP 'Letters Unsent', featuring the singles; All Rivers Lead To This' & 'Fade'. Also featured on ITUNES are 2 releases by a Wren who is based in the UK who is not me...
OR @ http://cdbaby.com/cd/wren; click HERE
Wren's second solo release, her long awaited debut album will be out in early 2008...
“Katy McNamara is one of this country’s finest vocal talents.” Sarah Wilco, THE DRUM MEDIA
“(Wren) has a voice to positively die for. I would assume she takes influence from nobody except the best - Billie Holiday and Etta James.” David Olivetti, THE DRUM MEDIA
Soul-pop diva, singer, folk balladeer, accomplished composer and in-demand session musician. Wren is all these things and much more. The Sydney based female artist, Katy Wren McNamara, is a veritable powerhouse of emotion, covering a range of moods from smouldering passion to quiet tenderness. With a keen ear for matching blues, folk and eastern stylings with pop hooks and a cheeky sense of humour, Wren is never less than compelling.
Wren’s debut self-titled album will be released in early 2008 via new Melbourne label Orchestrated Noise. The album is currently being recorded at Sydney’s BJB Studios and Q Studios, co-produced by Wren and Leon Kelly from post-rock outfit Greenland, with whom Wren is also currently co-writing with for Greenland's eagerly anticipated debut album.
Says Wren, “The plan is to traverse a musical landscape, taking in a variety of styles I am passionate about to reach a cohesive whole. The album blends what I call alternative / post country with North Indian and Turkish instrumentation. Some of the production benchmarks we’re using include music by Mazzy Star, Martha Wainwright, Cocteau Twins, Bob Dylan, Sufjan Stevens, Nick Drake and Norah Jones, Frou Frou and Tori Amos. I can’t wait to get it out there!”
When Wren isn’t recording or performing her solo material, she can be found singing and performing with a touch of Betty Page/burlesque naughty-ness with rising funk and dance group, Erratic. Signed to Phantom Records, the band is about to release their second album produced by Peter 'Reggie' Bowman (Preshrunk, Southern Sons). The lead track from Erratic’s 2005 EP Escalar was co-written by Wren and received wide airplay on Triple J and FBi radio.
A respected singer within the music industry, Wren sang backing vocals on Jimmy Little's 2001 single Bury Me Deep In Love which appeared on his album, Resonate. She also sang on another version of the song alongside Kylie Minogue for the Corroborations album of black and white Australian music. She contributed backing vocals on The Whitlams’ last album, Torch the Moon. Wren can also be seen Friday nights performing with the house band on ABC Television’s Strictly Dancing.
Wren’s teenage years were fuelled by an eclectic range of influences from Nina Simone, Led Zeppelin and Bjork through to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and R.E.M. But it was her parents’ record collection that launched Wren’s interest in music. Burt Bacharach, George and Ira Gershwin, Peggy Lee, The Beach Boys and The Eagles figured heavily in the mix alongside Santana, to which Wren auspiciously learned to sing by vocalising the guitar parts!
Live audiences are taken on an exquisite journey with both Wren’s solo and ensemble band performances. Her mesmerising voice carries the listener away to a peaceful world of dusty mornings, rainy afternoons and starry nights.
Wren also composes all genres of music for film. Her first film music project 'Midnight Screening'; written and directed by former Tropfest finalist: Annabel Osborne, for which she wrote, performed, and produced the music, has been internationally recognized in film festivals in Australia, The US and Canada. Her second short film score venture; 'Le Petit Chef' is also well on its way down the same path having been featured in prominent film festivals in Sydney, Canada and the US. Her third venture is the new ad for the 2007 Mitsubishi Lancer which will be launched at Tropfest 2007 as part of the 'Tropfest Initiative'.
Additional media quotes
“An awesome display by the female singer whose voice was mountainous, windswept and wonderful.”
Beat Magazine
“McNamara uses her vocals to provide a fervent emotive force that shifts between moodiness and uplifting contemplation.” Jasper Lee, Oz Music Project.Net
The CricketSoda Myspace Profile Editor