Vivian Linden profile picture

Vivian Linden

Gold Dust & Gravel

About Me

"A beautiful debut album, steeped in a slow, mystical atmosphere." -Leo Kattestaart, Alt Country NL 8/2006
"Painterly washes of darkling country torch, phials of pale blue sound. Pedal steel and ringing piano echo through the empty rooms of this deserted house. A battered guitar lies on the cold bed. A familiar, lonely street during an autumn night, your words trapped and suspended in the clear, chilled air of winter. A voice that can trill like Stevie Nicks or Tim Buckley but is weighed down by sorrows and wisdom, heavy like Townes Van Zandt or Mike Johnson. Watch The Light Fade is reminiscent of the epic, biblical sweep and tear-stained sheets of Nocturama-era Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and is, thusly, indispensable." -Matthew Moyer, Ink19
"These are ballads of erotic dreams and faithful devotions challenged, sung by a woman with the steady confidence of a C&W-raised female Sinatra." - Chris Estey for Three Imaginary Girls
"Pity the fool who’d think of murdering Vivian Linden: with a voice like hers, she’s bound to come back as a ghost and haunt you. Linden’s instrument is reminiscent of Cat Power, Hope Sandoval, and Margo Timmons (of Cowboy Junkies), equal parts cracked and crystalline, gravel and gold dust, the kind you’d expect to hear drifting across the desert at sunset. Judging by the title of her debut album, “Watch the Light Fade,” and the dead flowers decorating its cover, Linden is fully aware of her gift, and employs to exquisite effect. " -Emil, Plug-In-Music 11/2006
Vivian Linden's debut release "Watch the Light Fade", a brooding, country-tinged homage to love, lust, lonesomeness and loss was released by Tarnished Records in late 2006. In the U.S., the album can be ordered from our distributor's Saki Store . In Europe you can order it from Fandango or from CD Baby . It's also available on iTunes and eMusic
The cast of characters who play on the record include Vivian's husband, guitarist Michael McNaughton, as well as members of many other great Seattle bands: Legendary jazz organist Wayne Horvitz, Bill Herzog, Jon Hyde, Eric Eagle, Charlie Smith, and others. Watch the Light Fade was produced by Beck Henderer-Pena of Conduit Records.
Vivian also appears on San Francisco troubadour Jeffrey Luck Lucas' new album What We Whisper a darkly moving, cinematic record produced by Desmond Shea.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 4/15/2005
Band Website: vivianlinden.com
Band Members: Vivian Linden: Vocals, acoustic guitar
Michael McNaugton: Electric guitar, lap steel
Additional Studio Musicians on Watch the Light Fade:
Charlie Smith (piano, wurlitzer, backing vocals), Eric Eagle (drums, percussion), Jon Hyde (electric bass, pedal steel guitar), Bill Herzog (bowed bass, backing vocals), Wayne Horvitz (organ, additional piano), Jay Raulston (trumpet), Beck Henderer Pena (addtional electric guitar).
Additional Studio Musicians on The Latecomers EP:
Lauryn Shapter: Violin, viola
Influences: Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, Ry Cooder, Mazzy Star, Terrence Malick, Wim Wenders, Emily Dickenson, Buddhist Poet Monks of China and Tibet, Andrew Wyeth, Georgia O'keefe, Edward S. Curtis, the plains of west Texas, the farm fields and valleys of the Pacific West...

Sounds Like: "Painterly washes of darkling country torch, phials of pale blue sound. Pedal steel and ringing piano echo through the empty rooms of this deserted house. A battered guitar lies on the cold bed. A familiar, lonely street during an autumn night, your words trapped and suspended in the clear, chilled air of winter. A voice that can trill like Stevie Nicks or Tim Buckley but is weighed down by sorrows and wisdom, heavy like Townes Van Zandt or Mike Johnson. Watch The Light Fade is reminiscent of the epic, biblical sweep and tear-stained sheets of Nocturama-era Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds..."
Record Label: Tarnished Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Article from Dig This Real magazine

I just posted a scanned image of an article that is appearing in this month's issue of Dig This Real magazine. Check it out! And a big thanks to the editors at the magazine for writing us up!
Posted by Vivian Linden on Sat, 17 Nov 2007 08:46:00 PST

The Street Team, Yo!

Now that I'm out in the middle of nowhere and (sometimes) have nothing better to do than blog like a motherfucker, I find myself compelled to remind people to support the lesser-known or unknown indie...
Posted by Vivian Linden on Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:29:00 PST

From a cabin in the woods... Demos for our next album!

It's taken us a while to get settled in our new home, a small cabin in the hills of rural northern California. Now that we're more situated (and Mike heroically repaired our recording laptop after it ...
Posted by Vivian Linden on Sun, 14 Oct 2007 01:49:00 PST

Album is now for sale and on iTunes!

Our new album "Watch the Light Fade" is finally available. You can either order it from the Carrot Top store or get it on iTunes. If you are in europe and want a copy of the CD, just let us know...
Posted by Vivian Linden on Wed, 23 Aug 2006 08:45:00 PST

So Many Thanks!

Thank you so much to everyone who has come out to our recent shows, especially the San Francisco and Garberville shows! We had such a great time on our mini-tour and we can hardly wait to hit the road...
Posted by Vivian Linden on Fri, 11 Aug 2006 07:37:00 PST

Thank You San Francisco

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to the 12 Galaxies show on Wednesday. Being a native Northern Californian in my former life, it felt like coming home! Last night Michael and I drove out ...
Posted by Vivian Linden on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST