Amber Rubarth
Amber Rubarth | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Amber Kristine Rubarth |
Born | California | September 21, 1982
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, composer |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Drums |
Years active | 2004–present |
Website | http://amberrubarth.com/ |
Amber Rubarth (born September 21, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and composer who has independently released seven albums, with her upcoming album "Wildflowers in the Graveyard" coming in September 2016. Rubarth has toured extensively throughout Europe, the USA, Japan and South Africa and has been the support act for many artists on tour including Emmylou Harris, Kenny Loggins, Marc Cohn, Richie Havens, Dr. Ralph Stanley, and a special Carnegie Hall performance with Jason Mraz. Winner of the NPR Mountain Stage New Song Contest, her sixth studio album titled "A Common Case of Disappearing" was produced by Grammy Award winning producer Jacquire King (Tom Waits, Norah Jones) and debuted at #13 on the iTunes Singer-Songwriter charts. It features duets with Jason Reeves, and Jason Mraz. In 2012, audiophile label Chesky Records released a live HD Binaural recording featuring Rubarth with solo cellist Dave Eggar to great acclaim. Rubarth's performance for TED Talks' TEDxKC chapter was chosen as a TEDx Global Music Project feature [1]
In addition to her solo work, Rubarth co-founded the Brooklyn based indie band The Paper Raincoat with long-time collaborator Alex Wong and drummer Kevin Rice.
Rubarth has also written songs for films, including collaborations with Paul Brill for Sundance Film Festival winner Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work and the end credit song for award-winning documentary Desert Runners.
Biography
Rubarth was born in California. At age 17, she graduated high school and moved to Carson City, Nevada to apprentice at a chainsaw sculpting shop.[2] After three years, she quit the apprenticeship to pursue music.[3] She taught herself to play guitar and began performing at local open mic nights and coffee shops.[4] Phil Ramone in The Huffington Post describes her style as "part of the new old-soul generation." [5] Rubarth soon began touring throughout the U.S., Europe, and Japan.[3] She tours with a 1956 Gibson ES-125 hollow body electric guitar, and also plays piano. In her side project The Paper Raincoat she sings and plays keyboard, guitar, glockenspiel, and occasionally drums.[6]
Recognition
Amber Rubarth was awarded Grand Prize in the prestigious NPR Mountain Stage New Song Contest for her song "Letter From My Lonelier Self" (2010). The prize included recording with Jacquire King (Norah Jones, Kings of Leon, Tom Waits) and a performance on NPR's Mountain Stage. The new album was released September 30, 2011 through the contest organizer NewSong Recordings.[7] Amber Rubarth's song "Washing Day" (co-written with Adam Levy) won 1st Place in the 2006 International Songwriting Competition in the 'Lyrics only' category, judged by Tom Waits, Brian Wilson and Robert Smith. The music video screened at the 2007 SXSW Festival in Austin.[8][9] On May 8, 2008, Bob Boilen chose Rubarth's song "You Will Love This Song" from her second album New Green Lines for his NPR show All Things Considered. He said he was "attracted by her honesty and humor".[10] On August 26, 2009, Tom Robinson featured the song on his BBC Radio show Fresh On the Net in the UK.[11] She was recently listed as #16 in the UK "Music to Die For's Top 100 Favourite Female Vocalists of the Decade"[12] between #17 Gillian Welch and #15 Tori Amos.
Many of her early fans discovered her music on MySpace where she received over 1.7 million plays and was featured in the Top 100 Independent Artists.[13]
Recordings
"Wildflowers in the Graveyard" (to be released 2016)
"Scribbled Folk Symphonies" (2016) Live album released on Chesky Records, featuring string and oboe arrangements. Includes string and vocal arrangement of R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" amongst other original and cover songs.
"Sessions from the 17th Ward" (2012) - Live HD Binaural recording featuring Dave Eggar (cello), Tim Snider (violin), and Chuck Palmer (percussion). Chesky Records.
"A Common Case of Disappearing" (2011) - "New and Noteworthy" release on iTunes, debuted at #13 on the Singer Songwriter charts. NewSong Recordings. Produced by Jacquire King, features duets with Jason Reeves and Jason Mraz. Band included Adam Levy (guitar), Marco Giovino (drums), Frank Swart (bass) and Zac Rae (keys).
"The Paper Raincoat" (2009) - collaboration with Alex Wong and Kevin Rice. Full-length album for the band The Paper Raincoat, featured on iTunes Indie Spotlight.
Good Mystery (2009) [14] to sold out audience at Joe's Pub in New York City. The collectors edition is a hand-crafted birch wood box with red wax hummingbird seal on a sliding lid top. Limited edition of 1000 handmade boxes sold out almost immediately through pre-order. #1 Best seller on Amie Street on release day and for two additional weeks.[15]
"The Church EP" (2009) - collaboration EP with Adam Levy, recorded upstate New York in an old church.[16]
"New Green Lines" (2008) - full-length album featuring "You Will Love This Song"
"Unfinished Art EP" (2007) - Limited edition handmade version of her "Unfinished Art" EP consisted of an original blind contour painting by Rubarth pressed onto a hanging handmade canvas with the album and liner notes inserted in the back.
"Something New" (2005) - Full-length album recorded in Brooklyn, NY, produced by The Animators.
Tours
Amber Rubarth has toured extensively throughout the US, UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Japan, sharing the stage with many eminent artists including Emmylou Harris, Jason Mraz, Kenny Loggins, John Oates, Loudon Wainwright III, Richie Havens, Martin Sexton, Producer/Artist Ethan Johns, Lisa Loeb, Roger McGuinn, Dave Eggar, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin, Gary Jules, Brett Dennen and Colbie Caillat.
In May 2009 Rubarth joined Jason Reeves and Brendan James to create "The Vespa Experiment," a musical tour along the California coast in which the three artists traveled on Vespa mopeds, camped, and did community awareness activities for 13 days to spread the message of environmental awareness.[17]
In September 2009, she toured America and Canada supporting Gary Jules and Joshua Radin.[14]
On November 23, 2011, Jason Mraz invited Amber to perform with him at his sold out Carnegie Hall concert, which included their new unreleased co-written song "Rated Ours."
The Paper Raincoat
In addition to her solo work, Rubarth formed a band with songwriter Alex Wong, called The Paper Raincoat. Rubarth explained in an interview with The Boston Globe that her solo work tends to be more personal, whereas The Paper Raincoat's songs are more imaginative, involving fictional characters.[18] Their debut EP (Safe in the Sound) was featured as an iTunes Indie Spotlight Artist.[19] In the fall of 2009, they toured the U.S. as support for Vienna Teng,[20] and their music was the subject of CNET's 'The 404' podcast.[21] The album "The Paper Raincoat" was released in October 2009. The band was named "Best of What's Next" by Paste Magazine who said "We think the world might be a little better if everyone heard this record." Their songs have been featured in Disney's The Last Song, One Tree Hill and Google and Aquafina commercials.
Discography
- Wildflowers in the Graveyard (September 2016)
- Scribbled Folk Symphonies (2016)
- Sessions from the 17th Ward (2012, Chesky Records)
- A Common Case of Disappearing (2011)
- The Paper Raincoat (The Paper Raincoat) (2009)
- The Church EP (with Adam Levy) (2009)
- Good Mystery (2009)
- Safe in the Sound EP (The Paper Raincoat) (2008)
- New Green Lines (2008)
- Unfinished Art EP (2006)
- Something New (2005)
Movies
Rubarth played the lead role of Joni and composed the score for the feature film September 12th which is due out next year. [22]
References
- ^ Amber Rubarth Trio: ft Dave Eggar & Max ZT at TEDxKC. YouTube. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ "Amber Rubarth - Indie / Acoustic / Soul Artist". unsigned.com. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ a b "Success Stories : Amber Rubarth (how to be a full-time touring musician)". sivers.org. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ Thompson, Peter, "Local musician making 'Something New': Ex-Carson wood sculptor releases first CD," Nevada Appeal, June 15, 2005, accessed October 24, 2009
- ^ Ramone, Phil, and Evin, Danielle, "Dog Ears Music (Deserves to be Heard): Volume 82," The Huffington Post, July 24, 2009, accessed October 24, 2009
- ^ http://www.indieguitarists.com/rubarthmaloneinterviews.htm
- ^ "Brooklyn Singer and Multi-Instrumentalist Amber Rubarth Takes the Top Honor in This Year's Mountain Stage Newsong Contest". PRWeb. 5 November 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ "2006 ISC Lyrics Only Winners," International Songwriting Competition, accessed October 26, 2009
- ^ "World Music Central". worldmusiccentral.org. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ "All Things Considered: A Great Unknowns Showcase: Bowerbirds, Bell, Port O'Brien, Okay, AU, and More," NPR, accessed October 24, 2009
- ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20081227153439/http://www.bbc.co.uk:80/6music/shows/tom_robinsons_introducing/tracklisting_20080811.shtml. Archived from the original on December 27, 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2009.
{{cite web}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ "100 Extraordinary women – Favourite female vocalists 2000 – 2009 - Music to die for". Music to die for. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ "ambeR rubarth". Myspace. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ a b http://www.amberrubarth.com/GoodMysteryCOLLECTORS.html
- ^ "Welcome to Amazon MP3". amiestreet.com. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ "Welcome to Amazon MP3". amiestreet.com. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ "The Vespa Experiment". Myspace. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ Rodman, Sarah, "Raincoat’s a good fit," Boston Globe, July 25, 2009, accessed October 14, 2009
- ^ "Fitchburg Breaking News, Sports, Weather, Traffic". sentinelandenterprise.com. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ "Featured Content on Myspace". Myspace. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ Yu, Justin, "The 404 434: Where we don our Paper Raincoat," CNET, September 29, 2009, accessed October 24, 2009
- ^ "September 12th (2016)". IMDb. Retrieved 24 October 2015.