| WHO: essence
HOME: San Fancisco
RELEASES: Conception (1995 -1997 compilation), Mariposa
(2002) – both
self-released; order them via her official website
SOUNDS LIKE: The melodic singer-songwriter stylings of
Tori Amos over electronic beats a la Portishead. Layer acoustic and/or
electric guitars as necessary
and add inspiration from artists like Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and pre-insane
era Prince.
AS SEEN: Opening for such artists as Shawn Colvin, Steve
Miller and Tom Petty. More recently, she performed at the 2002 Nadine’s
Wild Weekend Opening Bash at the Fillmore and, more anciently, at the Lilith
Fair in
front of more than 80,000 people.
THIS JUST IN: Mere days before sending this issue to
the presses, essence signed a guesstimated multi-billion dollar record
deal with Or Records, a new label formed by a former Epic Records employee.
Yes, we managed to help her get a record deal and we hadn’t even
published this article yet. Our force is just that strong.
SENATOR ESSENCE: Born in San Francisco to a pair of “super-crazy
hippies,” essence has been surrounded by art all her life. But
her grandfather had other career ideas for her, and encouraged her to
put her “big mouth” to use in the world of politics. Lucky
for us, essence pursued music and now uses her big mouth for good instead
of evil.
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WILLIE LIKES IT: If for some strange reason our endorsement
isn’t good enough, take Willie Nelson’s. After listening to
Mariposa, Willie told essence, “This is a masterpiece. This is going
to sell a million records. I want to tell everyone about you and I want
everyone to know who you are. You are an amazing songwriter.” (Willie
was also lit out of his mind when he said this.)
ON TRASHING HOTEL ROOMS: She may look harmless on the
outside, but essence has a bit of a temper. Her most recent victim: a Los
Angeles hotel room filled with breakables. “I kicked out the window
screen and kicked over all of the furniture in the whole room,” essence
told us. “My boyfriend had to tackle me like a wrestler, pin me down
and make me take a timeout.” Wow.
WEBSITE: www.lovemuse.net
PERFORMING: Friday, Oct. 11 at New George’s, 842
Fourth St., San Rafael.
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