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Event
Naomi LaViolette 'Written For You' Album Release Show
On October 27th Naomi LaViolette celebrates the release of her new record "Written For You" at the Old Church Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon. The show will feature all the songs on the record and include performers from Oregon Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, and the Oregon Repertory Singers.
Show 7:30 / Door 7:00
$15 General Admission @ Brown Paper Tickets
Tickets day of show $20 General Admission
All Ages / Bar with I.D.
With her newest release, Written for You - her first since 2013's You've Got Me EP - Portland singer-songwriter-pianist Naomi LaViolette is veering in a slightly different direction than her previous albums. LaViolettes vocals are as smooth and rich as ever, and sonically the album is as steeped in classical music and jazz as it is in folk and pop, but the wrinkle here is in the nature of the content, and that wrinkle is the gift. Instead of solely mining the depths of her life experiences while creating songs for this album, much of the content comes from songs she was commissioned to write for others. Creating a record with this theme happened naturally, but almost accidentally.
"Someone asked me to write a song commission several years ago, and it was really fun to do," says LaViolette. "Then I got another and that was fun to do. It was this snowball effect. My husband knew how much I loved doing these, so he said, 'You should put all these songs on a record and call it Written for You.' So that was how this idea was born."
The album's nine tracks touch on subjects ranging from the power of love ("You Are My Own") to dreams ("Waiting to Love You") to the beauty of creation ("Sunrise"), but while there is a theme of seeking and finding the beauty in the present, some of the albums strongest moments occur on tracks which contemplate mortality and the eternal. Whether its a song written as a celebration of life for a dearly departed relative ("Forever Loved"), or an attempt to offer God genuinely unique praise, as on the albums title track, the wonder, the gift in it all is found in LaViolette's ability to offer something moving, something profound to someone else.
Gifts appear in various forms on the record, most notably on the exquisite closing track, "Farewell," a spine-tingling piano-led ballad which morphs into what LaViolette calls an "explosive celebration of happy guitar." Written for legendary Portland guitarist and producer Tim Ellis, who passed away in 2016, the song is LaViolette's way of saying thank you to Ellis.
"Tim had a huge influence on my development as an artist," LaViolette says. "He played guitar on my first record, produced my second record, and he was a huge support to me."
Adding to the magic of that track is the appearance of one of Tims protégés, Josh Cary - one of a number of guests on the album. Also making appearances are members of the Oregon Repertory Singers and the Oregon Symphony, as well as Grammy Award-winning artist Nancy Rumbel. But more than the people who have contributed to the record, or the melodies she has woven together as though they were plucked from the stars, the greatest gift she has received has been from the people who asked her to create these songs.
"It's a blessing to write songs out of other people's stories," says LaViolette. "They say it's really special to have their own song, like theyre reopening that gift every time they listen to it."
LaViolette's music has received great review and critical acclaim from media including Oregon Music News, The Oregonian, The Portland Tribune, Willamette Week, The Inessa Blog, StereoSubversion.com, KATUs AM Northwest, KINK.fm, and KMHD.fm. She is praised for her original music and balanced combination of chops and lyricism. Her work as a pianist, vocalist, arranger and composer with Steven Goodwin and the Saving His Music project has received prominent coverage in national and local news. LaViolette has opened for national and international artists, performed at esteemed venues and festivals including the Portland Jazz Festival, Jimmy Mak's, the Doug Fir Lounge, the Alberta Rose Theater, and The Bite of Oregon, and is the pianist for the Oregon Repertory Singers.
www.naomilmusic.com
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LocationOld Church Concert Hall (View)
1422 SW 11th Ave
Portland, OR 97201
United States
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