Flower-Powered Artist - February 2007

Libbie Schrader

Winning is not everything, but it definitely helps to jumpstart one's career. Libbie Schrader and her band Think of England broke into the music scene after beating out more than a thousand other hopefuls in New York City's Central Park. Having won the Pantene Pro-Voice "New Voice of 2001" award, the band was given a demo deal with Atlantic Records and was sent on a nationwide club tour with Poe.

The band's success continued as they were invited to take part in Jewel's "Soul City Cafe" program for independent artists in 2002, and they were given three opening slots on Jewel's "This Way" tour. Later that year, the band bagged yet another competition: the Volkswagen / Clear Channel Battle of the Bands. The prize was opening a show for Rusted Root and Mike Doughty at San Francisco's famed Warfield Theatre.

Armed with these experiences, Libbie Schrader decided to take on a bigger challenge as a solo artist. Libbie’s experience with classical music and Irish traditional music provided a solid foundation for her songwriting.

Libbie has managed to independently produce two full-length albums: 2004's Letters To Boys and 2005's Taking The Fall. While the CDs did not receive wide distribution, the full-lengths managed to spark an interest in the Los Angeles music scene. Libbie has gathered a strong following with her regular live performances in several of LA's hot spots such as the Hotel Café and the Roxy Theatre. Libbie was a MySpace featured artist in early 2006, and later that year she performed her song “Sweet When You Wanna Be” on the season finale of The Gilmore Girls. 2006 also brought a batch of newly recorded songs from Libbie, which is being released as a 7-track EP containing updated/polished versions of some old songs in addition to a couple of new materials.

Update: Libbie's song "Wish You Were the Woman" was named as a semi-finalist (against over 14,000 entries) in this year's International Songwriting Competition. If you have not heard this lovely song yet or if you want to hear it again, be sure to request it in our flowerbox (that little chat thing in our main page).

KGRL is proud to present February's Flower-Powered Artist, Libbie Schrader. This month's feature is full to the brim with Libbie Schrader goodness including: a KGRL exclusive interview (audio/transcribed), CD/EP Reviews, a bunch of photos (some exclusives), and the very special Libbie's Hotel Cafe birthday performance streamed on-demand.

KGRL Libbie Schrader Interview

KGRL had a chance to go on a one on one interview with Libbie Schrader before her birthday show held in Hotel Cafe - 09.14.06.

Listen to Libbie Schrader's responses in High Quality MP3 Stream using the player below:




Transcription excerpt from the interview:

KGRL: You were in a band before, Think Of England. When and why did you leave the band and decided to be a solo artist?

Libbie Schrader: I guess the band broke up at the beginning of 2003 - so it's about 3 and a half years that I've been doing it solo. I think it's been the right thing for me. For a long time I felt like I was this singer/songwriter hiding in a band... because a band is cool. It's like, "I'm in a band," you know?

But really I think I like being the musical director, which means I have the ideas for the arrangements….and I like being the main songwriter so that's pretty much what a singer/songwriter does. It's a better fit for me being a singer/songwriter... but I do like a full band sound.


-> READ the full transcript along with high/low quality mp3 of the Interview by Clicking Here! <-

Letters To Boys CD Review

Letters To Boys was the first independently released Libbie Schrader full-length that came out in 2004. The album starts out with the song War On Science. War On Science is one of the most revisited piece Libbie can't help but keep coming back to, and for a reason. From the wonderfully played piano introduction, the song follows a very classy pop arrangement that culminates as Libbie impetuously sings the bridge that leads to the final chorus with bravado.

It Breaks Today does nothing to break the intensity delivered by the first track. While written as a pop ballad, the song does break away from the usual pattern of a pop song construct - with a slow build up and a climactic change in the pace later into the song. Come When I Call brings yet again another wonderfully crafted slow ballad which Libbie does so amazingly well, devoid of being cheesy.

Everything I'm Not follows and delivers the necessary kick in the pace - a delightful representation of Libbie with a full-band sound prancing in pendulous beats. Leave Me Now and Sweet Baby fills up the CD with your average pop tracks that falls somewhere along the lines of the forgettable.

Fortunately, the next track So Close is just so close to that alt-pop perfection but did not quite make it for several reasons that was thankfully addressed in the newer "perfect" version. The original version did not have the infectiously catchy chorus the new version has and it made a world of difference. A combination of wonderful vocals, melody and superb piano accompaniment still makes this track a real stand out.

The album ends with a real gem of a ballad that in our opinion is simply an instant classic. A Little Longer sounds like it might have come out of an opera/play. This classical melodic ballad is greatly accentuated with its intimate raw recording style with just Libbie and her acoustic piano. Overall, the CD showcases Libbie's masterful songwriting skill and vocal prowess all pointing to a promise of bigger and better things to come.

Letters To Boys - Buy It Now (Click Here)!

Tracklist:

War On Science
It Breaks Today
Come When I Call
Everything I'm Not
Leave Me Now
Sweet Baby
So Close
A Little Longer

Taking The Fall CD Review

2005 brings in the second full-length, Taking The Fall, from Libbie. The album effectively entangles the listener with the very enthusiastic opener, Now You're Good. Masterful piano-playing - staccato-accentuated - coupled with Libbie's intense vocal arrangement makes for a solid introduction. The piano takes a back seat with the next track, A Long Day. The track delivers a very soothing and relaxing acoustic guitar-based ear candy that is a joy to listen to after... well, a long day.

I Can't Be The One is a well-crafted ballad presented with a full-band sound. The vocal work is a standout, delivered in a very delicate and subtly-controlled manner - even in the strongly accented verses. Taking The Fall once again takes the piano in the back seat and takes on a more distinctive electric guitar direction. Solid alterna-pop ballad with a semi-sweet sounding chorus and a hint of pitch bend effect vocals within the verses.

By The Time That I Leave and My Own Advice are two superb full-band sounding pop ballads. The vocal work once again stands out but in a more laid-back manner - with perfect delivery of high pitch notes and note bends. Everything's Wrong makes up for the lack of rock/alternative in the album. This track is a really catchy upbeat tune, thanks to the wonderful piano riff and accompanying drumbeat/guitar lines.

Sweet When You Wanna Be takes on a more whimsical approach in both lyrics and musical delivery. Folk/Pop with a hint of Country is a more appropriate description of the genre. While we're not really a fan of country, the song is quite entertaining to listen to - but that's because of Libbie's sweet vocal lines. The musical journey ends with the song My Own Fault, which is a pretty heartbreak ballad with the casual use of the F word.

The second full-length is a step above the recording quality of the first CD and maintains the classy song-writing skill Libbie possesses. Standout tracks including A Long Day, By The Time That I Leave, and Everything's Wrong makes this CD (currently out of print) worth tracking - that's if you're not into iTunes.

Taking The Fall - Buy It Now (Click Here - iTunes)!

Tracklist:

Now You're Good
A Long Day
I Can't Be The One
Taking The Fall
By The Time That I Leave
Everything's Wrong
My Own Advice
Sweet When You Wanna Be
My Own Fault

New EP Review

The new 7-track EP, that Libbie currently sell in her shows, is a masterful work of updated and polished old songs with a couple of "new" materials. Half of the songs in the CD were originally from Letters To Boys (War On Science, So Close (So Sweet), and A Little Longer). However, the new polished versions are more of a reinventing of the old songs rather than a simple update. The full-band sound is more evident here. War On Science is updated with a bit of technoish drumbeats, new outro guitar line and faster tempo - which fits the song perfectly.

A huge improvement from song polishing is really evident in the song So Close, now titled So Sweet. A new infectiously catchy chorus part was added (read the interview for further details), which was co-written by Alissa Moreno. The new chorus simply makes the song a LOT more cohesive and justifies a reasonable change in the song title. A Little Longer is given a more polished sound - still a great song either way. Thanks to the polished update we get to appreciate the song even more, truly a classic!

Now You're Good is originally from Taking The Fall CD. The new polished version makes the song even better although not as radical as the other polished versions. Alive is one of the songs Libbie did with Think Of England. The remake breathes new life into this slow ballad that indeed makes it more alive.

On The First Try, one of the new songs in the EP, is a lively full-band pop rocker that will surely hook the listeners on the first listen. Wish You Were The Woman is another of the new songs in the EP. This track is a wonderful piano-based ballad with a really powerful vocal work. It is quite a testament to Libbie's growth in songwriting and lyrics creation.

The New EP is a perfect representation of everything Libbie has accomplished so far. All the perfectly polished versions of old songs and new materials were professionally recorded and mixed. If I were hard-pressed to give a recommendation on which Libbie Schrader CD to first listen to, I'll go right away and recommend this EP. It's amazing to see how independent artists like Libbie struggle to create and record a library of finely crafted songs and then distribute them on their own. She gets help from friends but ultimately, it's still her determination that carries it all.

New EP

Tracklist:

War On Science
On The First Try
So Sweet
Wish You Were The Woman
Now You're Good
A Little Longer
Alive

Libbie Schrader Photos

Play Slideshow!

KGRL Exclusive Videos - Hotel Cafe Performance 09.14.06

KGRL proudly presents the Libbie Schrader birthday show @ Hotel Cafe - 09.14.06. The streams can be viewed using our embedded flash player. We do hope you enjoy these wonderful videos taken on the night of Libbie's birthday.

*The flash videoplayer uses Javascript - be sure to enable it in your browsers.

On The First Try Come When I Call San Francisco

It Breaks Today Wish You Were The Woman Now You're Good

Everything I'm Not So Sweet War On Science