Flower-Powered Artist - June 2009

Lucy Schwartz

We first heard of the young and talented singer / songwriter Lucy Schwartz back in 2007, around the time of the release of her debut album Winter In June. Lucy's distinctively sweet and gorgeous melodies instantly caught our attention. Needless to say, her songs have since then graced our streams, even before everyone else was playing them. It is with great pleasure that we present to you KGRL's June 2009 Flower-Powered Artist, Lucy Schwartz.

Lucy's father, David Schwartz, is an accomplished musician who works as a music composer for television and film. It's no surprise that Lucy was drawn towards the same artistic endeavor, songwriting. At around age 8, she took piano lessons with instructor / mentor Kia Colton. Lucy credits Colton for jump-starting her songwriting skill. She started writing instrumental piano pieces that same year and later won the National Reflections Competition for music composition in elementary schools.

While most high-school students spent their time doing their schoolwork and whatnot, Lucy was busy crafting her very first album with the help of her father. By the time she was in her senior year at Palisades High School in Los Angeles, she had recorded and independently released a full-length record, titled Winter In June. While the record was not widely released, it earned Lucy an impressive amount of recognition that includes winning the 2007 International Songwriting Competition for the song I Don't Know A Thing, and being voted as BMI's favorite artist in its October 2007 podcast. A handful of the songs from the same album got into TV shows such as Reaper, Cashmere Mafia, Privileged, South Beach, Runaway and Private Practice. She also provided voice work for the character “Mr. F” on Arrested Development, for which all the music in the series including the theme was the work of her father David.

Chris Douridas of KCRW, a popular radio station based in Santa Monica, California, was instrumental in bringing Lucy's music to the big screen. Lucy's dad David, while on his morning jogging session, approached Douridas on his front steps and offered to provide his daughter's album for the radio station's consideration. It didn't take long before the station began playing her songs. In January 2008, Douridas approached Lucy to write music for the then-upcoming movie, The Women. The film, directed by Diane English, stars Meg Ryan, Eva Mendez, Annette Bening and Debra Messing. Lucy wrote two original songs for the opening and closing scenes of the movie, Count On Me and Beautiful. This opportunity catapulted our young and talented singer / songwriter's career sky-high, which in turn opened up another opportunity to write music for the big screen. Lucy's new song Turn Back Around will be featured in the Fox Searchlight film Post Grad Survival Guide, which stars Alexis Bledel.

After finishing high school, Lucy took a musical course at Occidental College. However, her studies are currently on hold as she gives her full attention to building a stable musical career. This up-and-coming 19-year-old (as of this writing) singer / songwriter can be seen with her band in and around Los Angeles. She has also played the Palo Alto Music & Film Festival, Central Park's Harlem Beer Music Festival and opened for Guggenheim Grotto at the Canal Room in NYC. Currently, she is busy preparing for the inevitable follow-up record.

KGRL is very proud to present our June 2009 Flower-Powered Artist, Lucy Schwartz. Lucy joined KGRL in the studio with her dad / bassist David Schwartz and music collaborator / background vocalist / beatbox master Jay Ryterband, for an exclusive performance shot in high-definition video and audio. Check out our CD review of Winter In June and take a peek at the stunning photos shot by our dear friend Jeff Koga. But wait, don't miss our comprehensive interview with Lucy Schwartz in video, audio, & transcribed form.

As per our usual monthly feature, we are giving away 3 signed Winter In June CDs! Just e-mail us at contests [at] kgrl.fm and tell us why you deserve to win. Don't forget that you can request a FREE copy of the FPA live session DVDs as well!

KGRL Lucy Schwartz Interview

KGRL recently sat down with the very young and talented LA-based singer / songwriter Lucy Schwartz for a comprehensive interview right after our KGRL FPA Live Sessions held at The Alley Studio - 01.24.09.

Lucy Schwartz Video Interview (Click to launch the player!)
You can use the "pause" "back" and "forward" buttons to skip back or forward each of the Q&As.
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Winter In June CD Review

Winter In June, the debut solo album from Lucy Schwartz, was released on March 20, 2007. It's a song short of the usual 10-12 tracks on a CD but what it lacks in quantity is overcompensated in quality. We all prefer quality over quantity, right? I'm sure you all agree.

The cool-breeze sound of the Hawaiian-influenced I Don't Know A Thing, feels like a warm welcome to the joyful and carefree musical world of Lucy Schwartz. I Don't Know A Thing has one of the best intros I've heard in a song. The lush vocal harmony with the ukulele accompaniment is priceless. Lucy's soft and delicate voice gently blows an air of innocence that complements the song's theme. The lovely upbeat drums, and awesome thumb-thumping bass courtesy of Lucy's dad “d.fly” Schwartz, take this musical experience a whole notch higher. The delightful melody is simply irresistible. They picked the perfect song to open the album with.

A big burst of happiness exploded in front of me with the next track Blue Sky. It's just as irresistible as I Don't Know A Thing. Seriously, how can anyone not like these songs? Perhaps emo folks, but then that's more like an exception. Blue Sky has the same perfectly polished production, high-caliber instrumentation and arrangement, euphoric melody, and beautiful vocals as the track before it. Truly adorable.

Lucy shifts gear with the next track, Crooked Box, as if to prove that she doesn't only excel in serving upbeat indie pop dishes but can serve a scrumptious meal of slow-cooked ballad as well. By this time I'm already totally impressed with the songwriting ability of Lucy. The gentle vocals fit like a glove. I can't imagine anyone not falling in love with this song.

The jazzy track Paper Plane shows us another facet in the multitude of genres Miss Schwartz has to offer. This Paper Plane is powerful enough to carry any listener to cloud nine. This track is dreamy, alluring, and sultry all at the same time. Close your eyes and feel the bass as it pulsates and let Lucy's angelic soft-sung words carry you to the heavens.

Did I just say heaven? Oh my! We're not getting off that cloud just yet. High Above does nothing but maintain our high altitude. High Above is aptly-titled, for it does feel very uplifting. My ears are overstuffed with good music. Sometimes you just get disappointed when listening to a record where you'll hear a great song then hear a mediocre one the next; it just breaks the experience. With the tracks thus far, all I feel is pure joy.

Described as the “angry song”, Lucy's vocals in Face Down are not convincing enough to express the song's emotion, but that doesn't really matter because we get another excellent track. We get to admire more wonderful instrumentation with this track, especially the very nice guitar lines. This song sounds very different from the rest. It feels a bit jazzy, enticingly groovy, with an itsy bitsy dash of funk. That's a good thing because we love variety. I think that's another point for Miss Schwartz. Variety is good on an album.

Push & Pulled provides that “recommended daily allowance” of soul and jazz reminiscent of Norah Jones. It once again pushes and pulls the album further in new and exciting directions. Once again, variety is the key. While it's not my favorite song on the album, it's definitely another high-quality song like the ones before it.

With a totally retro jazz-style, Strange Feeling In The Night gleefully crawls in – and it comes complete with the swish-swooshing of the back-up vocals. It gives a strange feeling all right, but it's the good kind. The simple classical piano and bass arrangement totally hits the spot.

All good things comes to an end. As this album comes to its conclusion, we are treated to another classy jazz track with June. It's like the album gently eases us to sleep at its end. We actually shot our FPA Live Session at the end of January but we felt compelled to publish the feature in June just because of this track and the album title. Clearly, June is an important month for Lucy.

With nine diverse stellar tracks on the roster, Winter In June is an exemplary debut record. There's no need for catchy phrases. There's no need to resort to superficial looks. It's all about good music. Lucy Schwartz sparkles brilliantly in Winter In June. After listening fully to this record and all the new singles that were later released (Count On Me, Beautiful, and Gone Away) we're proud to say that Lucy Schwartz is one of the most impressive singer/songwriters today. Winter In June should not be missed.

Lucy Schwartz Photos

KGRL FPA Live Session - The Alley Studio 01.24.09

KGRL proudly presents another installment of our FPA Live Sessions monthly series. This month we present the very young and talented singer / songwriter Lucy Schwartz (with David Schwartz on bass and Jay Ryterband on background vocals / beatbox). The streams can be viewed using our embedded flash player. We do hope you enjoy these wonderful exclusive videos shot in high-def video and audio. There are also 720p (1280 x 720 resolution) high-definition videos of Lucy Schwartz's Count On Me and I Don't Know A Thing.



And remember, those of you who support the station by donations can request a copy of the DVD. Click here for more information on how to obtain the DVD!


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Paper Plane	Count On Me	Face Down
June	Gone Away	I Don't Know A Thing

Count On Me 68.4Mb

I Don't Know A Thing 97.1Mb