Monday 20 November 2017

Olivia Penalva | 'Dream You Home' Single Review by Randy Wayne Belt



I'll admit I love the Hallmark Christmas movies.  There's something about that time of year that makes even the mediocre movies seem good or magical.  But the best ones always have great music behind them. Olivia Penalva's new Christmas song 'Dream You Home' would fit well as a background track for one of the well produced Hallmark Christmas movies, or any other, for that matter. This song is far beyond mediocrity.

Olivia, who hails from Vernon, BC in Canada, has put together quite a gem with this new song.  It has that magical sparkle to it in the underlying arrangements.  It is not as much an in-your-face Christmas song as it is capturing the spirit behind the season, making it perfect for placement in any Christmas or Holiday movie.  The chorus of the song is very memorable and powerful and even having this as a background track would make any movie even better. (Great tracks can MAKE a great movie)

Not only does the song have a great mix of sounds based around a sort of shuffle march type drum beat on the verses but the lyrics are well written and paint a perfect picture of what she is trying to convey.

My favorite lyric in 'Dream You Home' is 'The light in your soul shines brighter than gold in my heart – that’s where you are.'

The images invoked by the song could be any number of situations. It could be a lost loved one or a significant other who is separated by distance or time, or even a soldier gone in a far away land during the Christmas Season and the song is almost like the soldiers’ spouse singing to bring him home even if it's only at home in the heart.

The song does indeed grab your heart and imagination, which is, to me, the ultimate goal of a song - to speak to anyone or everyone in any situation. This is one more thing that makes it an easy shoo in for anyone considering it for a spot in a Christmas movie.

Often, it is this time of year when many find themselves missing a loved one in some capacity, and it isn't always the best time for many, but even still and even if you are not into Christmas or the spirit of it, and even if you are the Grinch himself, this song still weighs in on its own merit as a song with a powerful chorus that demands attention and speaks to the soul.

This isn't Olivia's first Christmas song. I reviewed 'Christmas For Two' which was published in Starlight Music Chronicles' December issue back in 2015 which can be found (here) as well as on my own blog (here). (see video below)



Since that time Olivia has progressed even further as an Artist and has honed even further her vocal and songwriting skills. Recently reaching a million plays on Spotify, her newer music bears out how far she’s grown since then. 

Her voice still has that same special warmth to it but with a sultry yet still innocent sound that will capture your ears, heart, and will leave a memorable impression when you hear it.  I compared her voice before, in a sense to that of Nora Jones, or Colbie Caillat.  In fact, since the last review, Olivia was able to be mentored by Colbie Caillat after winning teen artist of the year in the Starlight Music Chronicles "Artist of the Year Contest" in 2016.

 As a winner, Olivia got to attend ArtistMax an Artist Development program in L.A. in March 2017. Artist Max was dreamed up by legendary Producer and Engineer Ken Caillat (Fleetwood Mac Rumours) and was mentored there by Ken and Colbie Caillat, and David Foster in L.A.


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Olivia Penalva Social Media Links (click to view)

Friday 17 November 2017

Warner Music Canada PRESS RELEASE | Meghan Patrick's 'COUNTRY MUSIC MADE ME DO IT' to RELEASE Jan 12, 2018



OFFICIAL WARNER MUSIC CANADA PRESS RELEASE

“There’s always a high and lonesome song that keeps on pushing me along.” This line from the title track and lead single of Meghan Patrick’s latest album Country Made Me Do It is classic country and serves notice that she is determined to revive and carry the traditional torch.  Meghan lives hard and loves hard, and her songs reflect this passion. She loves trucks, fishing and hunting, riding horses and a good stiff glass of whiskey, and all of these elements fuel her countrified lyrics.  Think the free spirit of Emmylou Harris from those magical days when she performed with Gram Parsons, combined with the spark and sensuality of Tanya Tucker, the only female to crack the Outlaw genre, and you begin to have some idea of what Megan Patrick is all about.

It’s been a banner year-and-a-half for the Bowmanville native in terms of radio play, live shows and awards ceremonies.  Her debut album Grace and Grit, sprouted four Top 20 singles including her stirring duet with Joe Nichols on the Top 10 hit Still Loving You.  In concert, she’s performed with superstars like Lady Antebellum, Dwight Yoakam, Kip Moore and Martina McBride, peaking with a show-stopping duet with Keith Urban at the Timmins Stars & Thunder Festival.  She topped things off by winning Female Artist of the Year and Sirius XM Rising Star awards at the 2017 Canadian Country Music Awards.

“I did not expect those awards and I was certainly overwhelmed at the time. Now I just feel really appreciative and grateful that my fans and peers felt that I deserved those honours.  In one sense you can say that my career has been kind of short in terms of being in the mainstream and having a record deal, but within the last year the trajectory has been huge.”

Country Music Made Me Do It was produced by veteran Nashville song writer and producer Jeremy Stover, and mixed by studio heavyweight Chris Lord-Alge who has won Record of the Year Grammys for his work with everyone from Alison Kraus to U2. Meghan’s debut record had a potpourri of producers including Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger and Vince Gill but this time out she was looking for a more homogenous sound and she feels that she struck gold with Stover.

“When we started the project we wrote together, coming up with several songs for the album. Jeremy and I really clicked well and we had great chemistry in terms of writing. We eventually got a large chunk of the songs together through him and some of the other writers in his publishing company. When he said he’d love to produce the album I said, ‘Well yeah, I thought you’d never ask’.”
Meghan, who now lives in Nashville, co-wrote all but one of the 12 tracks on the album. Some of her other co-writers include Kelly Archer (Brett Young, Dustin Moore) and Justin Weaver (Kip Moore, Jason Aldean), who helped pen Walls Come Down, an ominous number about family strife.  Case Of Beer And A Bed, written with Derick Ruttan and J.T. Harding (Dierks Bentley, Kenny Chesney), is a sentimental song about going back to the basics.  Meghan co-wrote the title track with Stover and roots singer/songwriter Dan Isbell. The singer has recently experienced a lot of highs with the CCMA Awards and chart successes that she has earned, but there have also been a few lows such as the end of a long term relationship.  Country Music Made Me Do It captures some of the peaks and valleys with heartfelt emotion in a traditional country setting.    

“It’s just kind of a thing where music in general has been the driving force behind almost every decision I’ve made in my life. To facilitate my career it’s always been my priority and my number one objective, so you could say that country music made me do a lot of things. I love traditional country music. It’s my passion and my goal has been to bring a little more of that traditional sound into the mainstream country market. A lot of what’s out there right now is more on the pop side of country and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s just not what I want to do.” 

You can read our last SMC Spotlight Interview with Meghan (here


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Meghan Patrick Biography                                                                                          
by Roman Mitz

There’s always a high and lonesome song that keeps on pushing me along.This line from the title track and lead single of Meghan Patrick’s latest album Country Made Me Do It is classic country and serves notice that she is determined to revive and carry the traditional torch.  Meghan lives hard and loves hard, and her songs reflect this passion. She loves trucks, fishing and hunting, riding horses and a good stiff glass of whiskey, and all of these elements fuel her countrified lyrics.  Think the free spirit of Emmylou Harris from those magical days when she performed with Gram Parsons, combined with the spark and sensuality of Tanya Tucker, the only female to crack the Outlaw genre, and you begin to have some idea of what Megan Patrick is all about.   

It’s been a banner year-and-a-half for the Bowmanville native in terms of radio play, live shows and awards ceremonies.  Her debut album Grace and Grit, sprouted four Top 20 singles including her stirring duet with Joe Nichols on the Top 10 hit Still Loving You.  In concert, she’s performed with superstars like Lady Antebellum, Dwight Yoakam, Kip Moore and Martina McBride, peaking with a show-stopping duet with Keith Urban at the Timmins Stars & Thunder Festival.  She topped things off by winning Female Artist of the Year and Sirius XM Rising Star awards at the 2017 Canadian Country Music Awards.

“I did not expect those awards and I was certainly overwhelmed at the time. Now I just feel really appreciative and grateful that my fans and peers felt that I deserved those honors.  In one sense you can say that my career has been kind of short in terms of being in the mainstream and having a record deal, but within the last year the trajectory has been huge.”

Country Music Made Me Do It was produced by veteran Nashville song writer and producer Jeremy Stover, and mixed by studio heavyweight Chris Lord-Alge who has won Record of the Year Grammys for his work with everyone from Alison Kraus to U2. Meghan’s debut record had a potpourri of producers including Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger and Vince Gill but this time out she was looking for a more homogenous sound and she feels that she struck gold with Stover.

“When we started the project we wrote together, coming up with several songs for the album. Jeremy and I really clicked well and we had great chemistry in terms of writing. We eventually got a large chunk of the songs together through him and some of the other writers in his publishing company. When he said he’d love to produce the album I said, ‘Well yeah, I thought you’d never ask’.”
Meghan, who now lives in Nashville, co-wrote all but one of the 12 tracks on the album. Some of her other co-writers include Kelly Archer (Brett Young, Dustin Moore) and Justin Weaver (Kip Moore, Jason Aldean), who helped pen Walls Come Down, an ominous number about family strife.  Case Of Beer And A Bed, written with Derick Ruttan and J.T. Harding (Dierks Bentley, Kenny Chesney), is a sentimental song about going back to the basics.  Meghan co-wrote the title track with Stover and roots singer/songwriter Dan Isbell. The singer has recently experienced a lot of highs with the CCMA Awards and chart successes that she has earned, but there have also been a few lows such as the end of a long term relationship.  Country Music Made Me Do It captures some of the peaks and valleys with heartfelt emotion in a traditional country setting.     

“It’s just kind of a thing where music in general has been the driving force behind almost every decision I’ve made in my life. To facilitate my career it’s always been my priority and my number one objective, so you could say that country music made me do a lot of things. I love traditional country music. It’s my passion and my goal has been to bring a little more of that traditional sound into the mainstream country market. A lot of what’s out there right now is more on the pop side of country and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s just not what I want to do.”