Photo: Courtney Lee Yip

After much anticipation, The Balconies are releasing their new music video for “Kill Count” today! The lead single from the forthcoming Kill Count EP is already gaining momentum on music television and radio stations across the country. The Toronto, by way of Ottawa, trio is gearing up for the official release of the Kill Count EP on February 28th via Coalition/Warner. Watch the music video HERE.

The dynamic music video was produced by Anna Junger and directed by Alon Isocianu at Reactiv Pictures. Known for their work with top Canadian artists like Finger Eleven, USS, Mission District, and more, it was an obvious fit for the band to enlist the duo to bring their energetic new single to life!

The 5 song Kill Count EP will be available digitally and physically across Canada on February 28th, 2012. The Balconies will tour the new release heavily with dates in Ontario and the east coast (to be announced soon) before heading to South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas and coming home for Canadian Music Week and Edgefest in the summer.

The Balconies are far from new kids on the scene. They have made the festival rounds appearing on stages at Halifax Pop Explosion, Pop Montreal, North by Northeast Festival, WESTFEST, Ottawa Bluesfest, and many more. They have been handpicked to play shows supporting the likes of Cold War Kids, Juliette Lewis, Mother Mother, Land of Talk, Sloan, and many more. The band has been featured on the cover of the Ottawa Xpress and VOIR Magazine’s and called a band to watch by the National Post.

“Kill Count” was voted #16 on XM Sirius’ top 50 songs of 2011 poll and recently reached #10 on CBC Radio 3’s R-30 countdown. With new adds on MuchLOUD and Live 88.5 in Ottawa it’s a matter of time before The Balconies’ undeniable hooks find their way in to everyone’s hearts. Request The Balconies “Kill Count” on Much Music and your local radio station!

WATCH KILL COUNT

TOUR DATES
Jan. 28 @ Horseshoe Tavern, TORONTO (w. Nightbox)
Feb. 9 @ Historic Red Dog, PETERBOROUGH (w. USS)
Feb. 10 @ The Blind Duck Pub, MISSISSAUGA (Rock for a Breast Fundraiser)
Feb. 11 @ Casbah, COLLINGWOOD, ON
Feb. 18 @ The Sanctuary, RIDGEWAY, ON
Jul. 14 @ Downsview Park, TORONTO (Edgefest)

LINKS

http://thebalconies.ca

http://facebook.com/thebalconies
 http://twitter.com/thebalconies

Hey guys,

Hands & Teeth are featured in NOW! Make sure to check it out below or go pick up a copy!

(independent)
At 23, this local singer-songwriter (and 2011 Mirror Noisemaker) brings surprising depth, variety and knowledge of musical history to her songwriting and her arrangements, land­ing in a place where folk, chamber pop, blues and classic rock co-exist peacefully, despite the emotional drama ruling the land. It’s one of the most upbeat break-up albums I’ve heard, with pop melodies, rock ’n’ roll riffs and brassy fanfare creating a sweeter than usual tour of splitsville. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Harbord and Grace” (Lorraine Carpenter) Record launch with the Youjsh, Theresa Sokyrka at la Sala Rossa, Fri., Nov. 4, 9 p.m., $6

Posted on Jul 21st 2011 5:00PM by Tabassum Siddiqui

Northern Exposure is Spinner’s MP3 column highlighting the best in new Canadian music. This week we feature some of the notable acts at Guelph, Ontario’s annual Hillside Festival (July 22-24).

Though barely out of her teens, Montreal (by way of Toronto) singer-songwriter Charlotte Cornfield has already managed more artistic output than many musicians double her age — not only is she garnering buzz for her pop-meets-folk solo work, but she’s also hit the road as the drummer for Montreal indie-acoustic band Bent by Elephants, jazz group Takk, and Chicago folk ensemble Panoramic and True.

Since completing her music degree last year, Cornfield has become a favourite on the festival circuit, winning over audiences at the Montreal Jazz Festival, Ottawa Folk Festival and Pop Montreal, sharing stages with an eclectic group of artists (everyone from the Sadies to Dead Prez) along the way.

Crowds at the Hillside Festival in Guelph this weekend will be among the first to get a taste of Cornfield’s forthcoming debut full-length, ‘Two Horses.’ Recorded in Toronto, the 10-song album reflects on the theme of love gone awry, and melds the young songwriter’s dual influences of ’60s-era folk and late-’70s New York rock ‘n’ roll.

Feeling the pull of both Toronto and Montreal, Cornfield brought together musician friends from each city to play on the record, which hums with a lively urban undercurrent.

‘Construction on the Street’ serves as an ideal teaser to Cornfield’s sound, with its arch lyricism and savvy fusion of folk and pop — there’s enough of both styles to elevate her sound above the conventional girl-with-guitar template.

Sprightly, strummy guitar and Cornfield’s spoken-sung cadence opens up into poppier territory — her background as a drummer clearly serves Cornfield well as a songwriter, given the exuberant percussive bent to ‘Construction.’

Her dusky vocals also serve her lyrical approach well — the understated singing allows the storytelling to take centre stage, and she smartly bends her vocal style to evoke the emotion of what’s being conveyed.

As it should be, with such sly songwriting: At first, the tune sketches out any usual day in the city: “Listening to the pavement/And wondering where the day went,” Cornfield sings to a daydreamy vibe. But as the tempo picks up, so do the revelations: “Rhythm in the bedroom/ Construction on the street… She thinks that you’re clean/But I know that you’re filthy.”

Like any good poet, Cornfield understands a thing or two about exploiting the power of wordplay — she might be talking quite literally about the construction outside her window, but there’s a sense she’s also describing something more mysterious or private.

Hillside set: Charlotte Cornfield plays the Lake Stage at 2PM on Saturday, July 23.

Download: Charlotte Cornfield, ‘Construction on the Street’ (MP3)
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Among my greatest regrets in life has always been my amazing ability to procrastinate on everything — including, sadly, writing and playing music.

Which is why it’s a fairly swift kick in the pants to interview someone roughly 10 years my junior who’s already accomplished more musically than I may well ever.

Still, it’s tough to get a good hate-on for 22-year-old Montréal folkie Charlotte Cornfield — she’s just too talented and too unfailingly humble about her already-impressive career.

In addition to already getting her degree in jazz drumming (and touring as the backbeat for the likes of Bent By Elephants), she’s played copious amounts of folk festivals as a solo artist and has several EPs already under her belt — with a new full-length set to drop.

Impressive stuff — but to Cornfield, it’s still not enough.

“I’m always racing against time,” she says. “I think, ‘Oh man, I’m 22 and when Joni Mitchell was 22 she was doing so much more.’ My work ethic always leads me to believe that what I do is never enough, and I’m always looking for the next thing. I feel really good about where I am, but there’s always so much more to do and so many more songs to be written.”

That work ethic led Cornfield to put her side projects on hold recently, for a four-month residency in the studio to track her debut full-length effort, Two Horses.

Interestingly, the driven singer-songwriter isn’t in any rush to get the album out immediately, choosing proper timing over pure speed.

“The album is totally done already, but I’m waiting on the right time to release it,” says Cornfield. “The fall seems like the best time.”

When it does hit the streets, Cornfield says the album will offer listeners a personal look at two of her favourite places, and the emotional entanglements she’s found in each.

“It’s a narrative in two parts,” she says. “Two Horses represents the pull between two cities, Toronto and Montréal, which I travel between a lot. In this particular situation, the album tells the story [of] two romances that take place between the places. It’s very autobiographical, but I got deeply into looking at the emotion from every angle. There are some pretty fleshed-out rock tunes mixed with some more introspective stuff as well.”

Cornfield’s live show features a similar push and pull. On her upcoming tour, she’ll be both playing band leader on big stages as well as keeping an intimate presence in smaller venues as a solo acoustic act.

“I’m doing a mix of solo and band stuff on this tour,” she says. “I’m doing some festivals with my full band, and when I go out west I’m meeting up with an old friend and bandmate who’s going to play with me as a duo — but I [also] tour solo for a lot of reasons. I find it really practical just to be me and a guitar, and to be able to get around really easily. Plus, with a lot of the venues I play at, it makes a lot more sense and I can connect with the audience a lot more easily.

“But no matter who’s playing the songs and how they’re treating them — whether it’s a band or just me — they stand up on their own, and that’s how they were written,” she says.

Charlotte Cornfield’s life has become one of near-perpetual motion. Since leaving her home in Toronto to attend Concordia University in Montréal, the jazz-drummer-turned-folk singer hasn’t stopped going.

Playing in a variety of ensembles on a variety of instruments—Cornfield drums for a variety of singer-songwriters as well as in an all-female jazz group, in addition to solo and full band iterations of her own material—the 23-year-old musician isn’t picky about the way delivers her music, whether she’s choosing a genre or a vehicle.

“The first big tour that I did across Canada I bought a Greyhound pass for two months and I booked as many dates as I could in big towns, small towns, all sorts of different venues from cafés to clubs to bars to festivals,” she says. “This time I’m doing a lot of different transportation. I’m playing Hillside [Festival] this weekend with my band so we’re taking a van. Via Rail hires certain artists to play on the train and then they get a free ride so I’m doing that to Winnipeg and then for a bunch of different stretches, Greyhounding some of it, driving some of it.”

The flexibility Cornfield shows in her transportation choices extends to her music as well: she feels as comfortable playing her solo material by herself as she does with a band or in a duo.
“For me it’s really important to have strong songs that speak for themselves, that can stand up solo or with a band or in any situation,” she says. “Whoever I play with I just make sure they know the songs really well and they’re people I really relate to and who can relate to the music.”

At the heart of that music is simply her: Cornfield is the opposite of the detached cool of contemporary music, choosing instead to put every part of herself into her music and lyrics.
“Staying true to who I am is the only way I can write a song,” she says. “Most of my stuff is autobiographical and I feel like I can get so deeply into the fusion of music and lyrics when I’m getting right into what’s in my heart. It’s heart-on-the-sleeve music; it’s really sincere.”

Sat, Jul 30 (4 pm)
With the Provincial Archive
Empress Ale House

For Immediate Release

CHARLOTTE CORNFIELD RELEASES NEW VIDEO, OFFERS UP HER SONGWRITING SERVICES ON DEMAND AND ANNOUNCES ROLE IN FOLK OPERA HADESTOWN

Photo: Courtney Lee Yip

In demand, on demand, Charlotte Cornfield is charging into 2012 with numerous new projects and collaborations. This month the Montreal songwriter/multi-instrumentalist releases the video for “All of the Pretty Mistakes,” the lead single from her new album Two Horses, shot on her apartment roof and directed by Derek Branscombe.

In January and February, Cornfield is challenging her fans to a songwriting match: they submit the ideas - lyrical fragments, thematic turns, personal experiences - she writes the tunes. One per week! Fans and music lovers can send their ideas to #CharlotteOnDemand or charlottecornfield@gmail.com. Look for the finished songs at http://facebook.com/cornfieldmusic.

In March, Cornfield will take the stage as Persephone in the Canadian production of
Anais Mitchell’s Grammy-nominated folk opera Hadestown, performing across Alberta from March 21 to 25. The original cast of Hadestown featured the mighty Ani DiFranco as Persephone and Cornfield is honoured to be stepping into the role. For more information, see http://hadestown.com and http://anaismitchell.com.

2012 will also be a big year for Cornfield’s drumming. Her all-female jazz quartet Takk just released its debut album (http://takkmusic.bandcamp.com) and she’ll be touring in support of that, as time permits, as well as backing Halifax’s Ben Caplan at SXSW in March and doing some writing with Kingston’s The Gertrudes.

Watch out for more tour dates from this versatile and tireless artist.

WATCH Charlotte Cornfield’s new video for “All of the Pretty Mistakes”:

DOWNLOAD Bio and Hi-Res Media Materials:

http://www.audiobloodmedia.com/pr/charlotte-cornfield/

TOUR DATES
Mar. 21 @ The Arden Theatre, EDMONTON AB (**Hadestown)
Mar. 22 @ The Arden Theatre, EDMONTON AB (**Hadestown)
Mar. 23 @ The Esplanade, MEDECINE HAT AB (**Hadestown)
Mar. 24 @ The Ironwood, CALGARY AB (**Hadestown)
Mar. 25 @ The Banff Centre, BANFF AB (**Hadestown)

LINKS

http://charlottecornfield.com

http://twitter.com/cornfieldmusic

htttp://facebook.com/cornfieldmusic

For all media inquries: sari@audioblood.com
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