Noe Venable

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Noe Venable
Born Flag of the United States April 20, 1976
San Francisco California, US
Occupation(s) Musician, Vocalist, Songwriter
Instrument(s) Vocals, Guitar, Piano
Associated acts Todd Sickafoose, Alan Lin
Website http://www.noevenable.com/

Noe Venable (born April 20th, 1976 in San Francisco, California) is a folk/pop singer-songwriter. She has earned a loyal fan base in her native San Francisco, in part through frequently performing in small, intimate venues. Her advocacy of small venues caused a stir in the San Francisco music community when she took San Francisco Chronicle reporter Joel Selvin to task for claiming that the city's music scene was "dead".

Venable performed in numerous theatrical and musical productions as a youth with the San Francisco-based Young People's Teen Musical Theater Company. She was also in the cast of the Lewis Carroll-themed musicals "Right Mind" and "Right Mind is Nowhere" directed by George Coates.

Her original one-act play "Annie Beckstead Does Her Homework" won at the Rocky Mountain Student Theater Project in Telluride, Colorado. She attended Bennington College as a Dramatic Writing and then a Music major before deciding to pursue music as a career.

In 2004 Venable moved to Brooklyn, New York. She has since relocated to Boston, Massachusetts where she continues to compose and perform with longtime-collaborators Todd Sickafoose and Alan Lin. Her songs are noteworthy for their striking melodies and complex subject matter, and she invites comparison with musicians Elliott Smith and Mazzy Star.

Contents

[edit] Discography

[edit] You Talking to Me? (1996)

Cover of 1996's You Talking to Me?
Cover of 1996's You Talking to Me?

Venable's first recording, produced by Noe Venable and Tom Meshishnek and recorded in Meshishnek's basement, San Francisco. Featuring non-traditional percussion including pots and pans, a vegetable steamer, a squeaky oven door, and a metal candy machine.

  1. Blues Song / Burning Moth
  2. Koltez' Girl
  3. Jamie Goes Home
  4. Paint Mine Blue
  5. We Run
  6. Euridyce
  7. Out Waiting
  8. Resistance
  9. Streets of Fire
  10. Giuliano
  11. Left Behind
  12. Slow Down

[edit] No Curses Here (1998)

Cover of 1998's No Curses Here
Cover of 1998's No Curses Here

This recording was produced by Lee Townsend, who had previously produced Bill Frisell and Elvis Costello, and was released by the German independent label, Intuition Music and Media. Arrangements are eclectic, but center on acoustic instruments. Alan Lin plays violin, Viktor Krauss (Lyle Lovett) plays acoustic bass, Scott Amendola (T.J. Kirk) plays drums, Rob Burger (Tin Hat Trio) plays keyboards, Ryan Rosenberg plays pedal steel guitar, and Tom Meshishnek plays electric guitar.

  1. Five On The Dime
  2. Jawbone Canyon
  3. Papa Ain't Comin' Home
  4. Alcina's Things
  5. Paint Mine Blue
  6. The Man With The Disease
  7. 3 AM Call
  8. Mr. Viper
  9. You Talkin' To Me?
  10. Broken Bird, Broken bird
  11. Starboy Coming Soon
  12. On Time

[edit] Down Easy (2000)

Cover of 2000's Down Easy
Cover of 2000's Down Easy

Live recording of the Noe Venable Trio performing at house concert venue Mo's Melody Mansion in San Francisco, January 20, 2000 This album, along with its title song, is featured in the movie "Cherish" by director Finn Taylor (Dream of the Fishes) which stars Tim Blake Nelson, Robin Tunney, and Liz Phair. Featuring Noe Venable (voice & guitar), Todd Sickafoose (acoustic bass), and Alan Lin (violin).

  1. Timebird
  2. Stolen Thing
  3. Dear Carolyne
  4. Look, Luck
  5. Badlands
  6. Strange Companion
  7. Six Prayers, No. 1
  8. Shoeshine Man
  9. Dandelion Hills
  10. Tarbaby
  11. Aren't Captives
  12. Angelyne
  13. I'm Sad Too
  14. Down Easy

[edit] Boots (2002)

Cover of 2002's Boots
Cover of 2002's Boots

Produced by Venable and Todd Sickafoose, the lyrics explore the meaning of womanhood. Arrangements are dominantly acoustic, and the music is very melodic.

  1. Boots
  2. Prettiness
  3. Tinkerbell
  4. Stolen Thing
  5. My Insomnia
  6. Climb
  7. Happiness
  8. Look, Luck
  9. Julia
  10. Wild Blue & Yonder
  11. Don't Stop Crying
  12. In Memoriam

[edit] The World Is Bound by Secret Knots (2003)

Cover of 2003's The World Is Bound by Secret Knots
Cover of 2003's The World Is Bound by Secret Knots

Produced by Todd Sickafoose, this is Venable's most well-known work, receiving attention on National Public Radio. Secret Knots was recorded at Eary Canal studios in Oakland, California. Much of the material was written while opening for Ani Difranco, Boz Scaggs, and They Might be Giants.

"The World is Bound by Secret Knots" introduces more variety to Noe's songs, including electronic sounds and effects and often a more foreboding sound that hearkens back to some of her earlier work, such as "Jamie Comes Home". There are also some acoustic songs, including "Is the Spirit Here?"

  1. Riverwide
  2. Juniper
  3. Tower
  4. Black Madonna
  5. Garden
  6. Is The Spirit Here?
  7. Midsummer Night's Dream
  8. Feral
  9. Simple Song
  10. Wings Again
  11. Lilies
  12. Doll Comes To Life
  13. In The Dark

[edit] The Summer Storm Journals (2007)

  1. Woods Part of When
  2. Prayer For Beauty
  3. Sea of Possibility
  4. Ice Dragons
  5. Into the Wild
  6. Onion, One Day
  7. Swim With Me
  8. Flower in Time
  9. Sparrow I Will Fly
  10. Fangs of Discipline
  11. Ambassador
  12. Army of Nows
  13. Lion Dreams

[edit] External links

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