Watch Alela Diane sing a Sandy Denny classic

Check out Alela Diane's version of Sandy Denny's "Who Knows Where The Time Goes" and then get her Looking Glass album.

Alela Diane shares "Dream A River" from new album Looking Glass

Alela Diane's new album Looking Glass is available here. Check the "Dream A River" video and other songs from the album below. 

Here's the scoop from Alela...

"I wrote Dream A River after trespassing through my childhood home a couple years back.  The house was sitting empty & nothing had changed since my family left 20 years ago.  For the film, we explored the concept of creeping through a memory at our new house where the past becomes the future — And where I have most certainly dreamt a river back to the love I speak of in the song.  

"Thank you to Devin Jane Febbroriello and Desert Island Studios for so beautifully capturing this dreamscape.  I am so happy with how this film came out!  If you do one thing today, you should watch it!"

xo Alela

Watch Alela Diane perform "Albatross" in Munich

Here's singer/songwriter Alela Diane somewhere in Munich performing "Albatross," the lead track off her Cusp album from 2018.

R.I.P. Nouvelle Vague's Oliver Libaux, 1964-2021

Sadly produer/arranger Oliver Libaux of Nouvelle Vague has passed away at the age of 57.

Alela Diane announces live album and livestream concert

Alela Diane's pay-per-view solo show coincides with the release of her Live at the Map Room album on April 9th. 

Here's the scoop from Alela...

Hello Folks!

I hope this wild time finds you & yours well. What a year it has been...!  I have a few exciting things coming up that I’d like to share with you.

Firstly, I'm releasing my first live album, “Live at the Map Room" on vinyl and digitally April 9.

There will be a limited amount of White Vinyl available, and all orders that I receive through my web-store will be signed by me. You can pre-order the vinyl by following this link.

The second bit of news is that I'll be doing a solo concert live stream on the same day as the live album release - April 9. There are different showings for different time zones, as well as a live stream + vinyl bundle available, so please follow this link to learn more and get tickets.

It will be a celebration of the live album, with some favorite old songs, as well as a first-listen to many new songs that I will record this Spring for my next studio album. I will be using money raised from this event to help fund the record, so do spread the word!

And finally, I’ve created a Patreon page for those that would like a sneak peak into my creative process, and are interested in supporting my ongoing work as a musician; during this time when musicians cannot play live concerts. We'll be offering a discounted ticket to the live stream event to my Patreon supporters. You can find out more here.

Thanks so much for listening, and for any other support of my work these days — every bit helps.  Sending love and warmth your way!

xo

Alela

Listen to Alela Diane sing "Take Us Back" below. 

Alela Diane reissues her 2004 DIY debut The Pirate's Gospel

The new double-vinyl version of The Pirate's Gospel includes 10 unreleased bonus tracks. 

Hello, Bonjour!

It's a beautiful fall day here in Portland, Oregon.  Crisp and clear with a gentle breeze.  I am deep in tour preparation mode, and very much looking forward to some wonderful adventures coming up.

First big news is that I am reissuing The Pirate's Gospel on CD and double vinyl with 10 unreleased bonus tracks (including "Blackberry" which you can hear below).  The sleeve has been reworked and we're just waiting for it to be manufactured.  The packaging is going to be beautiful!

If you're in Europe, you can hear a bonus track and preorder The Pirate's Gospel here

If you're in North America, you can hear a bonus track and preorder The Pirate's Gospel here

I've been hunkered down in an upstairs room, relearning all of these early songs in preparation for my upcoming tour in November.  It's been funny to reacquaint myself with the 21 year old me who wrote all these songs.

Next week, I'll be flying out East for a show in North Carolina and West Virginia, so if you're in that neck of the woods, I'd love to see you!

Please find tour dates below, and buy tickets here

I hope that the season finds you well.  Thanks for following along.

xo
Alela

Watch Alela Diane perform "Émigré" off her new album Cusp

Here's Alela Diane performing "Émigré and "Dry Grass & Shadows" at La Cigale in Paris on Thursday night.

Alela Diane unveils Cold Moon @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre, tonight

Alela Diane and guitarist Ryan Francesconi are opening for Joanna Newsom at Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

Singer/songwriter Alela Diane and fellow Portland-based guitarist Ryan Francesconi (who arranged Joanna Newsom's "Have One On Me") have uniquely collaborated to create Cold Moon out now on Rusted Blue Records/Believe Recordings.

The two musicians talked at a friend’s show in October 2014, chatting about how they were both experiencing creative standstills. Ryan was lacking inspiration to make more instrumental music, and Alela was at a loss for how to dive into writing a new record after the birth of her daughter. A few days later, Ryan asked Alela if she would be into collaborating and then sent her several recordings of intricate guitar pieces. Alela listened on repeat while staring out the window at the changing leaves, initially unsure how to sing even a note over what she heard.

Eventually, something clicked. Words came first, and with words, melody followed. Throughout the winter, Alela made trips across town to Ryan’s house to woodshed the songs over cups of tea.  Before they knew it, they had a record – a collaboration of voice and guitar with intangible moods and resonances. And so rose the Cold Moon.

Alela Diane & Ryan Francesconi are currently on tour in Europe (see dates below) and will open for Joanna Newsom at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto on December 14. For more Alela Diane info, go to her site http://www.aleladiane.com/



ON TOUR opening for Joanna Newsom:

12/14 Toronto - Queen Elizabeth Theatre
12/15 Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre
12/16 Chicago - Chicago Theatre
12/17 St. Paul, MN - Fitzgerald Theatre
12/18 Madison, WI - Orpheum Theatre

Watch Alela Diane @ Mississippi Studios

Here's some beautifully shot footage of Alela performing The Way We Fall, The Rifle and Lost Land. 

Alela Diane cuts the clutter for About Farewell out June 23

Over the past year, Alela Diane has finished recording and mixing her new album, About Farewell which will be issued by her own Rusted Blue label June 23 (digitally) followed by a physical release on July 30. It serves as an eloquent goodbye to lovers from years past, coupled with some poignant last walks down memory lane. While the lyrics deal most directly with her recent divorce, the album explores her entire last decade of relationships with honesty and nuanced insight.

One of the benefits of putting out records on your own label is having complete creative control. So after ditched her Wild Divine band, Alela built the entire album around her singing and economical guitar picking, wisely making her beguiling voice the center of attention. Since there was no one around saying, "Umm... we can't hear a single. Can you go back and have another crack at it?"we get to hear Alela's new songs on About Farewell as she intended them to be heard.


Much of About Farewell was recorded with producer John Askew at Portland's Flora Recording Studios during late 2011 and early 2012 with the help of her talented friends, namely Heather Broderick (see Horse Feathers, Efterklang) arranging and playing piano and flute, Holcombe Waller arranging strings, and Neal Morgan on drums.

These pared-down folk songs are perfectly suited to Alela's incredible voice. If you've got pipes like hers, any sort of instrumental ornamentation is just a distraction. Getting rid of the clutter is the best move she could've made at this point and About Farewell is all the better for it. Check out the clip for Lost Land shot inside the historic 19th century Parisian opera house Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord.

How many music execs does it take to hear a hit?

My Darling Clementine's Michael Weston King and Lou Dagleish

While those in charge of struggling record labels like to blame their financial woes on illegal downloading, the real reason many are facing difficult times has more to do with a fundamental lack of vision and what people in the music business call "ears."

It's difficult for well-compensated executives to admit this but the majority of those who have signing authority simply wouldn't know a great recording if they heard it. And even if someone still working for the label did, they're now too scared to pull the trigger for fear of their capital investment wouldn't be instantaneously profitable.

Take for example the illuminating case of My Darling Clementine, the inspired male/female country duet project of UK singer/songwriter Michael Weston King and his wife Lou Dagleish. Their impressive debut disc How Do You Plead? (Drumfire) has received rave reviews across the board from venerable print publications and music blogs alike and continues to get the sort of BBC support that's very unusual for something with a twang. Yet so far, King still hasn't been able to curry any label interest in a North American deal. Everyone he's corresponded with has apparently shrugged off the offer of a finished album that's already been critically acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic. "Thanks, but no thanks."

That might be understandable if Americana mainstays like say Bloodshot, New West, Lost Highway, Sugar Hill or Rounder already had their own top-selling male/female duet acts that could write, record and perform their own material but the fact is, they don't. Moreover, even if you put aside that radical duets concept, the sophisticated level of compositions, arrangements and musicianship on How Do You Plead? puts My Darling Clementine's debut ahead of 90% of those labels output over the past decade.

It makes you wonder what other great Americana talents U.S. major indies have foolishly slept on – well, apart from The Walkabouts, Dylan LeBlanc, The Rizdales, Caitlin Rose, The Pining, Alela Diane, Scotty Campbell, etc.

A new song from Alela Diane

Rose & Thorn

The Perlich Post's Top 100 Albums of 2011

1. Tom Waits - Bad As Me
2. Nat Birchall - Sacred Dimension
3. Alela Diane & Wild Divine - Alela Diane & Wild Divine
4. The Greg Foat Group - Dark Is The Sun
5. The Walkabouts - Travels In The Dustland
6. Heidi Happy - Hiding With The Wolves
7. The Black Keys - El Camino
8. Tristen - Charlatans At The Garden Gate
9. Merle Haggard - Working In Tennessee
10. Drive-By Truckers - Go-Go Boots
11. Austin Peralta - Endless Planets
12. The Dirtbombs - Party Store
13. Boubacar Traore - Mali Denhou
14. Gillian Welch - The Harrow & The Harvest
15. The Bo-Keys - Got To Get Back!
16. Black Lips - Arabia Mountain
17. Emmylou Harris - Hard Bargain
18. Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
19. The Fleshtones - Brooklyn Sound Solution
20. Grimble Grumble - September Sun
21. John Paul Keith - The Man That Time Forgot
22. Ambrose Akinmusire - When the Heart Emerges Glistening
23. Buddy Miller - The Majestic Silver Strings

24. Diana Panton - To Brazil With Love
25. The Reigning Sound - Abdication... For Your Love
26. Tex Perkins - Tex Perkins & The Dark Horses

27. Bombino - Agadez
28. Dave Alvin - Eleven Eleven
29. The Bats - Free All The Monsters
30. OFF! - The First Four EPs

31. The Bevis Frond - The Leaving Of London
32. Tom T. Hall - A Gift From Tom T. Hall
33. Alex Pangman - 33
34. The Wronglers with Jimmie Dale Gilmore - Heirloom Music
35. Nicola Conte - Love & Revolution
36. The Pining - The Pining
37. Phil Ranelin – Perseverance

38. Vieux Farka Toure – The Secret
39. Charles Bradley - No Time For Dreaming / The Instrumentals
40. Tom Russell - Mesabi

41. Austra - Feel It Break
42. White Denim - D
43. Bruce Peninsula - Open Flames
44. Ernest Dawkins’ New Horizon Ensemble – The Prairie Prophet
45. Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 - From Africa With Fury: Rise
46. JD McPherson - Signs & Signifiers

47. Jack Oblivion - Rat City
48. Psychic Paramount - II
49. Matthew Shipp – Art of the Improviser
50. Ty Segall - Goodbye Bread
51. Dengue Fever - Cannibal Courtship
52. JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound - Want More
53. Connie Smith - Long Line Of Heartaches
54. Jennifer Castle - Castlemusic
55. My Darling Clementine - How Do You Plead?
56. Hanni El Khatib - Will The Guns Come Out?
57. Booker T. Jones - The Road From Memphis
58. Jeff The Brotherhood - We Are The Champions
59. Ken Vandermark's Predella Group - Strade d'Acqua
60. Limes - Tarantula
61. Sandro Perri - Impossible Spaces
62. Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
63. Veronica Falls - Veronica Falls
64. Seu Jorge – Músicas para Churrasco, Vol. 1
65. Timber Timbre - Creep On Creepin' On
66. Daniel Romano - Sleep Beneath The Willow
67. Meg Baird - Seasons On Earth
68. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo
69. Bio Ritmo – La Verdad
70. Moon Duo - Mazes
71. Thee Oh Sees - Carrion Crawler/The Dream
72. Gruff Rhys - Hotel Shampoo
73. Laura Cantrell - Kitty Wells Dresses
74. Krallice - Diotima
75. The Ettes - Wicked Will
76. Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
77. King Creosote and Jon Hopkins – Diamond Mine
78. Quintron - Sucre Du Sauvage
79. The Warped 45s - Matador Sunset
80. David Kilgour - Left By Soft
81. This One's For Him: A Tribute To Guy Clark
82. Slaid Cleaves - Sorrow & Smoke
83. Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi — Rome
84. Purling Hiss - Dizzy Polizzy
85. Hayes Carll - KMAG YOYO
86. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - Cotonou Club
87. Royal Headache - Royal Headache
88. Wild Beasts - Smother
89. Shelby Earl - Burn The Boats
90. Fatoumata Diawara - Fatou
91. Yuck - Yuck
92. Iceage - New Brigade
93. Nick Lowe - The Old Magic
94. Apache Dropout - Apache Dropout
95. Dennis Coffey - Dennis Coffey
96. The Dirty Streets - Movements
97. The Mekons - Ancient and Modern
98. Sonny & The Sunsets - Hit After Hit
99. Glen Campbell - Ghost On A Canvas
100. Ikebe Shakedown — Ikebe Shakedown

Alela Diane rocks the Rivoli Saturday night!

To Begin by Alela Diane @ Housing Works Bookstore Cafe



Alela Diane interview Part 1



Part 2



Part 3



Part 4



Part 5



Part 6



Part 7 

Fave Fifty Of 2009

The beautifully crafted To Be Still album by Portland singer/songwriter Alela Diane topped my list of 2009's superb spins. 

Putting together a list of my top recordings wasn't something I was planning to do. But when a number of people asked whether they could expect any best-ofs from me, I started thinking about all the amazing stuff that came out this year. Here are the first 50 that came to mind...

1. Alela Diane - To Be Still (Rough Trade)
2. Blakroc - Blakroc (Blakroc Project)
3. Dengue Fever - Sleepwalking Through The Mekong (M80)
4. Eleni Mandell - Artificial Fire (Zedtone)
5. Wooden Shjips - Dos (Holy Mountain)
6. Tandy Love & Mad Smooth - Anagram Jam (Finders Keepers)
7. Jenny Wilson - Hardships! (Gold Medal)
8. Oumou Sangare - Seya (World Circuit)
9. Masada Quintet featuring Joe Lovano - Stolas - Book Of Angels Vol. 12 (Tzadik)
10. Indigo Jam Unit - Collectivity (Basis)
11. El Michels Affair - Enter The 37th Chamber (Fat Beats)
12. Henry Threadgill Zooid - This Brings Us To, Vol. 1 (Pi)
13. DOOM - Born Like This (Lex)
14. Giallos Flame - Euro Slash EP (2600)
15. Mos Def - The Ecstatic (Downtown)
16. People Under The Stairs - Carried Away (Om)
17. Nostalgia 77 - Sessions featuring Keith & Julie Tippett (Tru Thoughts)
18. Yeti #8 mix (yetipublishing.com)
19. KRS-One and Buckshot - Survival Skills (Duck Down)
20. Budos Band - The Budos Band EP (Daptone)
21. sun O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions (Southern Lord)
22. James Blackshaw - The Glass Bead Game (Young God)
23. The Flatlanders - Hills and Valleys (New West)
24. Handsome Family - Honey Moon (Carrot Top)
25. Diana Panton Trio + 1 - Pink (www.dianapanton.com)
26. Dexateens - Singlewide (Skybucket)
27. The Strange Boys - And Girls Club (In The Red)
28. Fever Ray - Fever Ray (Rabid)
29. Dam Funk - Toeachizown (Stones Throw)
30. Timo Lassy - Round Two (Ricky Tick)
31. Buika with Chucho Valdes - El Ultimo Trago (Warner)
32. John Doe & The Sadies - Country Club (Yep Roc)
33. Lisa O Piu - When This Was The Future (Subliminal Sounds)
34. Lee Fields - My World (Truth & Soul)
35. The Bats - Don't You Rise EP (Slumberland)
36. Lickin' Good Fried - Say Uncle! (Rooster Sandwich)
37. Cate Le Bon - Me Oh My (Irony Bored)
38. Dave Alvin - Dave Alvin & The Guilty Women (Yep Roc)
39. Nat Birchall - Akhenaten (Gondwana)
40. Muskox - Five Pieces (Standard Form)
41. Isla Craig - Isla Craig & The Continental Drift (zunior.com)
42. Buddy & Julie Miller - Written In Chalk (New West)
43. Audie Darling - Full Of Ghosts (One Shoe Rooster)
44. Ty Segall - Lemons (Goner)
45. Catherine MacLellan - Water In The Ground (True North)
46. Ian Blurton - Happy Endings (Sir Ian Blurton)
47. Brown Bird - The Devil Dancing (Peapod)
48. Sharon Van Etten - Because I Was In Love (Language Of Stone)
49. Gareth Dickson - Collected Recordings (Drifting Falling)
50. Wizard Smoke - Live Rock In Hell (Wizard Smoke)