Miranda Hope Releases First CD, Leaving Eden
Granddaughter of legendary showbiz icon Bob Hope, Singer-songwriter, Producer, Miranda Hope has released her first full-length album of original songs of American folk/rock, Leaving Eden, recorded in Nashville. Besides contributing the lyrics, Hope also sings and, on acoustic guitar, accompanies the Nashville musicians on the album.
Los Angeles, CA, April 19, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Miranda Hope Releases First CD: Leaving Eden
Singer-songwriter Miranda Hope has released her first full-length album of original songs of American folk/rock, Leaving Eden, recorded in Nashville in July 2008. Besides contributing the lyrics, Hope also sings and, on acoustic guitar, accompanies the Nashville musicians on the album.
Unique in its lyrical and musical strength, "This is real music, straight from the heart," says engineer Neilson Hubbard. Hope's voice has been compared to that of Natalie Merchant, the Cowboy Junkies and Karen Carpenter, and her lyrics likened to those of Tom Waits.
Austin writer-filmmaker Chip Warren notes: "Miranda's music is laced with bittersweet truisms that already resonate with us all, she just has a way of pointing them out. Just as Tom Waits articulates the raw truths for which we can never quite find the right words, her work on Leaving Eden somehow leaves you feeling a little more whole."
Engineer Neilson Hubbard recorded Leaving Eden at his studio, Mr. Lemons, in East Nashville. Hope worked with musician-songwriter Mack Starks before, during and after the recording sessions. Kirk Yoquelet played drums and percussion. Richard McLaurin, of Nashville's the House of David Studio mixed the songs. Gary Lurssen, of Lurssen Mastering, in Los Angeles, did the mastering.
"It is my dream to get this music out to everyone," says Hope, "so I am selling CDs and downloads at CDBaby.com. So far, the response has been extremely supportive. One listener wrote: 'Your voice lights up my heart! Stately, luminous songs, honest lullabies to gather us all in!'"
Hope, 37, made her professional debut at the age of 3, when she sang "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" with her grandfather, Bob Hope, and Arthur Fiedler's Boston Pops. She has since graduated from Stanford (B.A. '93) and Columbia (M.F.A. '00) with degrees in English and theatre, respectively. She currently lives in rural Virginia with her husband, Drew Smith, and directs a non-profit counseling company for teens called Next Step.
Lyrics and Information is available at: www.mirandahopemusic.com
CDs are available for sale or download at: http://cdbaby.com/cd/mirandahope
Miranda Hope: Bio
Miranda Hope had her first public performance at the age of three, when she sang "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" with her grandfather Bob Hope and Arthur Fiedler's Boston Pops.
She grew up in Washington, D.C., singing along to records -- the "Annie" soundtrack evolved into Billie Joel's "Glass Houses" which became Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and finished up as Pink Floyd's "The Wall." One heck of a weird, long song.
Fast forward a dozen years to a 25 year-old Miranda, who needed to sink more deeply into the music that moved her. It was the beauty of Mary Chapin Carpenter's "I Am a Town," that sent her to a flea market north of Paris, France, to buy a $50, no-name guitar. Cracked body, rusted strings, out of tune – she took it home and promptly broke the first string she tried to tighten. Still, from the moment that she played her first notes on that 5-string, she was hooked.
She begged chords from friends, learned songs, and studied guitar with Val Mackend in New York while pursuing a master’s degree in Theatre at Columbia University. She moved to rural Virginia, wrote songs in a log cabin, and played open mic nights and gigs, while working as an English/Drama/Music/Science/Yoga teacher, an actor, a director, a writer, a film editor, a bartender, a waitress, a llama trainer, and a sushi roller. Since 2005, she has run a non-profit counseling company for low-income rural teenagers, called "Next Step" -- a job she has felt honored to do. Through it all, there has been that guitar.
"Leaving Eden" was recorded in East Nashville in the summer of 2008 with local artists Mack Starks, Neilson Hubbard, and Kirk Yoquelet. (See the links page for more about them.) In her first major recording effort, Miranda draws on a lifetime influence of Americana Folk/rock and female singer-songwriters, but she tempers it with her own lyrical storytelling and perspective. Through her efforts to distill her own life experiences into melody and words, she delivers something universal.
Media Contact:
Kelly Myers
Outsourced Communications
www.outsourcedcommunications.com
816-309-4249
###
Singer-songwriter Miranda Hope has released her first full-length album of original songs of American folk/rock, Leaving Eden, recorded in Nashville in July 2008. Besides contributing the lyrics, Hope also sings and, on acoustic guitar, accompanies the Nashville musicians on the album.
Unique in its lyrical and musical strength, "This is real music, straight from the heart," says engineer Neilson Hubbard. Hope's voice has been compared to that of Natalie Merchant, the Cowboy Junkies and Karen Carpenter, and her lyrics likened to those of Tom Waits.
Austin writer-filmmaker Chip Warren notes: "Miranda's music is laced with bittersweet truisms that already resonate with us all, she just has a way of pointing them out. Just as Tom Waits articulates the raw truths for which we can never quite find the right words, her work on Leaving Eden somehow leaves you feeling a little more whole."
Engineer Neilson Hubbard recorded Leaving Eden at his studio, Mr. Lemons, in East Nashville. Hope worked with musician-songwriter Mack Starks before, during and after the recording sessions. Kirk Yoquelet played drums and percussion. Richard McLaurin, of Nashville's the House of David Studio mixed the songs. Gary Lurssen, of Lurssen Mastering, in Los Angeles, did the mastering.
"It is my dream to get this music out to everyone," says Hope, "so I am selling CDs and downloads at CDBaby.com. So far, the response has been extremely supportive. One listener wrote: 'Your voice lights up my heart! Stately, luminous songs, honest lullabies to gather us all in!'"
Hope, 37, made her professional debut at the age of 3, when she sang "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" with her grandfather, Bob Hope, and Arthur Fiedler's Boston Pops. She has since graduated from Stanford (B.A. '93) and Columbia (M.F.A. '00) with degrees in English and theatre, respectively. She currently lives in rural Virginia with her husband, Drew Smith, and directs a non-profit counseling company for teens called Next Step.
Lyrics and Information is available at: www.mirandahopemusic.com
CDs are available for sale or download at: http://cdbaby.com/cd/mirandahope
Miranda Hope: Bio
Miranda Hope had her first public performance at the age of three, when she sang "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" with her grandfather Bob Hope and Arthur Fiedler's Boston Pops.
She grew up in Washington, D.C., singing along to records -- the "Annie" soundtrack evolved into Billie Joel's "Glass Houses" which became Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and finished up as Pink Floyd's "The Wall." One heck of a weird, long song.
Fast forward a dozen years to a 25 year-old Miranda, who needed to sink more deeply into the music that moved her. It was the beauty of Mary Chapin Carpenter's "I Am a Town," that sent her to a flea market north of Paris, France, to buy a $50, no-name guitar. Cracked body, rusted strings, out of tune – she took it home and promptly broke the first string she tried to tighten. Still, from the moment that she played her first notes on that 5-string, she was hooked.
She begged chords from friends, learned songs, and studied guitar with Val Mackend in New York while pursuing a master’s degree in Theatre at Columbia University. She moved to rural Virginia, wrote songs in a log cabin, and played open mic nights and gigs, while working as an English/Drama/Music/Science/Yoga teacher, an actor, a director, a writer, a film editor, a bartender, a waitress, a llama trainer, and a sushi roller. Since 2005, she has run a non-profit counseling company for low-income rural teenagers, called "Next Step" -- a job she has felt honored to do. Through it all, there has been that guitar.
"Leaving Eden" was recorded in East Nashville in the summer of 2008 with local artists Mack Starks, Neilson Hubbard, and Kirk Yoquelet. (See the links page for more about them.) In her first major recording effort, Miranda draws on a lifetime influence of Americana Folk/rock and female singer-songwriters, but she tempers it with her own lyrical storytelling and perspective. Through her efforts to distill her own life experiences into melody and words, she delivers something universal.
Media Contact:
Kelly Myers
Outsourced Communications
www.outsourcedcommunications.com
816-309-4249
###
Contact
Miranda Hope
Kelly Myers
816-309-4249
www.cdbaby.com/mirandahope
Kelly Myers
816-309-4249
www.cdbaby.com/mirandahope
Contact
Categories