NLUA_Press_Release_PDF.pdf Nlua_Cover_Art.jpg

— NLUA Single Press Release February 10th

SongBird-Single-Press-Release_PDF.jpg SongBird_Single_Cover_Art.jpeg

— SongBird Single Press Release Nov 21st

Entertainment was a keyword during the Elders Gathering, held at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre last week... The idea of inter-generational appeal also surfaced, with performances by aboriginal R and B songstress extraordinaire Fara Palmer. Fun, introspective and smooth, Palmer’s music and lyrics might normally be associated with the headphones of much younger audiences. But the fact that elders not only enjoy, but identify with her songs is an incredible feeling, she says. “It proves that it doesn’t matter how old you are, music speaks to you.” Palmer plowed into the music world in the 90’s with her debut album “This is My World”, earning a Juno nomination and winning a Canadian Aboriginal Music Award and repeating both accomplishments with the 2001 release of her follow up, “Prettybrown”. After taking a seven year break from the music scene to start her family, Palmer, the daughter of a Skeetchestn chief, is now a mother of four young daughters and has made a phenomenal re-emergence with the 2007 release of her new CD, “Phoenix” and finds herself five nominations deep, with nods for Aboriginal Entertainer of the Year, Best Folk/Acoustic CD, Best Producer/Engineer, Best Songwriter and Single of the Year. This album, replete with heartfelt lyrics, is particularly close to Palmer’s heart; the title phoenix having been chosen for the mythical bird that is re-born of its own ashes, in honour of her brother who she lost tragically in 2004. ” - Brooke Ward

The Northern View

ELDERS TO HEAR FAMED SOUNDS OF MANY TOP ENTERTAINERS One of the highlights of the upcoming Elder's Gathering is sure to be Monday's All Nations Variety Show, taking place at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre. The many performers set to take the stage include, Fara Palmer, The 7th Generation, Tsimshian Dancers, Street Spirit Crew, Nassville 5's, Glen Robinson, Gingolx Choir, Lil' Kiki and the Wolf, Mudcat Joe and more. Palmer, who has released three Juno-nominated albums, is excited to be performing at the Elders Gathering for the second time. Last year, she sang in Vancouver when the event was held there. I had a wonderful time," said Palmer. "There were just elders everywhere. When I got onstage I almost started crying. I was surrounded by so much wisdom and knowledge and medicine. I just felt so happy to be there. It was one of my best performances." Palmer is from the Saulteaux First Nations in Saskatchewan and is part Cree as well. She currently lives with the Skeetchestn Indian Band in between Kamloops and Cache Creek. Her latest album, Phoenix, has been nominated in five categories for the Aboriginal People's Choice Awards. Palmer hopes that her performance in Prince Rupert will encourage people to check out her music and vote for her. I call myself pop, R&B, Aboriginal folk-rock," said Palmer about her style of music. "Each of my albums has at least two songs that deal with Aboriginal issues. Some of them are contemporary music with native issues and lyrics and some of them might have contemporary and native sounds in them too." She is returning to music after an eight-year hiatus to focus on her family.” - CARLA WINTERSGILL

The Daily News(Prince Rupert)

SUNSHINE STIFF COMPETITION FOR MANY OF ALIANAIT'S ENTERTAINERS It's too bad more youth didn't spend $5 to see June 28's evening youth concert to hear Juno award nominee Fara Palmer, a Saulteaux-Cree singer with a deep, soulful voice. Frustrated by a bad sound system, Palmer delivered her first number a cappela, but still got the audience's hands clapping without the help of a soundtrack. Palmer's new album, Phoenix, is dedicated to her brother Gabriel, murdered in 2002 by two men who knew him - an event she described to the audience.” - Not listed

NUNATSIAQ NEWS

[PHOENIX - CD REVIEW] In the contemporary school, we note the recent release Phoenix (sonicbids.com/farapalmer) by the lovely Canadian... musician Fara Palmer. The pop recording has some catchy hooks and lyrics, as in “Blah, Blah, Blah,” and competent backing piano, guitar and other instrumentation …” - Daniel Gibson

Native Peoples Magazine

Article #1: SINGING IN THE STREAM OF LIFE: After seven years Fara Palmer returns, phoenix-like, to the Junos. It was one of those days, a day that held what Fara Palmer calls a series of fortunate events. The singer/songwriter was visiting Kamloops from her Skeetchestn home...when she locked her keys in the car and got a parking ticket. A couple stopped to help her retrieve the keys and the woman spotted her lated CD, Phoenix. A self-managed indie artist, Palmer sold a copy and headed off to City Hall to pay her parking fine, only to encounter Mayor Terry Lake. She presented the mayor with another CD and various credentials, just a local indie artist on her way to the Junos in Calgary April 6. Palmer, who only returned to music in 2007 after a seven-year hiatus, takes it all in stride. After all this is her third Juno nomination. "I'm a mixture of a city and a country girl; I don't have any illusions about grandiosity," she said. "I do love music very much. It was an acknowledgment, but it wasn't like with the first CD. When I got that first nomination I was just thrilled". "I was grateful," she continued. "I did take off the last 7 1/2 years, and I'm one of the artists in this country whose lucky enough to have my talent recognized," she said, noting the wealth of talent that goes unrecognized. A daughter of Skeetchestn Chief Ron Ignace, Palmer hardly needs an introduction to local audiences. Music was part of her upbringing. She had an auspicious start, performing at age 12 at a festival, where she shared the stage with Buffy Sainte-Marie. She began recording music in the 1990s. Her debut CD, This Is My World, was nominated in the Juno's aboriginal artist category for the song Walk Away in 1998. That album made a considerable first impression. The following year she took home female artist and song of the year honours at the... (Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards- CAMA's). Then her second CD, Prettybrown, repeated the feat at the 2000 Junos and earned her another top artist honour from the CAMA's. After touring on the strength of Prettybrown in 2001 and cohosting the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, she decided to take time off to have a family. She and her husband, Jay, a carver and builder, now have four young daughters. In 2006 she decided to return to her music career and recorded a three-song demo to pursue grant funding. It had been two years since her family and community suffered the loss of her brother Gabriel, affectionately known as Skooks, who was brutally murdered in Kamloops. Phoenix, named for the ancient, mythical bird that ascends from its own ashes, is dedicated to his memory. "At times it really felt like our world fell apart," she recalled. Yet she is one who believes in the inner capacity to heal, and in using music as a catalyst for positive change. "I was inspired by the bird," in naming the recording. "It doesn't matter how terrible life is, how sad life is or how hurtful life is. There are still decisions you can make. There is still hope". My Brother, a moving tribute to Gabriel, is an exception on an otherwise uptempo collection of songs produced in close collaboration with Peter Kilgour of Chilliwack. "One step at a time we created the music together." She categorizes Phoenix as a singer/songwriter album, with each track carrying its own distinct meaning. There are elements of rock, rhythm and blues (sh's a big fan of Aretha Franklin), disco, world, dance, and "sometimes country." "Being raised out here in this area there was only rock 'n' roll and country. "My music is eclectic. It's really pop and R&B - aboriginal folkrock. It has elements of everything I love in it." Along with a return to music, she's been called upon to share her experiences as a public speaker, though she stops short of calling herself a motivational speaker. "It's basically empowerment. I tell stories about my music, about stage fright...stories[of all the experience i have gathered]." As for the Junos in two weeks' time, she shares the aboriginal nomination with singer Little Hawk, guitarist Derek Miller, fiddler Donny Parenteau and artist/composer Sandy Scofield of Vancouver. Scofield's a good friend she'd like to see honoured. "I am being a little bit selfish because I'd like to win. The most wonderful thing to me is getting on stage and sharing music with people. Working with people, having a personal connection with them, I really love that.” - Mike Youds

— The Kamloops Daily News

NEW CD FOR LOCAL SINGER Fara Palmer is back, has a new sound, is guiding her own destiny, and is once again ready to share her gift with the people. Two-time Canadian Juno and CAMA nominated artist Fara Palmer has resurfaced with a new album entitled "Phoenix". The sound is Pop Eclectica, a term she created to describe music that is based in Pop but is a fusion of pop/rock/folk/dance/and r&b...... Secwepemc News(SN): Why are you so passionate about doing your music yourself? Fara Palmer (FP): It's pretty cool, because it's more roots, more people oriented. I quite like it and it's something i've wanted to do for a long time, do this on my own. I've never been independent on anything. I've alsways sort of relied on mangagers and the record company to take care of it, and now i'm doing it. When you give something to other people, they sometimes put their own interpretation of it on the project, and now i'm figuring it out and it's not as scary or bad as i thought, so I guess this is how it's supposed ot be. I've been figuring out a lot this past year and it's been quite an adventure. Anyone can do it, they've just got to believe. SN: Are you looking for musicians? FP: Yes, i'm looling for musicians, I've never had a "Band" before, it's exciting. I'm trying to get a majority of festival gigs, family gigs, find a bus and some funding and just do it! Have our stage, our own equipment, our own soundman and engineer and that'll make things easier for people to get us in for gigs, we'll have our own travelling road show and we'll have three or four different acts on tour. SN: Other projects? FP: I've been invited to be part of this compilation c.d., it's called "Violet Femmes". It's all about women in music and all...genres... SN: This album is a lot different than your last c.d's, how do you feel this is different from your last albums? FP: I wrote all of the songs on this album, the second one i wrote about 4 and the first i wrote about 9 of the 12. That's different, adn the first two albums i felt like i was searching for a sound, but this one i didn't even want to, i just wanted to write the songs, record them and not worry about it. I had melodies for the songs, i chould hear music for them, and ironically, i think i found a sound doing it that way, it's kind of weird! (Laughs). Some of them are based on intense feelings, they're passionate, some of them are about death, addictions, and self-empowerment and every single song on it could make you cry or go "Yeah! I overcame!". SN: The Title of the Album? FP: Phoenix? It's called Phoenix because i felt that my family and i had been through the ringer, and we've really pulled close as a family and helped each other get through a lot of things. And the Phoenix is the bird that burst [in]to flame[s] and [was] reborn in [its] ashes, and also because i took the last six years off singing. So now in a way, I'm being reborn, as a stronger me. SN: What other plans are you hoping to get moving? FP: Well, I just want the opportunity to sing, to get this album to as many ears as possible, to get off this continent, to see where this will go...to get the right distribution, get in stores, sell it online at cd.baby.com, maybe S.O.A.R, we'll see. You never know how long an album is going to last, but i still get people buying my last album, and i get people coming up to me telling me they love this song, or that, and it's pretty cool that it's touched them....” - Chris Bose

Secwepemc News

Article #2: RISING FROM THE ASHES Music in the Park features many amazing and talented artists, and Fara Palmer is no exception. The local songstress has always been interested in singing. Like most children, when Palmer was young she picked the career she felt would be most exciting. But unlike those whose minds and dreams change, Palmer stuck to it and continued with her singing. Of Cree/Saulteaux descent, born and raised in Kamloops, Palmer’s music is Canadian through and through — just like her. After Palmer graduated from high school, she was accepted into a prestigious conservatory program in Toronto on scholarship. Modestly, she joined cover band Contagious and toured for the first year of her career, singing someone else’s songs. Palmer returned to school for a while and released her debut original album, This Is My World. Soon after followed her second album, Prettybrown. Both were successful and were nominated for Juno awards in 2000. That same year, Palmer was named Best Female Artist by the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. On a roll and blasting through her career, it’s no surprise Palmer was being scouted by a record company hoping to sign her. However, she had been spending time with her pregnant sister, and Palmer’s direction began to shift. She turned down a record deal and did things her own way. Palmer took six years off to have her four daughters, ranging in age from six months to five years. Now ready to return to music, Palmer recently released her third album, Phoenix. Based on her personal experiences, Phoenix is dedicated to her brother, who was murdered in 2002. Her songs are full of emotion. “It’s meant to get a reaction out of you,” said Palmer. “Whether you laugh, rage out or rock, you’re not supposed to sit there just passively listening to the music . . . and so far that’s what it’s being doing for people.” Palmer’s voice is both soothing and energizing. She describes her sound as pop music with an eclectic sound. Based in pop, it branches out to rock, folk, R&B and dance. “It’s a bit of everything,” said Palmer. “Songs that are really going to make you laugh, some that might make you cry and some that might make you feel good. “It’s something that’s for everybody — regardless of skin colour or age.” Her voice is accompanied by a guitar, bass and piano. For the time being, Palmer’s doing things on her own with hired professionals, but plans to start her own band. An engaging, friendly and energetic person — Phoenix reflects Palmer’s personality. The songs are a range of styles, sounds and rhythms, but all are tied together with her captivating voice. Palmer will be performing at Music in the Park on July 8. For more information, visit www.musicfarapalmer.com.” - Laurel Smith

Kamloops This Week

JOIN MY EMAIL LIST