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Times Argus CD Review posted: 4/18/2008 Rebecca Padula proves a rich alto Powerhouse By Art Edelstein Arts Correspondent Vermont has several legendary voices. Among the men, Jon Gailmor from Elmore comes to mind. Among the women we have Patti Casey of East Montpelier and Tammie Fletcher from Eden. We can now add Rebecca Padula of Hinesburg to that list. Padula, a name I was not previously familiar with, has produced her third album. Her band consists of electric/double bassist Mitch Barron and drummer “Shrimp.” Padula performs on acoustic guitar throughout. Together, this trio, along with a few guest musicians, has produced a very fine recording. Padula’s voice, a rich alto powerhouse, is the focal point here while she also has solid credentials as a songwriter. She also sings several songs penned by her Vermont contemporaries. Padula’s voice is good enough that she could, and perhaps should, explore other styles beyond those in the folksinger-songwriter category. I envisage her with a full-tilt boogie rock band or on stage in a musical. There is a lot of projection in this woman’s vocal cords and a real sense of understanding the power in her singing. Padula might, but never does overstretch, or otherwise unleash vocal gymnastics that aren’t necessary. She’s got enough control to realize that her delivery, as is, needs little else to get the song across with panache. I also like her diction, as her words are crystal-clear. On the opening “Match,” with Paul Asbel’s guitar wizardry leading the charge, Padula delivers a hefty measure of upbeat. Padula has chosen to sing other writers’ work and on track three, Carol Abair’s “Whistle Me Dixie” has her in soft and sensitive mode. Abair is fine songwriter and her song “My Only Son” won best song of the year for 2007 in our annual Tammie Awards. I also like the Abair-penned folk song on track eight “When I Leave Winooski.” Track four finds Padula interpreting Susannah Blachly’s “After Rain.” Blachly is a fine and prolific writer from Calais whose own recordings have drawn considerable attention on these pages. “After Rain” is a song with a Latin flavor. Here Padula gives a jazzier interpretation to the material, letting Vermont’s mandolin genius Jamie Masefield take the instrumental lead. Padula also pays homage to the late Rachel Bissex by performing her song, “Never Go Back.” Here we get a blues/jazz treatment with Gregory Douglass on back up vocals. There are several styles presented on this CD. Padula’s own “What’s Going On?” a bluesy questioning of world issues pertaining to Darfur, Iraq and Bosnia, finds Montpelier’s Dave Keller on electric guitar and Phil Abair on organ. They add just enough kick to propel the song through a shopping list of world misery. Padula’s other songs are strong too. For example, “The Neighbors” discusses abuse; “Less” is about the loss of the family farm; “We Are Free” is a peace anthem; while “At Bedtime” is a sweet acoustic number penned for a child. There’s a lot of lyrical ground covered on this album. Throughout Barron and Shrimp know when to hold back on the quiet tunes and when to let go on the faster-paced numbers. If there are any problems with this CD they are in the direction Padula wants to travel as an artist. It is obvious that she knows lots of excellent musicians and songwriters and has included them in this project. The result is a recording that is a bit hard to classify. I suspect her sensibilities run toward pure folk and all she really needs is her voice and acoustic guitar to get the message across. By choosing to have a back-up band and guest musicians Padula has expanded that original direction and it gets a bit scattered in this presentation. That said, if you want to hear another of the fine voices in Vermont music then “Fire & Water” by Rebecca Padula and Band should be on your shopping list. You can hear this trio live next on Saturday May 24 at the Skinny Pancake at 60 Lake St. in Burlington at 9 p.m. Find this review at the Times Argus online here . Find the not-as-nice review by Dan Bolles of Burlington's Sevendays here .

About Fire & Water posted: 4/10/2008 "Fire & Water" is finally finished. It took about a year off and on in the studio, but it was worth it. It has 14 tracks, mostly my own tunes, but a few written by some of my favorite Vermont gal songwriters: Carol Abair, Susannah Clifford Blachly and Rachel Bissex. We recorded mostly at the awesome studios of Egan Media in Colchester, VT and had some great guest stars come by and contribute their talents to really make this project sparkle. Guests include: Gregory Douglass (vocals), Paul Asbell (guitar), Phil Abair (hammond B3 & piano), Colin McCaffrey (mandolin), Jamie Masefield (mandolin), Susannah Blachly (fiddle & vocals), Rik Palieri (banjo), Dave Keller (guitar & harmonica) and Martha Seyler (vocals). Thanks gang. The sound is rocked up folk and blues with a bit of jazz and politics thrown in for good measure. Check it out at itunes here .

Today's Paper posted: 4/24/2008 More from the Vermont press corps. A little profile from the Burlington Free Press' Lynn Monty. The online edition should be posted soon.

Soulful contemporary folk with a blues streak posted: 4/11/2008 Thanks for stopping by. To hear the latest recordings, please also check out Myspace . My electronic press kit can be found here .

Burlington Free Press posted: 11/8/2007 Indie-con was great fun. Thanks to APR, Antara, Rik Palieri, Aaron Flinn, Erin McDermott and Carol Abair for joining me at the songwriter's showcase and to Jim Lockeridge for including my film, "Margaret's Waltz" in the festivities.

Peace Out posted: 10/26/2007 The 2007 Vermont Peace Song Contest was held October 24 at the Langdon Street Café in Montpelier. The first place winner was... me? Wow! The ink was barely dry on my new song, "We Are Free" written pretty much the week before the contest- nothing like a deadline to get that songwriterly mojo workin'. Second prize went to Howie Cantor for his "Jesus Went to Gitmo" and the third place to Kristina Michelsen for "One Voice for Peace." Check out the lyrics section to the left, I'll post the lyrics to "We Are Free" soon. And watch your local public access TV station for the contest which was taped and sponsored by Onion River Community Access in Montpelier. -Peace Out

WOMENFOLK posted: 12/31/2006 Our show in August was a blast. How can you go wrong when five singer-songwriters get together for a night to swap tunes and collaborate? Check out the video here courtesy of CCTV. I'm told we raised more than $10,000 for Kids on the Block Vermont! The Women of Womenfolk are: Carol Abair , Susannah Clifford Blachly , Kristina Stykos , Karen McFeeters and me. And we rang in the New Year with an encore performance at Burlington's First Night from 10 p.m. to midnight at the Flynnspace that was worth battling the freezing rain for wasn't it?

Rockin into Fall posted: 11/2/2006 The turn of the seasons this year marked a personal record for most performances in a month, my first gig with a power trio, and a bunch of chances to play with some old friends. The show at the Brick Box in Rutland with songwriters George Nostrand and Bow Thayer was one of many highlights. Even though what happens in Rutvegas stays in Rutvegas- I have to mention that George did a stellar version of "What's the Point" from my first album which was way cool for me. I perform a lot of songs by other Vermont songwriters, but I think this was my first time hearing things go the other way. Susannah Blachly joined Mitch and I for a seat-of-our-pants, no-rehearsal-neccesary, show at Langdon Street Cafe which was a lot of fun and included a lot of cover songs and collaboration on each other's material as well. I'm starting to notice a cool theme here... Also the Monkey House played host to the first Rebecca Padula Band show- I am now hooked on the sweet groove a rhythm section can bring. Thanks to fab drummer Matt DeLuca for spoiling me. The also groovy Patrick Fitzsimmons brought his djembe along to our co-bill at the Lincoln Inn songwriter's showcase and jammed along to some of my new tunes. Good luck to him as he heads off to Europe in December to man the skins for The Brandos. And in my "spare time" I've organized a new free music series at the Coffee Hound in Malletts Bay, come check out the tunes on Friday nights at 7 when the series resumes after the Holidays.

Champlain Valley Folk Festival posted: 8/8/2005 Wow, The Champlain Valley Folk Festival was a blast this year. Great tunes, great weather and great vibes- plus I got to be "folk famous" for a few days walking around with my guitar and performer wristband. Kingsland Bay State Park is the site, right on the banks of Lake Champlain. A great spot for swimming, picnicing and of course the whole live music thing. The photo here is of Mitch and I performing on the Lakefront Stage only a few yards from the water's edge. It just doesn't get much better than that. I was also honored to be part of a special tribute to Vermont's Rachel Bissex. It was a packed show and lots of her family attended- it was a real tearjerker. She touched so many of us and was a mentor, a special performer and a major influence on me. I also got a chance to hear some of my other favorite Vermonters perform. If you get a chance to see Patti Casey (www.patticasey.com) or Rik Palieri (www.banjo.net) do it! They are both awesome. I also was blown away by the bluegrass rockers, Crooked Still. (I don't know their website yet, you'll have to google them. *webmaster note: how about www.crookedstill.com)

April Fools posted: 4/6/2005 Now I've done it. For the first time ever, I played mostly electric guitar on my set. I joined forces again with the Joe Adler Acoustic project for a rockin' late-night show March 31 at Club Metronome in Burlington, VT to ring in April Fools Day. If you missed our midnight Rolling Stones jam session featuring members of Snmnmnm, Joe Adler Acoustic and Mickey Western- well, you really missed some fun. The electric guitar, which belonged to my late buddy, Chris Burrage, will be back on stage again soon. It's pretty fun to rock out, but don't worry folkies, the acoustic isn't going anywhere.

Media Culture posted: 5/19/2005 For the second year, I added some music to the VT media education in action conference sponsored by the Action Coalition for Media Education (www.acmevermont.org). Check out the lyrics section for my newest tune, "The Wind," about mainstream media. This was inspired in part by the conference title "Remote Control or Self Control: Staying Healthy in a Media Culture." Some video and indie media links can be found at www.cctv.org I also joined some fellow Vermont artists in a tribute to the late Rachel Bissex following the Burlington, VT premiere of Nora Jacobson's new movie "Nothing Like Dreaming," which Rachel appears in. Check out www.nothinglikedreaming.com for more info on the film. Then I made the trek to Middlebury to perform at the new Great Falls Fine Art Center. Mitch joined me again on bass and we were treated to the sweet sounds of accapella group Somebody's Sister and opener Samy. This is a cool funky artist owned club/gallery/cafe and I hope to be back there again to soak up the artsy vibe.

Now at CD Baby posted: 3/25/2005 My latest release, "Time, Speed & Distance" is now available at www.cdbaby.com. If you prefer mp3s you can find me on i-tunes, Rhapsody and now mp3tunes. Check it out at www.mp3tunes.com/RebeccaPadula As always, you can try a few of the free downloads available here on the site as well.

Too Many Goodbyes posted: 2/28/2005 Another beautiful musician and friend fell too young to cancer this year. Burlington's sparkling Rachel Bissex died Feb 20. She was a mentor, a great human and one of my favorite artists. I was lucky to have had the chances I did to sing with her. She was an excellent performer and a loving, giving person. I learned a lot and am grateful for all the advice and the precious little time she had. You are missed, but your music goes on.

January posted: 1/31/2005 I had some great shows in January, rockin' out at Monkey Bar in my former home of Winooski, VT with new friends Joe Adler and Johnnie Durand. I rang in the New Year with a return visit to First Night in Rutland, VT and played for the locals at Charlotte Coffeehouse. But the big story for me in January was the loss of my college buddy Chris Burrage. Chris, a dear friend who played bass on my "Waterfront" album and performed with me at the start of my music career as part of Table Wine, died way too young of cancer on New Years Day. Rest in peace brother, you were one of the good ones.