Press
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING:
"...a sweet-voiced singer-songwriter who writes robust lyrics..."
— Pat Launer Patté Productions Arts and Theater Critic
" Bridget Brigitte has the charismatic qualities of a humble superstar. Her songwriting skills display a Beatlesque caliber of memorable hooks and melodies not often found in today's contemporary artists. Like a diamond, she is mutlti faceted. A true gem for the Los Angeles Music Awards family of artists."
— Al Bowman Founder Los Angeles Music Awards
"Bridget Brigitte is mystically feminine and soul-stirring with her compelling lyrics, dreamy 12 string and emotional stage presence. While she has Folk appeal and style, her persona also lends itself to the Pop genre because not only is retro "IN", but there is an element of the musical past blended with the present giving hope for the future that must be preserved... namely, her melodic innocence in the midst of a nervous world gone mad. She restores a sense of sanity and peace if you will, but settle yourself and simply listen! Isn't she beautiful? Sample her cd and I'm sure you'll want one for your collection."
— Performer’s Referral Network
"Tori Amos meets Alanis Morrisette ... Liz Phair ... Vega meets Madonna ... Tracy Bonham ... awesome ... great ... I especially like the vocal delivery ... a stern, firm voice ... one of the best songs I've heard in months ..."
— Josh Board San Diego Reader (on Bridget's album "Where Birds Meet in the Rain")
"Bridget Brigitte is a gifted artist with a soul that hears music before we do. Thankfully her heart is willing to share her music with all who would listen. - "Where Birds Meet in the Rain" never fails to bring me home to my inner self."
— David Chenoweth Rendezvous Productions
"Brigitte's singing was a cross between Janis Ian and Jill Sobule."
— Jennifer Ball San Diego Reader
"Bridget Brigitte has a poet/songwriter style that goes very well with her alluring voice and haunting accompaniment. I suggest we all go to the place "where birds meet in the rain."
— Alan Peterson New Connexion Magazine
"...a distinctive bright star on the contemporary acoustic scene, she entertains listeners with her original soul-stirring lyrics."
— Nancy Martin Surf City Times
"Bridget Brigitte was...lilting cool adult-alternative...a little Enya..."
— Rebecca Schoenkopf OC Weekly
"...has a nice grasp of melody and song structure..."
— Harriet Schock Grammy-nominated Songwriter ("That Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady"), author of Becoming Remarkable and Founder Los Angeles Women in Music
“The arrangements carry the echoes of different artists and styles ranging from folk, rock, blues, and country, all nicely paced. Fans of idiosyncratic, folky pop-rock will appreciate the darker lyrical content Bridget Brigitte's musical mix, which includes cello, flute, harp, and percussion. The music carries a conventional, ecstatic pop-rock feel but is curbed by a repenting intensity.”
— San Diego Reader
"Bridget’s songs are like Pink Floyd meets Sarah McLachlan"
— Abigail’s Attic
"Awesome stage presence!"
— Jennifer Liu Blue Note Music
"I listen to her music every day in my truck, it's so much better than the radio. ‘Acqua’ brings tears to my eyes."
— Donna Rae Deane
"Bridget sings with soul and is cordial to her audience in a way that will return to her as loyalty. I'm sure there will be a lot more cameras flashing.
— Gail Connors Artist Quantum 2 Media Production
"She's Great! She could go to LOS ANGELES!"
— Tyler George (4 yrs), Americal Idol Expert
"Her finger-picking and chording style strongly resembles Joni Mitchell, although less complicated and she has the voice of a popstar angel. Her appearance and demeanor during live performance radiates of childhood innocence, yet her lyrics beam of worldly experiences some may never come to know."
— Daniel Hulse
San Diego Reader article reprinted by permission from The Reader
Robot Talk
“It was nice to see she’s human.”
By Michael Hemmingson
'I had a dream that I met Jimmy Page on an empty red-carpeted spiral staircase, backstage at some big event," says local solo artist Bridget Brigitte, "and our eyes locked in one of those 'I wish this would last forever' moments and then..." And then? "Dreams get smoky," she says with a smile.
She holds a Ph.D. in French and comparative humanities. When she's not composing for the 12-string guitar, piano, and harp, Bridget keeps busy as vice president of the Asian-American Repertory Theatre, running the record label Bionic Sisters, and publishing poetry in such literary journals as the G.W. Review.
TRICKIEST MUSICAL PROBLEM PLAYING LIVE?
"Forgetting. If it's not my pick, it's the capo. If it's not the capo, it's my guitar strap. If it's not the guitar strap, it's the cable. If it's not the guitar cable, it's the irreplaceable power cable for the keyboards. If I could give my brain a tuneup, I would."
LIST OF INSTRUMENTS/EQUIPMENT?
"Varies. Mostly two 12-string electric-acoustic guitars. Sometimes my Jimmy Page burgundy double-neck Gibson. If I have my way, a concert grand piano, but I'm usually stuck with my trusty Roland 88 weighted keyboard with only three sounds. A delicious Ampeg bass amp. Crate guitar amp with pedal. Microphones are usually used with accompanying musicians on cello, violin, congas, percussion, drums, hambone, vocals, etc. I never shy away from simple 'me and my guitar' shows either."
TOP FIVE FLICKS?
1. The Incredibles. "It's fluff, I know, but funny. The women are as strong as the men, and they don't die at the end."
2. House of Flying Daggers. "It's a beautiful martial arts film featuring a bunch of strong, deadly women, and the rival teams are not men against men, but men against women. And the women ultimately win."
3. Amelie. "Give me a French film any day of the week. While a gorgeous woman is at the center of this story, it's not about sex, or sex appeal, or her relationships. It's a light tale about her conscious role in mending some other people's love stories."
4. This Is Spinal Tap. "There is nothing like dry British humor."
5. Thelma and Louise. "Minus the fact that they die at the end."
BEST BRUSH WITH SOMEONE FAMOUS?
"At a dinner with Maria Shriver. It was fun hearing her talk about how she loves Target since it's the only store where she can find everything. This was after talking about her book Ten Things -- I mean, it was nice to see she's human."
WORST BRUSH WITH SOMEONE FAMOUS?
"Aerosmith's drummer Joey Kramer...although the band sometimes looks like drugged-up robots behind the unstoppable and energetic Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, I thought maybe they'd be human...I attempted a conversation, but when he figured out I actually wanted to talk music and was not trying to sleep with him, he looked at me as if I were five million other people...ants might be the better word...that exasperated him."
WEIRDEST GIG?
"I played a big Body/Mind/Spirit festival in Oregon...you know, crystals, massages, yoga...so my favorite booth was of course the organic chocolate one where I'd casually walk by and keep consuming the chili chocolates set out for tasting. I got up to play and my voice had accidentally become a whisper because of all the fiery chili...I faked my way through some instrumentals, and luckily sound returned to my pipes. Beware the chili chocolates! Just eat them a day before the show."
North County Times article reprinted by permission from NCT
North County Singer Organizes GoGirls Music Festival
GoGirls Music Festival
* Part I: Carol Ames, Kathi Burg Band, Victoria Robertson Band, Michele Shipp, Bridget Brigitte, Saba, Jane, Joanie Mendenhall, Abigail's Attic, Hydroplane, Mermaid's Journey, Ashley Matte, 3sum
When: 6 p.m.-midnight Oct. 28
* Part II: Rachel Lynn, Melissa Worthington, Gayle, Karen Real, Simply Complex, Bridget Brigitte, Diane Waters, Christi Bauerlee, Rynata the Shredmistress, Marci K, Dropjoy, Saturn's Day, Beth Preston, Corday
When: 6 p.m.-midnight Nov. 4
Where: Humphrey's Backstage Lounge, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, San Diego
Tickets: $10 per show
Info: (858) 759-3567
By: PAM KRAGEN - Staff Writer
One of North County native Bridget Brigitte's chief goals in life is to empower women through her music.
She's doing just that tonight as both organizer and performer in the fifth annual GoGirls Music Festival at Humphrey's Backstage Lounge in San Diego. Under Brigitte's guidance for the past two years, the concert showcase of indie women musicians has grown from just four acts in 2002 to a record 27 bands and solo acts in two six-hour concerts Oct. 28 and Nov. 4.
Brigitte volunteered to organize the concert two years ago out of her frustration that many of San Diego's women singer/songwriters and musicians, including herself, weren't able to get on the bill. Under her leadership last year, GoGirls grew to 17 acts, and this year there was so much talent to choose from that she expanded the festival to two nights.
Among the slated performers (who range in style from pop to folk to rock) are Carol Ames, Diane Waters, Corday, Michele Shipp, Abigail's Attic and Rynata the Shredmistress.
Each band will have a 20-minute set, with a 5- to 10-minute setup break in between. Brigitte said she realizes that's not a lot of time for each band to perform, but this way a lot of acts will get some exposure.
"I think lots of artists on the bill makes for an entertaining evening, and musically, if you can't get your point across in three songs, or even one, you're in trouble."
Born in La Jolla and a graduate of Torrey Pines High School, Brigitte grew up writing poetry and songs and playing folk music on piano, guitar and harp. Her first love was music, but her first career was in academics. She earned degrees in literature from Berkeley and Johns Hopkins University and spent four years in the mid-1990s teaching American literature in France (and performing and writing music on the side). A stress-related health scare [in 2000] caused her to rethink her priorities, and in 1999 she moved back to San Diego with her new husband, Jean-Pierre Prieur (a videographer/graphic artist), to focus on her music full time.
Over the past five years, Brigitte has written more than 100 songs, some of them captured in 2001 [2002] on her first commercial CD, "Where Birds Meet in the Rain" and more are planned for a follow-up CD next year (which will feature local musicians Danielle Bruce, Wendy Patrick, Shirley Ramey and others).
She describes her musical style as folk/soft rock. Music critics have compared her singing and songwriting to that of Janis Ian, Joni Mitchell and Jill Sobule. She also lists Sheryl Crow, Jonatha Brooke and Sarah McLachlen as influences.
When Brigitte writes a song, she said the music comes first and the words follow. The theme of most of her songs is self-empowerment.
"In my songs I am trying to get people to take control of their lives and not be victims. One can blame things on others and be the victim or be more industrious and take one's life into one's own hands and be responsible for a lot of it."
Brigitte has just released a 10-song DVD through her own record label, Bionic Sisters; she performs regularly at Humphrey's Backstage Lounge and on local cable television shows; and she recently earned a Los Angeles Music Awards nomination for 2004 Independent Adult Contemporary Artist of the Year (a fellow nominee is jazz singer-turned-movie-star Minnie Driver).
For now, she's focused on making GoGirls a success and opening up opportunities for her fellow women musicians.
"I think San Diego is stuffed with musical talent, and if all of us musicians ---- up-and-comers along with established acts ---- would hold hands and be friends instead of being competitors, not only does it warm up the music scene, but it will make our city the next Seattle music-wise."
From the San Diego Reader:
"Hometown CD"
Album Name: Where Birds Meet in the Rain
Fans of idiosyncratic, folky pop-rock will appreciate the darker lyrical content of singer/songwriter Bridget Brigitte's musical mix, which includes cello, flute, harp, and percussion. The music carries a conventional, ecstatic pop-rock feel but is curbed by a repenting intensity.
In "The Likes of Jeannie" Brigitte sings, "When you tried them, in the middle of the night, when the inspiration's right and there's only her intrigue/ hoping for the best, planning for the worst/ you're your own best counselor." These lines are emblematic of Brigitte's lyricism: dark, ambiguous, and perhaps a tad too personal. However, this quality defies categorization and catapults Brigitte into a legion of songwriters whose messages surpass empty phrases.
Not everything is hard and heavy. Overall, the disc is a good mix of upbeat rock with a few melancholy ballads thrown in for balance. The arrangements carry the echoes of different artists and styles ranging from folk, rock, blues, and country, all nicely paced. "Abstract" and "Aqua" are entirely instrumental, driven by acoustic guitar and synths. Layered synths create a beautiful interplay between rhythm and melody. Few groups equally utilize keyboards and guitar this effectively.
"Peter Fonda is one of my uncle's best friends, so I've known him all my life," says Bridget Brigitte when asked about the photos of her and the famous actor on her website, "and I have the same name as his daughter; it's a Celtic thing. Peter comes down once a year for the parties my mother hosts for her students."
Her mother, Dr. Marianne McDonald, a professor of the classics and of cinema and theater at UCSD (and winner of both the Living Legacy Award and the Egeria Award from the Women's International Center), shows Fonda's Easy Rider to her students and compares the film to the themes of heroics and tragedy in ancient Greek literature.
Brigitte, a singer/songwriter, coordinated the fifth annual GoGirlsMusicFest at Humphrey's in 2004, featuring all-female bands and acts, including locals Rynata the Shredmistress, Abigail's Attic, Carol Ames, and Brigitte.
"So everything went well both nights? No problems?"
She laughs and says, "No catfights, if that's what you mean.... There was a guy who almost got thrown out one night, but he wasn't touching anyone; he was just being loud and verbal. There's always going to be someone who gets drunk and makes trouble at any show."
GoGirlsMusicFest happens in large cities across the country every fall; the proceeds go to MusicCares (www.grammy.com/musiccares), a program established in 1989 by the recording academy to help out musicians who are faced with a sudden medical or personal crisis.
Brigitte performed at the L.A. Music Awards in November 2004, where she was nominated in the category of "Adult Contemporary Independent Artist of the Year" for her CD When Birds Meet in the Rain, released by San Diego's Bionic Sisters Productions. "It's like a mini-Grammys but for indies," she says, "and there's this funny underside to the L.A. Music Awards, which is the models/sexy singers part. I mean, I come to the awards from a fairly organic, music-first kind of attitude, and I show up to find these ex-cheerleaders in low-cut white leather...who are really good singers, don't get me wrong."
As far as winning the award goes, Brigitte reminds me that "Minnie Driver is also nominated. And the company she's signed with has something like 30 labels, so, you know..." she says shrugging. "Even David Geffen, whose record company is probably worth a billion dollars, is still considered 'independent.' "
— "Blurt"
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."
— Anonymous