Alela Diane

Alela Diane

Diane performing at Orpheum Theatre in 2015
Background information
Birth name Alela Diane Menig
Born (1983-04-20) April 20, 1983
Nevada City, California, U.S.
Genres Indie folk, Americana, psychedelic folk
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter
Instruments Vocals, guitar
Years active 2003-present
Labels Holocene Music, Names Records, Rough Trade Records, Rusted Blue Records
Associated acts Black Bear, Blitzen Trapper, Headless Heroes
Website aleladiane.com

Alela Diane Menig (born April 20, 1983), known as Alela Diane, is an American singer-songwriter from Portland, Oregon.

Early life and education

Diane was born in Nevada City, California on April 20, 1983. She grew up singing with her musician parents and performing in the school choir. She taught herself guitar, and began writing songs that blend tense, trance-like arpeggios with warm vocals and meditative lyrics about family and nature. Her first recordings were self-released in 2003 as Forest Parade. Her first solo public appearances were at the invitation of fellow Nevada City native Joanna Newsom. She also did a stint in the Nevada City band Black Bear before continuing with her solo pursuits.

Career

The songs for her album The Pirate's Gospel were written on a trip to Europe. They were recorded in her father’s studio and were initially self-released in 2004, in paper and lace sleeves with hand lettering. The album was issued in revised form by Holocene Music[1] in October 2006, and received widespread critical acclaim.[2][3][4][5][6]

A new song, "Dry Grass and Shadows", was issued on a compilation of Nevada City artists,[7] and five more new songs were issued on a limited-edition 10" vinyl pressing, Songs Whistled Through White Teeth, released in the United Kingdom in October 2006. The Pirate's Gospel was released in the UK on Names Records[8] in April 2007, garnering favorable reviews in The Times[9] and NME.[10]

She toured the U.S. both solo and with Tom Brosseau, and opened for Iron & Wine, Akron/Family, The Decemberists and Vashti Bunyan. She also toured extensively in Europe (UK, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany) in the spring of 2008.[11]

She sang on an album of cover songs, The Silence of Love, released in November 2008, recorded by Eddie Bezalel and Hugo Nicholson with musicians Josh Klinghoffer, Joey Waronker, Gus Seyffert, Leo Abrahams and Woody Jackson under the name Headless Heroes.[12]

Her second album, To Be Still, was released in February 2009 on Rough Trade Records.[13][14][15] In early 2009, she toured the US opening for Blitzen Trapper, and spent the better part of that year touring Europe.

Her third album, Alela Diane & Wild Divine, was released in April 2011, and was recorded with a backing band, Wild Divine, which included her father, Tom Menig, and her then-husband, Tom Bevitori. She and Wild Divine toured the US and Europe to promote the album, and in July 2011, they opened for the Fleet Foxes on a string of dates. In the fall of the same year she also accompanied Fleet Foxes as opening act in Europe.

In 2012, her song "Take Us Back" was featured on the end credits of the "No Time Left", the fifth episode of the adventure game The Walking Dead by Telltale Games.

Her fourth album, About Farewell, was released on her own label, Rusted Blue Records, in digital format in June 2013, with the physical edition issued in July.[16]

Diane remarried in 2013 and gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Vera Marie, in early November 2013.[17][18]

In 2014, the track "The Light" appeared on The Walking Dead fourth season soundtrack, Songs of Survival Vol. 2.

On October 16, 2015, Diane and guitarist Ryan Francesconi released the album Cold Moon, featuring the "thoughtful guitar picking of Francesconi [and] Diane’s naturalist, poetic lyrics".[19]

Discography

Studio albums

Singles and EPs

With Headless Heroes

Compilation appearances

References

  1. ↑ "Alela Diane - Holocene Music". holocenemusic.com.
  2. ↑ "Seattle News and Events - News". Seattle Weekly.
  3. ↑ allmusic ((( The Pirate's Gospel > Overview )))
  4. ↑ "Alela Diane - Pirate's Gospel - Amazon.com Music". amazon.com.
  5. ↑ Grant Purdum. "Album Review: Alela Diane - The Pirate's Gospel". DrownedInSound.
  6. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20070929103142/http://www.spin.com/reviews/2006/12/0612_aleladiane/. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved February 1, 2007. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ↑ "Featured Content on Myspace". Myspace.
  8. ↑ "Featured Content on Myspace". Myspace.
  9. ↑ "Login". timesonline.co.uk.
  10. ↑ "NME Reviews - Alela Diane". NME.COM. Retrieved 2015-08-10.
  11. ↑ "Featured Content on Myspace". Myspace.
  12. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110716054000/http://www.roughtrade.com/site/shop_detail.lasso?sku=307019. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20090122123710/http://roughtraderecords.com/aleladiane/1088/alela-diane-to-be-still. Archived from the original on January 22, 2009. Retrieved February 15, 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ↑ Sam Wolfson. "Folk review: Alela Diane, To Be Still". the Guardian.
  15. ↑ "Pample Moose Garcinia Cambogia". pampelmoose.com.
  16. ↑ "About Farewell out in the USA - ALELA DIANE -". aleladiane.com.
  17. ↑ "Alela Diane - Timeline Photos - Facebook". facebook.com.
  18. ↑ "Instagram". Instagram.
  19. ↑ Vorel, Jim (October 16, 2015). "Alela Diane and Ryan Francesconi on Collaboration, Inspiration and Cold Moon". Paste. Paste Media Group. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  20. ↑ "CHART LOG UK: NEW ENTRIES UPDATE : COMBINED SINGLES (200) :Chart Date 16 April 2011". Zobbel.de. Retrieved 2015-08-10.

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