Remember Me

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I wrote REMEMBER ME from my bed on the floor of a laundry room in the second story of a Connecticut farmhouse. It was 6 AM on the morning of my sister Gretel’s wedding. The house was brimming with family and not enough bedrooms, so my sister, Megan, and I had claimed this tiny alcove with the washer and dryer to be our sanctuary. It had a door and two windows from which we could watch fireflies.

I woke up before the rest of the household, having maximized the number of hours three couch pillows wedged together with a baby crib mattress on the floor can pass comfortably for a bed. I was thinking about my sweetheart, separated from each other for the first time, all the way across the states from me, and this idea for a song began.

Songs can be gifts in moments like these. They can also be a total pain.

I had no paper, no pen, and no desire to rummage through the rest of the rental and risk waking everyone.  Remember me, remember me…the line kept teasing me, taunting both my feelings about being so far from the one I loved and the fact that I had no way to record the idea for this song.

Remember me. My last night with my sweetheart had been filled with emotion. Remember me. I didn’t want to leave, but then I also couldn’t stay because I had to catch a flight to my sister’s wedding. Remember me. I had wanted to stay. I wanted to tell him in some way that whatever he was going through, however difficult it was, however lost he felt, that he wasn’t stranded or alone. That whatever emotional mire pulled him under, I would follow him down into the depths and that I would wrap my arms around him and carry him swiftly, far from the darkness. I would anchor him in my embrace again and again and again.

I looked at Megan. Eyes closed, still asleep on her baby crib mattress and hoping to sleep for at least another four hours.

Remember me.

Megan is a Lady Crooner. I knew, even if it was excruciating in that moment, that she’d understand the long-term pay off of capturing this song. I knew that I wouldn’t have to say much more than, “I have a song that I need to record, can I use your phone, please?” that she would be obliging. Megan is just that kind of gal.

Megan managed a blurry smile when I woke her. She even typed in her password because I fail miserably at such things and set me up with the sound recorder app. Then she took a few extra pillows from my side of the nest, before rolling over and making it perfectly clear she was unavailable for further conversation.

I recorded the song in one murmured/whispery take, modified the lyrics at breakfast, and set it to music with Joseph while we were rehearsing for our sister’s ceremony.

It was a beautiful wedding. It is a beautiful song. For me, REMEMBER ME, will always be a song of longing, fireflies, my first East Coast summer night, and an uncomfortable bed on a laundry room floor shared with the most understanding sister in the world. It is also a testament to true love.

REMEMBER ME

Love, hold me near
Time closes in on the hour we fly from here
Love, close your eyes
I long to stay with you more than we both realize
Though parting was never so sweet
It’s your love that makes me complete
Hold me tight
This one more night

And I will follow you down love
And I will ask the wind
To carry you swiftly far from here
And bring you back to my arms once again

Love, whispering
Close to the nape of my neck against my skin
And as we come to our final goodbyes
I’ll treasure the look in your eyes
Remember me
Remember me

And I will follow you down, love
And I will ask the wind
To carry you swiftly far from here
And bring you back to my arms once again

Love, have no fears
I leave with a longing
And know we will meet again here

And I will follow you down, love
And I will ask the wind
To carry you swiftly far from here
And bring you back to my arms once again

And I will follow you down, love
And I will ask the wind
To carry you swiftly far from here
And bring you back to my arms once again
And bring you back to my arms once again
And bring you back to my arms once again

25th Street Recording, Baby!

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The Lady Crooners were recently touted as ‘local folk heroes’ in a great article about the beautiful 25th Street Recording Studios. Thanks for the love!

Especially if by “quite a bit” you mean a “whole hell of a lot.” The studio has great classic gear, Richard Serra originals hanging on the walls — “He was a family friend, and Dave fixed his computer once, and he paid him with a painting,” laughs Schimpf — and a steady stream of musical artists, both famous and not so much, from Sheila E to local folk heroes The Lady Crooners and whoever else the star producer clientele brings in.

FULL ARTICLE: Oakland’s Secret Sound Studio | Good Sh*t | OZY 

The Lady Crooners play Truckee and South Lake Tahoe

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The Lady Crooners perform at the Cottonwood Bar and Restaurant in Truckee and the Divided Sky in Meyers this week, but they’d like to make those venues feel more like your living room than a night out.

The San Francisco five-piece strives to play honest, fun music that tells stories and brings a sense of intimacy to a room, said guitarist Kevin Conness.

“I kind of describe it as folk, Americana, pop sometimes, almost country,” Conness said during a Tuesday phone interview.

The guitar player joined the group in early May, along with bassist Jason Braatz, in time for the release of the Lady Crooners second album “The Surface.”

Nadia, Joseph and Megan Krilanovich formed the group in 2010, releasing their self-titled debut in 2012. The group is centered around the siblings’ vocal harmonies.

“Our songwriting is honest, an anchor in a fast-paced world, with an echo of times past,” according to the band’s online biography. “We tell our stories, sharing heartache, love, laughter, and all the good stuff. We wear boots. We give every performance our all, and we always leave a crowd wanting more. For us, music is about sharing. Its about giving and its about bringing together family and friends, new and old. We are The Lady Crooners. And we celebrate sharing our authentic, darn good music with you.”

The band has toured up and down the West Coast and has played Sacramento several times. This week’s performances will be their first at Lake Tahoe, Conness said.

Work on their third full-length release is underway. The band released a single Nov.15 called “Sweetheart,” a moseying, toe-tapping ode to love. The Lady Crooners plan to release another single, “Remember Me,” in the next month or so, Conness said. The single is on the more rollicking end of the band’s spectrum, according to the guitarist.

“‘Remember Me’ is probably one of the more high-energy tunes we’ve put out,” Conness said. “It’s real driving. It’s kind of that bass drum four-on-the-floor thing. We honestly had a little bit of Mumford & Sons in mind when we put it together. We wanted to make something bigger and more anthemic.”

ORIGINAL POST: http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/9652025-113/crooners-lady-lake-tahoe

Lady Crooners winds way to Sculpterra

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BY: Allyson Oken

PASO ROBLES — Music mingled with great wine and fabulous art can be a winning combination for any event. Sculpterra Winery is hoping they have that combination after securing the services of the Lady Crooners.

With their knowledge of fine blends and passion for music, the crew at Sculpterra is ready to entertain and share some of their season’s best at 2 p.m. on Dec. 8 during the Lady Crooners concert.

For the complete article see the 11-22-2013 issue.

Friday Download: The Lady Crooners

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BitTorrent featured The Lady Crooners as their Friday download.

Check out the full post below!

http://blog.bittorrent.com/2013/11/15/friday-download-the-lady-crooners/?shareadraft=baba3220_52868b3409151

I Write About Love

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I write about love.

It took me a while to admit. But pretty much every song in our repertoire with the exception of one is about love. And even that watery decent into the deep chasm on an unforgiving river could arguably be about love.

I am preoccupied with the theme. Love. So connected to loss. So nuanced with hope. So universal. Love is something all of us have experienced—in abundance, in absence, in longing, in loss. In the average day to day.

For me to write a song, I’m usually so overwhelmed with an experience or feeling that I need to get it out. The compulsion to process my truth bares its self as melody, a series of notes which I don’t know how to transcribe to a page, so I hum them into a sound recorder.

Melody couples with words, forming ideas to shape the soundscape. It’s free styling to the theme of my life.  And that is the song. I take my most personal, intimate, overwhelming experiences and distill them into a story that belongs to everyone.

SWEETHEART is about love. Obviously.

Not the love that prevailed in our second album, THE SURFACE, but the type of love that makes us want to do great things.

It’s one of those songs that could so easily be too syrupy sweet to want to swallow. It’s a lot easier to write a sad love song without losing integrity or making listeners cringe. I cringe when listening to some lyrics. There’s a lot of overly-sentimental stuff out there.

The trick to it, I believe, is being honest. Being authentic. Being true to my experiences and true to my heart.

At the time this song came to me, I was falling in love but resisting. I was pulled by the urge to give over everything, to revel in the newness, forgoing shyness and decorum, and to tell my sweetheart I was unquestionably his with complete abandon.

I wrote my heart out as a song. The timing was probably a little better that way.

And now, sweethearts, this song is for you.

–Nadia

I want to call you my sweetheart
I would rock you willingly
Want to carry you far, far away
Want to keep you near to me

I want to answer all your questions
Without saying a thing
Want to kiss you in the daylight
Just to know I still exist

I want to call you my sweetheart
I would rock you willingly
Want to carry you far, far away
Want to keep you near to me

I want to tell you that I love you
But right now’s just too soon
For no words can describe
What my world is going through

I want to call you my sweetheart
I would rock you willingly
Want to carry you far, far away
Want to keep you near to me

I want to come home to you
Let me be home with you
‘cause my home’s with you
With you

Want to romance you tender
Want to fall real hard
Want to totally surrender
Want to give you all my heart

I want to call you my sweetheart
I would rock you willingly
Want to carry you far, far away
Want to keep you near to me

I want to call you my sweetheart
I would rock you willingly
Want to carry you far, far away
Want to keep you near to me
Want to carry you far, far away
Want to keep you near to me

I want to come home to you
Let me be home with you
‘cause my home’s with you
With you

Review: The Lady Crooners – The Surface

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By Leicester Bangs

Formed in 2010 by songwriting siblings Nadia and Joseph Krilanovich, the duo were soon joined by sister Megan, and are accompanied by Kevin Conness on lead guitar, and Jason Braatz on bass. They released their self-titled debut in 2011 and their sophomore collection “The Surface” arrived in June this year.

Based in San Francisco, they play a heady mix of old school country, rootsy folk and back-porch Americana. As with many sibling groups, harmony vocals are at the fore and the arrangements, and their overall approach to their musical craft, draws comparison to Gillian Welch, Emily Barker and the Civil Wars.

I’m sure they’re comparisons that the group won’t object to, especially as “The Surface” is hardly in thrall to any individual or specific influence, and the original songs stand up to proper scrutiny. Indeed standout tracks tumble from the speakers one after the other, and launch track “Mercy” impresses immediately. The vocals are sublime and the chorus sticks around long after the song has ended.

It’s followed by “Negotiation”, a charming song, distinguished by jangly acoustic guitar, and wonderful voices. The title track continues the run with a gentle certainty and a mountain folk purity that is beguiling. Have a listen, should you get the chance.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: http://leicesterbangs.blogspot.com/2013/08/review-lady-crooners-surface.html

The Lady Crooners at The Playwright

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By Laurie Heuston

Three-part harmonies are the crux of The Lady Crooners. The rootsy folk-pop trio was founded in 2010 in San Francisco by siblings Joseph and Nadia Krilanovich.

“Nadia and I started the band with the idea of making music and having fun doing it,” Joseph Krilanovich says. “It turned into a natural progression. Nadia will sing a bit of a melody, and I’ll counter with something on the guitar. We seem to be able to complete each other’s sentences, so to speak.”

The Lady Crooners will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 13, at The Playwright Public House, 258 A St., Ashland. There is no cover for the show.

Former Ashland resident Kevin Conness — now based in San Francisco — will play electric and acoustic guitar with the Krilanoviches, and Megan Krilanovich will sing backup vocals.

“Nadia is the lyrical powerhouse,” Joseph Krilanovich says. “She’s a force to be reckoned with. She has a bachelor of fine arts from Western Washington University and a few children’s books published. She’s a creative person all the way around.”

Megan Krilanovich and Conness joined The Lady Crooners this year. The band adds bassist Jason Braatz and drummer John Smart when they play gigs in the city.

“Kevin is one of the happiest people I know, and he’s an incredible guitar player with tremendous skill,” Joseph Krilanovich says. “He brings ideas to the songwriting that really makes it spark.”

The Krilanoviches grew up in a musical family. Their father was one of nine brothers who sang together as a band in Southern California. Nadia and Joseph Krilanovich are the oldest of four siblings.

“Our idea of a good time is getting the whole family together for a meal and then pulling out a guitar or two and start singing together,” Joseph Krilanovich says. “We have no trouble harmonizing. We don’t have to second guess what the other is going to do next.”

The Lady Crooners’ newest CD, “The Surface” (engineered by Smart), was released in June. It follows an eponymous debut released in April 2012.

“We recorded it in a beautiful studio in Oakland,” Joseph Krilanovich says. “We put a lot of effort into it. There’s a tremendous amount of creativity between us that drives us forward, and writing songs is like having a lot of little love affairs. Songwriting comes easy for us. There’s always material we want explore.”

The 2012 debut CD was an amalgamation of the band’s personalities — and was all over the place stylistically, Krilanovich says.

“Then with ‘The Surface,’ we took pieces that resonated with us the most,” he says. “The music is closer to who we really are. It’s a style that is thoughtful, playful, romantic and mischievous.”

The band added percussion to “The Surface” to move it from quiet folk to something more accessible to pop listeners.

“It felt like a natural maturity,” Krilanovich says. “It all came together, and it’s given us an amazing feeling of accomplishment. We’re ready to take it out into the world.

“We’ve played with other musicians, but now we’ve reached this group. We’ve worked hard and ultimately come to this place. This is the group.”

ORIGINAL POST: http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130709/TEMPO/307090343

Popa’s Tunes Review – The Surface

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Stunningly beautiful harmonies with textured arrangements, skillful guitar work and catchy melodies The Lady Crooners will capture your attention.

Founded in 2010 by sibling singer-songwriters, Joseph and Nadia Krilanovich, The Lady Crooners invited Australian lead guitarist, Andrew (Kep) Keppie, to join and a dynamic trio was formed. So began an inspired session of long-distance songwriting. Music and lyric files raced back and forth via email from various locations around the globe as the band worked in their normal jobs of graphic designer, author/illustrator, and teacher/touring performer.

Joseph, Nadia, and Kep came together for the first time in May 2011 on an island in the Pacific Northwest to arrange and record ten songs. Their connection as a group was immediate. It became clear that the resulting recording, which captures the sound and feel of the band in live performance, was more than just a demo.

“Nadia and I started the band with the idea of making music and having fun doing it,” Joseph Krilanovich says. “It turned into a natural progression. Nadia will sing a bit of a melody, and I’ll counter with something on the guitar. We seem to be able to complete each other’s sentences, so to speak.”

With the concept of creating music that lives and breathes, The Lady Crooners are prolific songwriters and collaborators. Their music is a signature blend of rootsy folk pop, beautiful harmonies, and interweaving guitars. Their songs are intimate, soulful portraits of three mischievous romantics who love playing and creating music together.

“Nadia is the lyrical powerhouse,” Joseph Krilanovich says. “She’s a force to be reckoned with. She has a bachelor of fine arts from Western Washington University and a few children’s books published. She’s a creative person all the way around.”

Now based in San Francisco, The Lady Crooners have evolved into a full, wonderfully energized five piece group that delivers everything from haunting ballads to boot-stomping pandemonium, featuring Joseph and Nadia along with Bay Area talent: singer-songwriter Andrew Blair, multi-instrumentalist Ross Warner, and bassist Bret Cohune. Their 2nd Album The Surface was released in June 2013.

“We recorded it in a beautiful studio in Oakland,” Joseph Krilanovich says. “We put a lot of effort into it. There’s a tremendous amount of creativity between us that drives us forward, and writing songs is like having a lot of little love affairs. Songwriting comes easy for us. There’s always material we want explore.”

FULL REVIEW: http://popatunes.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-lady-crooners-surface.html