LUNAR LUMINARY
by Kate Goldsmith
Taconic Press August 14, 2008
With her friendly, charismatic demeanor and considerable music prowess,
Helen Avakian is the incredibly talented girl next door who has blossomed
right before your eyes.
One of the Hudson Valley's most popular performers, Avakian is also among
the most multifaceted, at home in a range of genres from singer-songwriter
to Flamenco and classical guitar.
As a recording artist, she released "Vanishing Point" in 2001, which burst
with potential and hinted at a promising future for a songwriter who
merged sensitivity with sensibility.
That potential has been realized with "I Love the Moon," Avakian's new
release on her own Highwater Music label. The CD's 12 tracks are the
culmination of an artist's honing of craft and determination to excel.
Recorded at Scott Petito's NRS Recording Studio in Catskill, "I Love the
Moon" exudes confidence and warmth, with each song setting a different
mood. Avakian wrote or co-wrote 10 of the 12 tunes, with husband and
guitarist extraordinaire, Terry Champlin, writing the other two and
co-writing three others.
Avakian is comfortable in her skin here: her voice is sure, her playing is
top-notch. The musicians assisting her - including Petito and Champlin -
support her story-songs with aplomb and expressivity.
"I Love the Moon" gets better with each listen.
Nightlife Spotlight: Helen Avakian interview
- How would you describe your genre?
Singer/songwriter/acoustic guitarist with some classical and new age
elements
- Recent influences (musical, or otherwise):
Some recent albums that have "turned my head" are "Haughty Melodic" by
Mike Doughty and "Viridian" by the Greencards. I love Suzanne Vega's new
album "Beauty and Crime," as well. She is a longtime influence, as is
Terry Champlin, classical guitarist and composer par excellence and as it
happens, my husband! Terry is my biggest influence, (surprise!); also, my
producer and collaborator, NRS recording studio owner and
multi-instrumentalist composer and producer, Scott Petito. Virtuoso
fingerstyle guitarist, Tommy Emmanuel, as well as a group of fine
guitarists and good friends I have met at the Walnut Valley Festival in
Winfield, Kan., have also been keeping me very inspired.
- How has your work evolved?
I am trying to be more straightforward and clear with my songs. I have a
lot of songs that are better appreciated after a bit of preliminary
explanation. Now, I really try to write and perform songs that are easy
to understand without any introduction - not that I still don't appreciate
a bit of mystery here and there. I also like to think I am singing and
playing guitar better than ever. I am always trying to improve my
expressiveness and technique. After a performance the other night a woman
came up who has heard me many times. She said she thinks I sound better
each time she hears me, and that she feels more emotion from my
performance. That certainly made me feel like some good progress is being
made.
- What is your goal as an artist?
To save the universe! To sell more widgets! No, no seriously, to do the
best work I can and to share it with any and all who can make use of it to
enhance their life in some way.
MySpace Posting on "I Love the Moon"
Sep 26, 2008 7:10 PM
From Brian Henke
(Award winning Fingerstyle Guitarist, Composer, Recording Artist)
Hi Helen,
I get alot of CDs. Let me repeat...ALOT of CDs!!
Usually they're good, sometimes not so good, some even kind of good or
almost good anyway. Once in awhile I get a great CD. Yours is a REALLY
GREAT CD!!!!
I listened to "I Love the Moon" at least 50 times in a row as I was making
the long drive from Tulsa to St Louis and 50 more times from St Louis to
Northeast Ohio. I never do that. Sometimes a certain song will make me
listen over and over again as I listen to all of the nuances, trying to
hear them all, I listen to your entire CD over and over again.
Usually when I hear a CD the producer in me hears changes I would make,
the songwriter, changes I would make and the guitar player in me, the
changes I would make. Not this time. I was constantly surprised like a
kid on Christmas morning at every turn.
Your balance on the way your words and the music flow is just amazing!!
You don't just sing. You communicate right to the soul in a clear and
beautiful way.
The names Joni Mitchell, Suzanne Vega, Sarah McLachlan and Helen Avakian
are names that all belong together. At least on my CD player they do.
Sweet, vulnerable, beautiful deep, poetic, virtuosic, honest are just a
few of the adjectives I could use to describe your CD...
Brian Henke
Rhythm & News,
April 2001
Michael Jurkovic
Will the family, friends, and fans of Helen Avakian please
swear in a blood compact to send copies of "Vanishing Point"
everywhere. I mean, radio stations, record labels, VH-l, the
press, Web sites, hairdressers, sympathetic extremist groups, etc.
It's a scattershot promo plan, I know, but if enough copies get
sent out, someone who knows someone's mistress will listen up
and get the girl heard at the next level.
Avakian deserves to travel in the same circle as Patti Larkins and Dar and Lucinda
Williams. There's a courageously idiosyncratic sound at work here, creating a wann, lacy
realm of reality and romance that carries you far away from the calculations and
manifestations of today's pop music machine.
Many of the songs on "Vanishing Point" will be familiar to the faithful, but they are
heard anew with a tangible lushness. Largely due to Helen's artistic evolution -- her nimble
and intelligent guitar and detail to craft continue to astonish -- as well as co-producer/multi-
instrumentalist Scott Petito, who has produced what I believe to be one of the finest
sounding discs to ever come from the Hudson Valley. Hushed when called for (the lustrous and
evocative "Christmas Tree," "Drifting Days"); inventive arranging and production
("Carrie," "On The Verge," "Vanishing Point"), allows Avakian the full palette she needs
to explore her muse from "Vows" and "If You Only Knew" to "Page's Jig," a playful celtic
tribute to Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page.
Helen's done a great job. Now getting the word out to the rest of the planet is up to us.
C'mon, let's get going! We haven't a moment to lose.