Imagine Joni Mitchell playing guitar for Feist and you may come up with something similar to Deanna Cartea's unique approach to music that blurs the lines between Folk, Rock and Pop.

Her captivating vocals are like a blend of woodsmoke and wonder and combine well with the rocking and rhythmic undertones of her songs. Deanna's songwriting is full of emotion and soul inspired by her own life experience and from those around her. As clear and true as the tide, Deanna Cartea is an artist you don't want to miss.

Captivating vocals, haunting melodies, and thought-provoking lyrics describe the music of Deanna Cartea. Deanna combines her upbringing in the Canadian Prairies with a West Coast influence and fuses them into a truly unique sound that is able to draw in an audience from the moment she sings her first note.

Much of Deanna's songwriting is drawn upon the exposure she had to the hard core elements of society during a career in Social Work that brought her up close and personal to the people and families who struggle daily. Those images, combined with her own personal experiences in life form a genuine and cerebral style to the character of her songwriting.

A move from her hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan to the West Coast of British Columbia brought an entirely new element to Deanna's music. Much of this new direction was guided by the vibrant music scene occurring on the Sunshine Coast of  BC. Deanna carefully crafted a new and unique sound described as a blend of woodsmoke and wonder, and burst onto the West Coast music scene as a solo artist. She has performed at venues as varied as Robson Hall to the trendy and lively Trees Organic Cafe in Vancouver.

Deanna is finishing her first full length album entitled “Open Road” and is extremely excited about the direction the album developed during the recording process. Producer Ray Fulber of www.straitsoundstudio.com enlisted some of the best musicians in the Vancouver and Sunshine Coast area including, Jay Johnson, Joe Stanton, Michael Rummond, Tim Hearsey, Susann Richter. In addition, the album includes co-writes with another upcoming singer/songwriter, Kris Anders. During the recording process, the essence of Deanna's unique sound was given the highest priority and was the main focus of the Strait Sound Studio team. This album promises a fresh and unique sound to arise out of the talent rich Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada.

Press

Wow.

The second weekend in June is always a very good time to be out and about in Gibsons… not only for those who groove to what falls into a broad definition of the category of jazz, but for anyone who loves music. This past Saturday, the gloomy grey skies parted to create a scorching hot first-real-summer-day just in time for the public two day Jazz Festival at Dougall Park in Gibsons Landing. People came from all over – on coast and off – by car, by BC Ferries, by sailboat, by private boat, by motorcycle and bike. Everyone wanted to hear some great music, and most had for the better part of the afternoon.

After we dropped in to hear the strangely subdued percussion band SWARM, who looked like their hearts weren’t entirely in their performance if compared to the reviews on their band site, we wandered off along the waterfront towards our favourite oyster joint, Smitty’s Oyster House. We shared the length of polished bar with other oyster afficionados while listening to Van Morrison’s collection of hits, feeling a bit morose that perhaps we had missed out on the best music of the day with our dillydallying and late arrival. The tried and true beauty of Morrison’s voice and lyrics were gorgeous of course, but we wished we had heard something amazing LIVE.

When we left Smitty’s we headed up the steps to Molly’s Lane, and that’s where we discovered – in the best sense of the word – the raw power and beauty of local artist Deanna Cartea.

It could hardly have been a less impressive venue for anyone stumbling across it who didn’t know the area: she sat with her back to the concrete wall that provides the exterior to the much beloved ‘Molly’s Lane Market’ (a collection of disparate vendors under one roof that is a popular destination for both people new to town and us tourists from the Coast).

Cords and a speaker took up the top walkway and a brave little lamp glowed against the still strong evening light while a wooden-faced gnome (visible in the clip with this post) kept watch over about 5 or 6 people in what passed for a ‘crowd’ as the day wound down. Aforementioned guests lounged in resin easy chairs well out into the paved drive that led past the lane and down to the waterfront parking and seawall walk below, cheerfully ignoring vehicles passing just inches from their heads.

All sense of doubt regarding the intimate space and performer were erased with the first note of her voice. Though her guitar playing is very accomplished, with an interesting range of string-picking and strumming patterns that only confirmed my own meagre skills after years of playing, it was Deanna’s voice that beguiled and compelled. We promised ourselves one song, as our pugs were at home awaiting their long-delayed dinner (one does not mess with the brutish appetite of pugs!) and ended up staying for five, unwilling to break the spell she wound around every person present.

The acoustics were stupendous against the wall with the sunny Molly’s Lane logo as backdrop – but how to describe her voice? A blend of woodsmoke and wonder, a windy airiness in the low notes and the high notes clear and true as a tide. Indescribable, though I attempt it mightily.

In the end, all I can say is that every single person there was disappointed she did not yet have a CD cut. All took her sheet of links and left a contribution in a pile that was more bills than coins.

As it turns out, our plans to attend The Idlers gig at the Roberts Creek Hall were dashed by the machinations of ferrying a teenager, so we were delighted to have ‘discovered' Deanna.

Deanna Cartea....remember the name...... http://www.bigpacific.com

A feel-good homegrown story for all small rural communities in BC: Gibsons performing artist Deanna Cartea has been signed by Citation Records in Los Angeles, California and is recording her first album.

Bigpacific.com first stumbled across this evocative artist when strolling past Molly’s Lane after dinner along the waterfront. We were returning to our car and eager to head home after a long day but then heard this smoky, ethereal voice coming from just out of sight. We stepped into the lane and entered the atmospheric energy zone created by Cartea with nothing but a chair, a guitar, and a small sound system.

Like any artist, Cartea has done and continues to do the small gigs that provide a way to get her music in front of as many people as possible. Now we can say, ‘we heard her when’ and recall the amazing acoustics of the Lane on a sunny summer evening and the joy of discovering such a wonderful artist from one of our own Coast home towns.

All the best to you, Deanna. Everyone at home is wishing you every success!...... http://www.bigpacific.com

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