 Sharon Bousquet- Brief Bio
Born in South Philadelphia to a musical family, Sharon grew up on the East Coast in towns like Chester, PA and Wilmington, DE. Voices from the left side of the radio dial began making an impression during the long vacations her family took each summer. With her father behind the wheel of a wood-paneled Ford station wagon and a small Scotty travel trailer rolling behind, the voices of Joni Mitchell, CSNY, and the progressive rock melodies of Yes, Led Zeppelin and Heart took hold. Those long car rides throughout the West left ample time for an artist’s imagination to rise, for a writer to be born.
Each of Sharon’s 5 CDs, including her first session in ’94 with the Vancouver-based ensemble “Travelers in Paradise” - a compilation that raised $10,000 for the H.I.V. ward of the Vancouver Children’s Hospital - have been independently released. The strongest of the six reached American audiences with the spring 2007 radio release of "Temple".
"Temple" was recorded and mixed in Austin, Texas at MoonHouse Studio with multi-instrumentalist Chris Gage at the helm (Albert & Gage, Roy Clark). The minimalist choices on tracks like "Northern Sky" left plenty of room for Sharon Bousquet’s gift of a voice to take hold of the spotlight and not let it go.
“Sharon Bousquet does everything with sultry grace. She has considerable prowess on the acoustic guitar, yet puts her instrument down to belt out electrifying a cappella numbers like the gospel-tinged Temple. Bousquet has the substance to rise to the top.” R. Patt, Metro Santa
Discography: Stormy Heaven (96) Mirror, Mirror (98) Bootleg Bousquet (01) Live in Texas (04) Temple (07) Compilations: A Christmas Wish (94) Peace from The Porch, Vol. 2 (06)
News:
•February 2010 News: Bousquet Music has signed with Marketing and Booking Agency Makeig Marketing, to promote, book and market The Singing Body Seminars lead by holistic educator Sharon Bousquet. President Diana Makeig will also work with Bousquet Music to promote the Bousquet Music CD catalogue including two new releases expected in 2010, while booking concerts by talented duo "Beaucoup Shakti". More details soon....
• 2 songs from Temple and a song from an earlier Bousquet release Mirror, Mirror (’98) can be heard in the upcoming film, “Cosmic Radio” (2008). The film had it's premier at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in January 2008, where it was the sleeper hit of the festival. Release info TBA.
•Sharon Bousquet provided the theme of the film, title track, background music and more for the Independent film "Sister Patchouli" starring Sondra Ward (2008), by My Town Pictures. The film won a Tellie Award.
Other Awards/Kudos: Winner, Jazz category, Austin Songwriter’s Group song contest for "No Valentine" Winner, TX Heritage Music Foundation/Kerrville Folk Fest Essay Contest Finalist, 16th Annual B.W. StevensonSinger-Songwriter Award, Dallas Finalist, Inspirational, ASG Song Contest for the song "Temple"
Praise for Temple: “Clean, uncluttered & transparent, the well-played, minimalist arrangements not only recall classic early singer-songwriter ventures by the likes of Joni Mitchell, Joan Armatrading and Janis Ian, but Bousquet - remarkably - holds her own in that lofty neighborhood.” - Jim Musser, Iowa City Press-Citizen
“There’s magic in her delivery. Temple is the best CD I have heard in a long time. What a silver-clear voice! ” - Tormod Uleberg, Radio Loland (Norway)
“I love it! Reminds me of the great singer-songwriter records…Carol King, Janis Ian and so on. Sure, I’ll give airplay to Temple.” - Theo Oldenburg (NL)
“…magnificent melodies!” - Andrea Stolle, Old Stringhouse Music (Germany)
”Her music and voice are remarkable. I’ll be glad to add some of her songs to the show, starting with her outstanding version of Nick Drakes ‘Northern Sky’.” - Remo Ricaldone, Italy
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