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The Best of the CT Music Awards with Sarah LeMieux Quintet

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For 10% OFF Orchestra Level seats, please use the discount code HOTTOWN10 at checkout! (case sensitive)

Never fear, for those of you who missed the 4^th Annual, Sold Out Connecticut Music Awards, we have brought back the big winners from that special night!! Song of the Year winner Canyon, Album of the Year winner Sarah LeMieux Quintet, and Best New Band Broca’s Area take our Hartford stage to continue the celebration of CT’s amazing music scene!! Be there or be square!!

Canyon

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www.hellomynameiscanyon.com

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Artist Bio

Currently hailing from Connecticut, Canyon. is a 30 year old vocal powerhouse. She is known by those that have seen her perform to be a captivating singer/songwriter with haunting and heart-wrenchingly honest songs. Performing with just an acoustic guitar, her catchy vocal melodies will immediately grab your attention while the intimate lyrics and stories she tells will keep your ears guessing. Known for performing with an intensely raw passion and conviction, her sound will cut you deep and hit a nerve.

Raised by a single mother in Northern California, Canyon.’s earliest musical influences can be traced back to the cassettes her mother would play on repeat during long road trips. “I get my independent and adventurous spirit from my mom. Whenever we would hit the road together she used to make a bed for me in the back of the car. I remember just laying for hours watching the sky change out the back window daydreaming to Cat Stevens and Tracy Chapman the most… but there was Neil Young, Sarah McLaughlin and the Indigo Girls as well…”

On September 25th, 2002, Canyon celebrated her 18th birthday by borrowing her mother’s acoustic guitar, boarding a plane and officially moving to New York City. It marked the beginning of her journey into music. Several years and several guitars later, her voice has developed into one of strength, wisdom and maturity with songs inspired by the life experiences of a young adult in a big city.

Canyon.’s emergence onto the music scene began with The Break Contest 2010 when she, along with friend and former partner Andrew Maturana, were the only acoustic act to be selected to perform at The Bamboozle Festival 2010, which boasted an estimated attendance of 20,000. Since January 2011, Canyon. has been performing in festivals and venues throughout the Northeast living by her model, “I will play anywhere and everywhere that will let me…”

With her folk roots as undeniable and organic as her namesake which comes from lyrics in the song “Thrasher” by Neil Young. Canyon. is poised to make her mark on the Folk genre by re-defining what modern Folk means and finally letting her voice be heard.

Sarah LeMieux Quintet

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sarahlemieux.virb.com

The Sarah LeMieux Quintet plays something called "chamber jazz" - a beautiful hybrid of classical instrumentation and notated counterpoint, woven jazz harmonies and vocal improvisation. It's part Debussy, part Ella Fitzgerald, part Klezmer; at once nostalgic and new. Current members include Sarah's brother Brendan on percussion, Gretchen Frazier on viola, Julie Levene on clarinet and Alexandra Millen on the upright bass.

" LeMieux plays with the contrast between a clear jazz lilt and a gritty, growling blueswoman, coming across classy and unhinged at the same time." - Dan Barry, Hartford Advocate

This is how it came about: Sarah LeMieux grew up in an exuberantly eclectic musical family. Her mother tended toward French folk, and her father played the blues - and when her little brother arrived, he kept everyone awake with the drums. After earning her BA from New York University, Sarah stayed in New York working as a session vocalist and guitarist - both in the studio, and as a hired support performer. NYC has a diverse and vibrant music scene, and it presented her with opportunities to interpret, create and absorb a broad spectrum of music.

Sarah came home to Connecticut after the birth of her first child and began producing and performing her own original material. She managed to earn an international reputation and BSMF Records in Japan began releasing her albums to radio stations world-wide. She garnered some pretty nice reviews for performances at the National Women in Blues Festival, Mamapalooza festival, and International Women Arts (SWAN) Day Festivals. Most recently, The Sarah LeMieux Quintet won "Best Jazz" at the 2014 Connecticut Music Awards.

Sarah teaches guitar, voice and piano at music schools in New Haven and Fairfield County. In New Haven, she's a founding member of a work group devoted to developing music and dance education programming for individuals with special needs. She's also developed hands-on arts enrichment and mindfulness programs for public schools. In recent years, she has rediscovered her love of classical and liturgical music, which continues to weave its way into new compositions.

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Broca's Area

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www.brocasareamusic.com

Broca's Area is a four piece future soul band based out of Hartford, Connecticut that is a unique blend of hip-hop, R&B, and soul music. Pushing the envelope of these styles towards jazz gives you the multi-dimensional, polyrhythmic band that is Broca's Area. Serving their audiences with their soulful lead singer (Mary Corso) who delivers warm breathy vocals reminding you of the classic school of neo-soul. The core band arrangements are a keyboards-bass-drum trio that’s bringing tight grooves influenced by the Blue Note catalog. Broca's Area serves its audiences with high energetic performances of original compositions and unique covers honoring some of the greats from J Dilla to Jill Scott. This is what makes Broca's Area diverse and multi-dimensional. Broca's Area has shared the stage with bands such as Mad Satta, West End Blend, Mammal Dap, Funky Dawgz Brass Band, Midnight Snack and many other artists in the scene.

Winner of The New England's The Deli Magazine 'Artist of the Month', "The interplay between Mary Corso and rapper Ghazi Omair's angular flow would be enough for a killer group, but these guys push it over the edge with a groovy drummer, Steven Cusano, whose timing creates a backbeat that puts the world in slo-mo. And that's not even mentioning the absurdly tasty keys."- Paul Jordan Talbot (March 2015)

The band was just recently named by the 2015 CT Music Awards for Best R&B/Soul/Funk and Best New Band and nominated for Best Hip-Hop Band and Song of the Year "Who is to say" for the record we put out in April of 2015. Our debut EP "Clarity" is now available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon mp3 and bandcamp.

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