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We won Best Rock Performance at the IPMA! 

The 2016 International Portuguese Music Awards (IPMA) show was held at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center in New Bedford MA on Saturday April 23rd. The nominees for Best Rock Performance were: 

– “Mãos Ao Ar” by M’Vula (Angola) 
– “Birds” by Mourah (Switzerland) 
– “Pedaços de Papel” by Cesar Rego (USA) 
– “The Truth of The Lion” by Mike Kerr (USA)


Right to Left: Mike Kerr, me, Ven Thangaraj, Matt Zappa :)
 
Mike Kerr accepting the award and delivering an eloquent speech :)

 
 
It was a great feeling. Thank you, Mike for including me on this track!

 

You can watch our part of the show and also see some behind the scenes footage from the gala the night before and a little bit of the after party.
 

Happy 2016! 



To my friends and fans: 

I write to you now not just as Adrienne Cowan of Seven Spires and dishevelled composing and metal screaming, but also as Adrienne of too much coffee and Xenoblade and Zelda and nerdy space things. 

I owe you so much, and cannot thank you enough for the kind words and support you have shown me over the course of the last twelve months. The grey had a frighteningly strong hold on me at multiple times this year, and though I felt stagnant, what got me out of bed in the morning was continuing to sing short video clips or take quick snapshots of my soul for you. Your positive feedback and love has made a world of difference to me, and has and continues to be a beacon through the rough and foggy tides. 

Spires has grown and progressed beautifully thanks to your continued support, and with shows, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram I've been fortunate to meet and eventually count many of you as friends. And, September marked something of a rebirth in my head; somewhere at ProgPower USA, everything clicked back into place and I feel now as though I can take on anything. 

And so, to all of you and especially those in the Seventh Brigade, my family in Spires, my family in blood, my friends old and new, and everyone involved at PPUSA '15: you not only saved my ass in a long-term way, but also kicked me back into a long-lost headspace of "I am" instead of "I could". Thank you for re-installing my raison d'être, for the entire album I wrote upon my return from Atlanta, for the power of becoming a morning person, and for inspiring me to be the best version of myself I can be. Thank you for showing me how to grow, and how to nurture and love myself again. Thank you for your enthusiasm and love. Thank you for the incredible opportunities you've presented. I promise I won't disappoint you. 

Every year gets even better than the last one, and 2016 is looking huge. As always, I wish you the best of luck in all of your endeavours, and hope to see you soon out on the road!! 

Hugs, hugs, hugs xxx

Some Photos from "Queen Bouidicca: A Metal Opera"  

What a great night--almost 500 people came to the world premiere of Queen Boudicca at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston on March 7. Here are some pics from the technical rehearsal the night before. 

Bows on March 7 with the entire cast plus composer Robert Schlink.
 
And me with some friends... and Severed Ted after the performance ;)

Presented by Metal Bardic Circle, LLC

Composed by Robert E. Schlink and Robert C. Schlink

Conductor: Robert E. Schlink

Directed by Carol Schlink

**Cast**
The Bard: Matt Grina

Queen Boudicca: Eva Gaudet

King Prasutagus/Ensemble: Daniel Prior

Heaunea: Haydee Irizarry

Lannosea: Liz Nevolo

Asceawa: Adrienne Cowan

Caitus/Agricola: Eddie Shifflet

Suetonius: Cameron Earnshaw

Iceni Soldier/Ensemble: David D'Andrea

Filids: Summer Shen, Liz Nevolo, Haydee Irizarry

**Metal Band**
Guitar: Patrick Unruh

Guitar: Adam Rafowitz

Acoustic Guitar/Electric Guitar: Daniel 
Martinez del Campo

Bass: Frank Taylor

Drums: Anthony Medaglia

Keyboards: Jenny Xu

Celtic Drums: Alex Suggs, Kevin Arndt, Jose Flores

Carnyx Players: Alex Hart, David Joslin

Violin: Kailey Zercher, Louis Remenapp, Yijun Huang

Electric Cello: Aodan Collins

Viola: Nathaniel Austin

Flute: Elaine Matir, Elaine Lizardo

Oboe: Sam Burke

Clarinet: Jessica Leech

**Crepusculum Choir**

Director: TJ Tiquori

Soprano: Claire Joy Moss, Jessie Putnam, Nicole Roberts, Celia Tow

Alto: Lindsay Pennington (Choir Director), Laura Wilson, Laura Edwards, Alicia Deros, Marcelle Simpson, Alyssa DiMaio

Tenor: Patrick Haffmans, Alex Isayyid, Jeffrey Jauch, Arthur Smeall, Carlos Nogueras

Bass: Scott Bell, Matt Grina, Cheng-Ting Liao, Alexander Yen, Jeffrey Millonig, Zach Ivy, TJ Liquori

**Crew**
Comic Book Artist: Gary Deslauries

Berklee College of Music, Boston Massachusetts

Stage Managers: Caitlin DiSarro

Costumes/Props: The Cast, Carol Schlink, Mt. Hope High School Tech Theatre Class, Caitlin DiSarro

Copyist/Additional Orchestrations: Vern Grahm

Technical Consultant/Slide Technician: Rob Gaudet

Piper: Liam Alastair Crouse

Happy New Year! 




Hello dears, I just wanted to say a gigantic THANK YOU for making 2014 even better than I could have imagined! It's been great meeting such fantastic new friends (there are so many of you now!!), you make me feel very lucky to have you around 

Let's focus hard and keep forging the path toward our dreams in 2015! I know I will be, so here's wishing you the best of luck for a wonderful new year 

Always yours,
Adrienne xxx 

The Lastest on Instagram 

L-R
Nick Petrino, To Do list, DIY Style, Sleep Deprived
Anthony Medaglia Recording with Seven Spires at BIRN, Jordan Williams and Starbucks, Throwback Thursday: Riot Underground, with Jack Kosto on BIRN for Seven Spire's interview
Berklee Heavy Metal Ensemble recital, My BELOVED, Remembering, Going to Sleep with the Birds Singing, 
Rehearsing with Sonic Pulse, Seven Spires' Instagram (SEVENSPIRESBAND), First Day of Summer, Setting Up the E-Drums for Spires Rehearsals at My House
L-R
Metal Froyo with Cam and Anthony, Seven Spires' New Lineup (Jack, Cam, Adrienne, Anthony), on the Plane to Las Vegas, Vegas Airport Welcome
In the Valley of Fire (NV), Goths in Hot Weather, Desert Bighorn Sheep Are Epic (Valley of Fire, NV), the Desert is Bad for My Voice
With Jen at the Las Vegas Affliction Clothing Store, Bought a New Collar in Las Vegas, Celebrating World Goth Day with Jack, My Dog Loves Ice Cream
Filming with the Brotherhood of Grace, New Hair, Reunion with Edd Heritage, Edd Heritage Drew Me (haha). 

Whew.

The Last Two Weeks on Instagram (April 14, 2014) 

 
With Jimmy and Jack,at the Boston Opera House for Dream Theater plus Alexi Laiho and Children of Bodom the same week results in the necessity for Tiger Balm for bangovers, Sundays are work days too, being a one trick pony pays off, spiked shades.
Transformation Tuesday, Buried Electric's cymbal, Converse and BLUE jeans (!), all will be revealed soon, Patrick likes his coffee black, first gig with Dirty Lyxx.

​~instagram~

April 2014 Newsletter 



Hello dears!

I can't believe March is already gone.

What is there to report? Seven Spires' tracks for the first EP (OFFICIAL TITLE ALERT: "The Cabaret of Dreams") are all sent off to Germany for mixing and mastering, the first videoshoot is done and being edited, we've done a couple photoshoots, rehearsals have started to perfect our live show, and we're drafting the EP booklet, talking to our local friends about doing some shows/tour together, and at some point I suppose we'll probably start looking at making some merch!

Meanwhile, look out for a teaser, a demo, and some other fun releases before this EP drops. Seriously so excited for this.

Oh yeah, and uni's going well. I might place out of the last level of Ear Training since I did so well on my midterms, which is always handy. Had to handwrite a score and individual parts for my Arranging midterm (photo above). Andddd I've just seen Dream Theater perform at the absolutely gorgeous Boston Opera House with the Berklee orchestra (World Strings plus special guests) and concert choir. The orchestra was conducted by Eren Başbuğ, a fellow student here. I am in awe of that guy's talent and drive. His passion for what he does is incredible, and it's so great to see it all paying off like this.

Also, while we're talking about local legends... check out Alek Darson's Panopticon EP. This guy is self produced, absolutely awesome at writing, has serious guitar chops, and is super humble. Wow.

Onwards and upwards, friends, we're aiming for the stars as always!

Yours,

Adrienne

PS Jack, Anthony, JP, and I had an awesome time playing live on WUML 91.5's The Stress Factor last month! You can see some more behind the scenes photos here :)

February Newsletter 

HELLO YOU GORGEOUS HEADBANGERS, I hope you're staying warm during these absolutely frigid winter nights!

I'm writing to you from a long table in Starbucks across from Berklee, drinking a vanilla latte. It's snowing (again) and it's cold and I am definitely looking forward to summer again, or at least a marginally warmer spring. January has been a flurry of track making and cover filming (links at the bottom! Lots of power metal :D). Been doing a lot of writing sessions with Jack, and rehearsals have started with Alika's hard rock project.

Oh, and I turned 19 haha, almost forgot! My mom made me the traditional spice cake with caramel fudge icing. I have gained 2 lbs from the cake alone and I don't regret a single bite. SO GOOD. I also got a wireless mic which I am dying to do some shows with. Actually it'd be nice to do shows at all haha. All in good time I suppose, we're in the middle of auditioning drummers for my symphonic metal project. I think we found someone we like, but we'll see for sure come Thursday when we jam with him.

Oh and I also got a photoshoot in haha, after much rescheduling.

I also saw a band called Aviations the other day. You know the video "Sh*t djent kids say"? That's the drummer hahaha. Apparently he gets really annoyed when people bring it up because he's more famous for that than his band.

Also, I'm considering doing a Nightwish cover. Any requests? I'm vaguely tempted to do "Ghost Love Score" because it's my favorite, even though it's silly long and going to be a big pain in the butt to record all of the orchestral parts :')

But yes, about the symphonic metal project! We're currently thinking of splitting it into two or more "chapters" (EPs) so that we can get better quality material on there instead of silly songs that were rushed to finish. It's still going to be conceptual and all of that, I just want to make sure I make only the best for you :)

Recording should start around the end of this month, as soon as we decide what is going on the first EP and what we'll release later. Man, if I had the time and resources for it, I'd get a proper big orchestra and a choir on this, it would sound so awesome! Always makes a big difference, Nightwish used the London Symphony Orchestra  for "Imaginaerum" and Avantasia used the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg on "Mystery of Time"... two of my favorite records.

Anyway, I'll stop fangirling haha, it's always a pain to get that sudden reality check when I'm in the middle of an ambitious daydream.

Also I'm in like five projects at the moment on top of school, this is CRAZY. Seriously haha. Aside from the metal ensemble at Berklee, I've got my symphonic metal project, Alika's hard rock project, doing some vox and a little writing with Edd on his EP, and possibly another collab or two in the works... we'll see. Oh and then there's all the YouTube stuff of course!

This semester I am taking Solfege 1, Tonal Harmony, Hardcore/Heavy Metal Ensemble, Stage Performance Techniques (taught by Livingston Taylor... yes James Taylor's brother!), Harmony 2, Arranging 1, and of course private voice lessons with my awesome opera teacher, Kathleen Flynn. Basically, I'm learning more about how melodic lines fit together and also about harmonies from a more classical perspective rather than contemporary, which works beautifully for this neoclassical/Symphonic metal thing I'm working on! Very exciting.


Current Top 5:

1. Classical harmonies
2. Lucas Turilli's Rhapsody - Ascending to Infinity
3. Fleshgod Apocalypse again haha. Man check out that opera chick! And chord sequences and stuff. And that drummer YES PLEASE :O
4. Youtube covers, hoping to do 2 a month but we'll see about that
5. FIRE EMBLEM

Holy gods of metal I shouldn't have started gaming again. This game is sucking my life away ahhhhhhhhhhh. I am losing sleep to it because I'll stay up until stupid o'clock battling and developing relationships... Ugh haha. It's a great game, GO GET A COPY AND WE CAN BE LOSER BUMS TOGETHER.

That's what's happening now! I'd say that's all that's happening now but honestly haha it's a bit silly to say that when I'm working my butt off haha!

Hope you're doing well, can't wait to see you on the road again :))

All my love,

Adrienne xxx

Happy New Year! 

Happy New Year, Headbangers!

This is a MASSIVE THANK YOU!! for making 2013 the biggest year of my life so far. There's a lot of awesome stuff we did together in the last 12 months, so I wanted to make a small scrapbook type thing for all the really big things that we did!

Hollywood Trash

These guys are crazy. Hilarious, crazy, and holy hell we had some fun gigs together!


Tour was a big eye opener for me. While meeting some way cool people along the way, I also learned a lot about myself as a singer, as a writer, and about my own personal limits. 


Riot Underground

Riot Underground was a blast. These days will forever have a place in my heart haha, so many good times. Honestly the pictures pretty much speak for themselves.


Boston and Berklee, Semester 1

Moving to Boston this summer was pretty tough. But, it was really nice to hear from you each day through your wonderful comments and messages. Thanks for keeping the loneliness at bay.


Also, the support you showed for my choice to move to study at Berklee has been overwhelming. I have seen my writing and singing skills improve hugely in the last threeish months, so I hope that in the continuation of my studies here, I will be able to write and sing cooler stuff for you!

Oh, and I dyed my hair all black. I'm so dark. hahahah


Seven Spires (the new stuff)

Finally, we welcomed some new members to our family! Our new longhaired brothers from Seven Spires and I have been working a lot behind the scenes, polishing up our show and getting ready to head into the studio to get the songs recorded properly. I've also continued to write for the album. Each song gets better than the last, so I want to write loads and then pick the best from the lot. (By the way-- If you're curious about what happens behind the scenes, I've been posting a fair bit to my Instagram account lately (adrienne_cowan). Usually it's stuff about demos, rehearsals and the new look that I'm working on. Band silliness and coffee is of course a given, too.)

I also want to thank you for your patience with this, it is a very long process but I think putting the extra time in to finding the right musicians, studios, producers etc will be worth it. I am totally in love with this project, and I have a feeling you'll like it too.

Thank you for taking this exciting journey with me. We have definitely had some awesome times together in 2013. This new year, I will continue to work as hard as possible to improve my songs and performance and to deliver the best I can to you. If all goes roughly according to plan, this will mean some kind of release (EP or full length album), lots and lots of shows, and who knows what else!

I hope you're having as much fun as I am, and I hope you all had a wonderful time with your loved ones this holiday season. Here's to another year full of bigger and more epic music and more kickass times together, hopefully see you on the road soon. Much love.

Yours,
Adrienne

October Newsletter 


WHAT'S UP HEADBANGERS?!

Haha. It's that time again! September has flown by in a whirlwind of friend-making and 6:30 AM wakeup calls. My room is finally starting to feel like home, my body is starting to adjust to this morning thing, and Fall is definitely in the air (see: salted caramel mochas at Starbucks)

Berklee has been a bit of a shock to the system, but in a good way. There's so much work, and it's great! I haven't been able to join many clubs or other ensembles because I have classes when they run. That kind of sucks, but there's always next semester and my classes are fun anyway: an ensemble class on band leading, learning to conduct, improving my pen-to-paper music writing and sight-reading skills.

In other news, I've been jamming with some guys on my symphonic power metal project, which is really exciting! Rehearsals started a couple of weeks ago. It's a bit odd, giving them my songs to play instead of writing together like we did in Riot and Trash, but the guys are really cool and I think they're excited about the project as well. 

Also, if anyone is interested, I saw this newish band called Starkill a while back. The frontman is a cross between Alexi Laiho and the old Matt Tuck. Check it outttt

Current Top 5 (not in any order):
LASTLY, I'm going to release another demo at the end of the month, so be sure to check your inbox ;)

That's all for now! Hope you're having a good (or at least bearable!) time back at school/uni/work.


Yours,

Adrienne xxx

 
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TBFM Review Hollywood Trash's EP "Sordid 'n' Immoral" 

 

"Female vocals are always a worry to me as sometimes they can be the weak link, too thin for a rock band. Well hell, any worries on that score are blown out of the park by Miss Cowan’s opening salvo on ‘Mr Rock & Roll’. She sites Joan Jett as an influence and I’d say she’s pretty spot on, this is The Runaways on steroids, a proper head banging opener, and live will bring punters from the bar like bees to a honey pot."

4.5/5* Woo! Thanks Helen Bradley Owers and TBFM Online :) You can read the entire review here.

MIDEM 2013 

 
MIDEM is an international music business conference, which is held annually in Cannes, France. I went for the first time this year, and it was a real eye opener :p 


Coming into the Nice airport. England was cold and wet when we left.


Gonna get girly on you and show you what I wore :) Here's me, day 1...


... day 2...


... Day 3 (was raining, so reverted to my comfy clothes hahahaha)...


... day 4 xD


The Korean Pavilion had new displays daily--it was fun to go by and see who they had up. Here's me with CN Blue.


Time to go back to England? NEVAAAHHHHHHHHRUH


There are talks for everyone. Here's pianist Lang Lang. 


And Mark Hoppus from Blink-182.


As well as loads of music business presentations. I learned so much in four days, but I hit major overload on day 4 :P


In the evenings there are performances--both in clubs (here's We Are FM)


and in the specially built venue: The Magic Mirrors. I can't remember who this is, but we really enjoyed Archive's show on the third evening.


If you are in the music business, even if you're just a student like me, I would definitely recommend attending MIDEM if you can. I learned an incredible amount in four days! If you go next year, let me know and let's meet up ;)