February 11: The Marquee Room, Calgary AB
Popular in many places, you may have heard about Clea Roddick. The Calgarian musician has conquered the TV licensing brigade and won the hearts of many through extensive radio play in the United States, but now the successful songbird is playing a show in her own city of Calgary. Don’t miss this rare performance at the Marquee Room in Calgary on February 11th. Pick up your copy of her acclaimed album ‘ROLLERSKATE’ at the show or on KerfMusic.com
A teenage girl from rural Alberta climbed onto the Greyhound bus with a small baby and their entire possessions: two backpacks, a silver accordion and $50. Fast forward a few years and pan in on Clea Roddick: a performing songwriter who usually forgets to wear makeup (but sometimes puts a dab on at traffic lights en route to a gig), who lives in a halfway house for accordions and other keyboard instruments, who likes to walk in the bitterest cold to hear the snow ‘scrunch’ and grows a pumpkin patch in her backyard. With a 2010 record in pre-production, Clea continues to craft songs on a 100 yr old upright piano and records them in the garage-converted-studio (operated by her right hand man, Craig Newnes), while raising their two daughters.
Clea was recently supported by RAWLCO radio to release her first solo album. ‘ROLLERSKATE’ is a spirited disc full of hope and motivation for the human race. Groove-based themes which hint of environmentalism and bringing change with forgiveness, are threaded delicately alongside gentle tributes that offer a tender side to this compelling recording. ‘ROLLERSKATE’ is attracting a wide audience, charting on college and indie radio stations across the US and Canada (#1 in New York, NY, #1 in Queensburg, NY, #3 in Ithaca, NY, #5 in Montreal, QC), and being played on over 220 stations across North America. Songs from Clea’s album have also been licensed by many prominent television programs in the US. MTV’s ‘The Real World’ used Clea’s song “Rocks and Weeds” in a January 2010 episode and MTV’s ‘The Hills, ‘The City’, ‘Road Rules’ and ‘The Stylist’, VH1’s ‘Tough Love’, and E!TV’s ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’ and ‘Khloe & Kourt Take Miami’, have all licensed ‘ROLLERSKATE’ for use on their upcoming seasons.
Formerly fronting rock band Palm and Sago, Clea co-writes for other artists and is a published poet. She has a diploma in music from Selkirk College in BC. She won third place in the National Bliss Carman Poetry Contest (Prairie Fire Press/Banff Centre) and has been a finalist several times in the Calgary Folk Festival Songwriting contest and in various radio sponsored competitions. The Alberta songwriters compilation CD ‘Beautiful Dreamers’ features Clea alongside KD Lang, Ian Tyson and others with her performance of ‘Happiness is Not for Sale’ (Anne Loree).
“Structurally adventurous, yet alluring songwriting” – Mike Bell, Calgary Sun
“A sound that cannot be captured with words…not one throwaway lyric to be heard” – Mary-Lynn McEwen, FFWD Weekly
Clea’s music on MTV’s REAL WORLD
