Margo Valiante - First Born Son from Curtis Pollock on Vimeo.
Margo performs “I Can’t Pray” at the Winners Round of the Wildflower Singer Songwriter Competition in Dallas, TX.
MARGO VALIANTE BIOGRAPHY
From the words of her hometown paper in Jackson, WY, “Margo Valiante sings the blues high, strong and convincingly,” a skill she acquired in the mountains and has brought, since the fall of 2008, to Austin, TX. Margo grew up singing with her father at a young age and eventually translated that passion into her life as a music major at Skidmore College. A seasoned performer from the first note to the last, you’ll never hear a moment of hesitation in her songwriting or in her voice. The Austin Chronicle approves of Margo’s”…supple suede vocals,” on her album I Can’t Pray (2010), “there’s an overall soulfulness that buys her a ticket into the ranks of Austin’s established female vocalists.” Her fans, often comparing her voice to those of Bonnie Raitt and Patty Griffin, say her voice could stop a train, not to mention stop every room she plays to.
Although fairly new to the Texas scene, her performance of songs, Mama Don’t Know and Miriam won her a top slot at the 2009 Wildflower Festival Songwriting Competition in Dallas, TX. Margo plays regularly at Austin’s best music venues and had multiple sets at the SXSW music conferences in 2009 and 2010. Margo has found that “Texas is a songwriter’s mecca, with intelligent, attentive audiences that want to see you take a clear direction.” Beginning in mid-May of this year, the artist will spend a month traveling cross-country from the Northeast back to her hometown in Wyoming, performing songs from her new EP and representing her new home of Austin. Her tour will include a stop at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival as one of ten finalists in the highly acclaimed Troubadour Competition on June 17th.
I Can’t Pray was recorded with famed Austin guitarist, Rich Brotherton (Robert Earl Keen) along with her Austin-based band. Her second release in the last two years has a connective, soulful tone throughout its five tracks. The album is carefully steeped in Blues/Alt-Country and effortlessly displays her extensive vocal range and power. In the title track, Margo ties in her response to the whiskey-soaked lyrics of the song Moonshiner juxtaposed with the memory of herself as a young, apprehensive church-goer. The line “Go tell them all…that I can’t pray” is rooted from one of her first solos during a church concert. “I was told to sing a solo in Go Tell It on the Mountain…I hated every minute of it,” she laughs, “It was a song that later embodied my rejection of and constant fascination with religion and gospel music.” This emotion is palpable throughout the song I Can’t Pray and strongly woven into her stirring performances on this record.
PRAISE FOR MARGO VALIANTE
“As produced by Rich Brotherton, Margo Valiante's blues on five-song EP I Can't Pray favor the Bonnie Raitt/Americana style. That's a comfortable and expressive place for Valiante to be since relocating to Austin. With warm organ work from Riley Osbourn and supple suede vocals, there's an overall soulfulness that buys her a ticket into the ranks of Austin's established female vocalists.”
-Margaret Moser, Austin Chronicle
“It’s a voice like hers that will move you. Valiante’s EP “I Can’t Pray” is a good preview of her forthcoming full-length release…”
-Laurie Gallardo, KUT Radio, Texas Music Matters
“We’re lucky Margo decided to join us here in Austin. Jackson, WY, is nice, but way more folks will get to experience her giant talent now that she’s living in the Live Music Capital. She sings great, she writes great, she performs great, the band’s great; it’s the whole package. Check out her shows – you’ll see.”
-Rich Brotherton, Producer/Guitarist, Robert Earl Keen
