colette rivers

Well, 2023 has so far flown by. Though we are only in April, it's been busy for me. 

I've had a few gigs in the Wairarapa and a few in Wellington which have all been really good. Nowadays, I either play solo, as a duo with Momo Sato on keys and harmonies, or as a trio with the addition of Jordan Tredray on drums. 

Jordan has been playing on and off with me for about 4 years and I got him to play some session drums on the ‘Memory Lake’ album. Momo came to the fold about a year ago and we're still having a lot of fun together, so long may this combo continue. 

The sound recording from this weekend's gig at Moon in Newtown (very cool indie venue in Wellington, NZ) didn't work, so all I have is a few rough pics- at this stage…. But it was a great gig & we were really happy with the sound and appreciative of the wonderful audience that we had.

In the Studio- I'm actually almost done with my EP! YEEEEEEE!!! 
I've decided that I'll release an EP with 5 or so songs on it and then the album later in the year. I'm just doing final fixes and mix tweaks, so hoping that it won't be far off before I get that out to you! 

Sometimes life gets in the way- the money job vs the happy job. hmmmm….. 

Peace. xx

I am so excited about this article. 

Beautifully written. Thanks Under the Radar!

Read it Here!

Well, I am sooo very excited to announce that my new single, 'Heaven & Earth' is out TODAY!

I hope you love it! 

Listen Here

Am very proud of this one and like it so much.

Please do listen and help a sister out by sharing on your socials. :)

It’s about a girl who defies her obstacles. 

Think I need to add the lyrics for you folks as this is a real ‘story-song’. 

About the production… 

I wrote and recorded this song in my home studio in Masterton, NZ. I use Logic Pro x as my DAW. I recently splurged and bought a Lewitt LCT1040 microphone which is the most I have spent on any of my studio gear- but what a joy! 

I use my @takamineguitars acoustic guitar for almost all of my recordings. Bass is a logic preset sound and piano is from my Juno keyboard. 

I use a fender strat (USA special edition mahogany) with hungry robot pedals and king of tone by analogman. 

Drums are programmed by me using logic presets. 

Anyway- I really hope you like it! I think it’s a great song and am really proud of how it turned out! 

Colette Rivers xxx 

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So, I'm stepping in to play for the Songwriter's Showcase at Moon in Newtown, Wellington this Sunday.

While I'm actually already booked to play there on the 21st of August, Covid has knocked out one of the performers for this Sunday's show so was asked if I would be free to perform. 

Yerp.

Here's the poster. Hope you Wellingtonians can make it down. Great venue, great sound-tech and all about the original music.
link to tix: https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2022/songwriters-showcase-48/wellington

The other artists are Sofia Macray (alternative 'dream-rock') & Sam Fowles (acoustic lyricist/ man) and his guitar..... and me (with Momo on keys!) :)

It was a cold and blustery night, as we unloaded amps and gear into the barn on the outskirts of town.

Momoko and I were to play our fist gig together and I was excited to also be performing a handful of brand-new, never-been heard songs that I've been working on recently.

I've had so many gigs cancelled because of Covid, mandates and sickness that I wasn't sure we'd even make it through the door on the night!

Dave Boone opened, doing some great covers- really raw, cool voice- man and his gat.

Then we played - The new and improved Colette Rivers duo...(all originals of course). What was really cool is that with this new arrangement of just me on guitar and Momo on keys, it sounds different yet again to how I've played the songs in the past. It was a lovely full sound, with M doing sweet and precise harmonies that made me giggle inside with glee. 

We performed 'Heaven & Earth' which is the single I have coming out this Friday (8th of July) which is also pretty exciting.

Great audience. A lot of familiar faces, friends, family and strangers of course. There were a few memorably failed attempts at breakdancing. This has got to be my first hometown gig in a very very long time. There aren't a lot of places to play around here, unless you count cafes and bars where people are there to eat and drink - and I've done a few of them!!!
Anyway, it was great.

The 'Sons of Boomers' band is a collective of people (most are my work colleagues!) who get together once or twice a year to blow the roof off of whatever space they can find.
They came on last to rock the pants off of everyone there- a really good mix of rock covers that weren't the painful ones we tend to hear over and over in every kiwi bar. 

We had a great time. My hands got very close to freezing up mid song on a couple of occasions, but we got there in the end. 

Thanks to the lovely Tonnie Ten-Hove for taking photos!

HEY FOLKS!
I'm very very excited to announce the upcoming release of my new song, 

HEAVEN & EARTH

on the 8th of July

This is the first single release as I move towards sharing my 2nd album with you.
I think it's my best song yet- and I'm not just saying that...
It's a song about about a girl who ignores the obstacles that are in her life- instead meeting them head on! It's about finding STRENGTH and not giving in or giving up.

"Heaven and Earth cannot move her mountains. For what it's worth she will go around them. Fanning a fire that is burning within. Hope like the wind."

If you haven't joined my mailing list, please do so!
You'll get a free download of the song once it's released!

The official video for my song, 'Memory Lake' is out NOW!

It took a lot to get it done- mostly because I kept going back and re-working the edits.

The actual video was shot in one day on the waterfront of Lake Taupō by my dear friend, Abby Dance.

Here's the link to the video

If you haven't already subscribed to my Youtube channel, please do as it helps me to more easily share my video bits and pieces with you!

Colette Rivers
xxxx

'Tag your Folks' is an awesome project created by Isla Norman (Isla Music) a couple of years ago for NZ Music Month (May). 
I met Isla in Auckland when she opened for me at the Wine Cellar for my album release tour (Memory Lake Tour).

Anyway, Isla asked me if I wanted to be one of the contributing musicians/ recording artists for this year's project and I said 'yes!'

It's a bit like 'secret santa' for musicians where the names of the musicians are put into a hat and then randomly pulled. I was assigned Steve Tofa, a Samoan-New Zealander with a deep voice like molasses, a penchant for writing songs that reflect real-life, and a unique and exciting style.
So, a woman on a mission, I listened to his new album Koko Stax on repeat till I landed on the song 'Underground'. I was really excited by the guitar style in this song, reminding me of Stephen Stills (of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young).

So I hit the studio and outpoured into Logic, eventually coming up with a very Colette Rivers version of Steve's 'Underground'. But the journey doesn't end there. I had to do a video.

A lot of people assume that musicians and particularly, 'frontmen' love attention in all ways. That the ceaseless social media 'content' offerings are done to satisfy a narcissistic nature. But it really can't be further from the truth for me. My passion is entirely music-driven and the 'socials' are simply a demand put on all music/ recording artists in order to survive. 
The landscape of recorded music has changed so dramatically over my lifetime. Anyway. I do it, but I cringe with a lot of it.

So, with shots from around my house and in my studio, and the split screen magic of Premier Pro, I made a 'performance video' that looks alright and is at least a vehicle for the music! 

So now I can sit back and enjoy the awesome daily releases of awesome people that make up this year's 'Tag Your Folks.'

MY RELEASE IS MAY 2nd.

Please go over to facebook to like and follow the page HERE so that you too can enjoy this wonderfully creative collaborative community of musicians!!

Colette Rivers
xxxx

Hi Friends! Here is the 9th song in the weekly songwriting prompt that I'm doing. We were told to write a song the very moment you wake up – "make this be the absolute first thing you do". So the song is about still moments when I'm waking up in the morning, still clinging on to dreams.... 
I'm a terrible morning person, but it was nice to be productive instead of my usual staring at my coffee cup....
FYI- vox are a bit high in this mix.... remember- this is isn't a final mix +master! :)

Hi Everyone! HOW MANY IDIOMS CAN YOU FIND?? 

This is the 8th song in a weekly songwriting promts challenge I'm doing. We have a week to write and perform a song and each week the prompt/ starter is different. 

This week we were asked to write a song incorporating an idiom. I have used quite a few!!! 

DISCLAIMER- I only get time to work on this over the weekend, so what you hear probably still (in my head at least) still has tweaks to improve upon etc. parts to add/ mix to adjust etc. It is not a mastered, released track. This is RAW! 

But I hope you like it!!! xxx