Grapevine Music Agency - representing some of the finest roots musicians from the UK and North America. Folk, Blues, Country, Americana.
Rita Hosking
> click here to return to full list of artists
Available:
Format:
Weblink:
Rita sings original mountain roots music --soulful ballads and
old time drive-- with a voice that evokes awe towards the power of
people and place. And it is that voice that really grabs your attention -
a kind of cross between the haunting delivery of Gillian Welch and the
richness of Iris Dement. Then there are the songs, wow, can this girl
write. Altogether, Rita is a talent that you just don't come across
every day.
'Come Sunrise' CD was
on the selection ballot for a Grammy Award 2010
Kitchen tables, springs, loss, miners, mountains, culture clash,
trailers, stray dogs, loggers, hope, forest fires - Rita Hosking's
country-folk music is this and more, and always fierce and lovely. Her
delivery is, to put it simply, intense.
That voice, called a "soulful howl from the mountains" (California
Bluegrass Association) is calling attention around the country---"What?
California girls don't sing like that!!?" But Rita will tell you about
her upbringing in rural Shasta County, and the old-time band of seasoned
mountain characters that took her under their wings. This California
girl comes by her mountain-music sensibility with true authenticity,
with original songs deeply rooted in her family's frontier experience. A
descendant of Cornish miners who sang in the mines, Rita grew up with
deep regard for folk music and the power of the voice.
Rita's songs have been lauded for story and sense of place, and her
performances praised for capturing the audience. Honours include winner
of the '08 Dave Carter Memorial Songwriting Contest at the Sisters Folk
Festival and finalist for the '09 Telluride Troubadour Contest. She has
played her songs for appreciative listeners at the Strawberry Music
Festival, Kate Wolf Music Festival, and many more. Rita points out that
she likes to "get to the heart of the matter." As with a mystic, this
means a loaded and stunning, yet gentle and compassionate delivery. As
Craven adds, "Rita's messages are immediate yet patient and her quiet
conviction most strong."
Come Sunrise, a collection of 11 original songs and Rita's third album,
was released in June of 2009. Recorded in Austin, Texas with producer
and guitarist Rich Brotherton (Robert Earl Keen, Caroline Herring,) Come
Sunrise launches Rita onto the national Americana scene with players
such as Brotherton himself, Lloyd Maines, Warren Hood, Glenn Fukunaga,
and many more. In addition to her 2007 'Silver Stream' and 2005 'Are You
Ready' featuring members of her band "Cousin Jack," Come Sunrise
completes a collection of well received recordings. It entered the US
Folk chart top 20 in May and was still there 4 months later, having
received the kind of reviews normally reserved for folk music's top
echelon.
"From the first time I heard Rita sing, her voice gripped me and did
not let go; a voice whose beauty speaks from a deep place of honest and
raw and powerful emotion." Joe Craven
"Rita Hosking has one of those perfectly imperfect voices necessary
to do folk music right. Hosking keeps it beautifully raw and real in the
pitchy tradition of Emmylou Harris or Lucinda Williams. Musically, her
bluegrass-tinged performances hearken back to the best of American music
without mimicking the greats." The Eugene Weekly
"What I appreciate about Rita's music is that she has the innate
ability to take the listener back to a simpler and better time in
American music." Cool As Folk KDVS host Michael Leahy
"With Come Sunrise Hosking gives us a prism that isolates the
distinct historic threads of country and folk music and then combines it
again into a wholly satisfying and extraordinary body of work." Twang
Nation
"Rita Hosking has one of those voices that just seems to get
directly at both the heart of the song and of the listener. Her vocals
don't so much command attention as they just invite you in with such
warmth and sincerity as to make assent seem like the most natural thing
to do." Outskirts of Country
"When I was growing up, people used to say Hank Williams had the
high lonesome. I took that to mean that when he sang certain songs, he
had a way of echoing the lone coyote on a full moon night. I've heard
only a few besides Williams who had it, most notably Steve Young, who
can squeeze a gleeful heart dry with his mournful wail. And Rita
Hosking... She tells stories and paints pictures faultlessly. In fact,
I'd lay down a good bet that if she'd written this review, it would have
said much more in a much better way. I know I could never sing like
her, but I wish to God I could write like her. It would make it a hell
of a lot easier. For you and for me." Rock & Reprise
"The first thing that hits you with this disc is the strength and
power of Rita Hosking's voice, and the fierce passion it contains. The
soulful lonesomeness of mountains and a yearning come through in these
songs." Bob Gottlieb, Folk and Acoustic Music
UK Tour Dates
October 2011
11th Lanercost Priory, nr. Carlisle.
12th MONO, Glasgow.
13th Tower Blues, Fleetwood.
15th Bute Session, Rothesay.
16th Henry Boon’s, Wakefield.
17th The Back Room Cottingham.
18th The Greystones, Sheffield.
19th The Chichester Inn, Chichester.
20th Centre Stage, Bournemouth.
21st Hazelwood House nr. Kingsbridge .
22nd Praa Sands Community Centre.
23rd Walthamstow Folk Club, Walthamstow.