By Anastasia Pantsios,COOL Cleveland – “Christa Ebert calls herself Uno Lady when she performs, a hint that she creates all her music by herself using only her voice as the raw material. With just a microphone and a mixer that loops her vocals, she produces clouds of lush, layered sound that refer to familiar pop themes and lyrics but utterly transform them. Jaunty melodies and catchy phrases pile up into towering edifices that are startling in their grandeur, considering their modest building blocks.
It’s hard to even tell if she has a highly trained voice or the girlish voice of an engagingly uncertain amateur; her delivery can be in turn knowing and wide-eyed, while she alternately buries a phrase by multiplying it or strips away everything to lay it bare in all its vulnerable nakedness.
Ebert released a tape almost exactly five years ago called I Really Like Genetics But I’d Rather Have a Good Time, followed by Tacocat in 2010.Back then she was in the early stages of exploring the striking and confident music she makes now. She hasn’t been too speedy about getting a new release out because she’s been business with work and school, like many of us. But when she landed a Creative Workforce Fellowship from the Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, it gave her the wherewithal to synthesize her evolving ideas into a new recording, a full-length album (available in vinyl and CD) called Amateur Hour.
She says, ‘If it wasn’t for the fellowship, this would have taken another 10 years to make. Instead I am already working on the planning stages for the next record.’
That is a reason to rejoice. Meanwhile, she’ll celebrate the release of Amateur Hour at the Euclid Tavern at a show also featuring New Zealand country singer/songwriter Delaney Davidson and Cleveland surf/garage rockers the Shale Satans. ”
By Laura DeMarco, The Plain Dealer – “Usually, the music lessons come before the records — and the shows.
Not in the case of Uno Lady, aka Christa Ebert, one of the most unique talents to emerge in the Cleveland music scene in the last five years.
Uno Lady is a vocalist – and then some. She’s a one-woman choir, with a beautiful high clear voice that she accompanies with more of her own voice, prerecorded on tapes and played and looped as she performs live….
The album even contains some conventional instrumentation, with guitars and drums from brothers Nick and Tony Cross, of Little Bighorn.
On Saturday, Ebert will celebrate the release of “Amateur Hour” with a show at the new Happy Dog at the Euclid Tavern, with Delaney Davidson and Shale Satans. Unlike her past releases, which are now available as free downloads on her site (unolady.com), it’s available on both vinyl, pressed at Cleveland’s own Gotta Groove Records, and CDs from Parma’s A to Z Audio.”
Hello friends! Here is the final tour line up. If you have pals in and around these towns, and you think they’d be into Uno Lady, I would be grateful if you invited them. Oddly enough, I have never played in Ohio outside of Cleveland (weird, right?) and I have never had the pleasure of visiting the fine states of Wisconsin or Minnesota (although everyone says I have their accent). This will be my first time venturing out in 5 years. Let a lady serenade! Please help spread the word.
The travels of Uno Lady and Delaney Davidson include:
“Amateur Hour” is a high water mark for a confident, headstrong vocalist/songwriter who seems to level up with every endeavor—the crispness of the recording renders every skein of Ebert’s voicings audible with unprecedented and welcome clarity, showing off her strong, instinctive gifts for arrangement and lyric writing. – Ron Kretsch
For the new album, I wanted to complete and record some older songs, as well as have an equal amount of new material to include. Some stuff was dusted off from back when I started — from before I started using a metronome.
This new one is also the first Uno Lady release that includes collaboration. Nick Cross lends his talents on guitar to two tracks, You’re no fangtooth and Night ride. Tony Cross adds drums to Bikini weeding and End of time. And the talented Adam Boose, of Cauliflower Audio, mastered all the tracks
The album artwork is another thing I’m stoked about. It turned out better than I envisioned! A big thanks to Ryan Poorman for taking the photos and Angie Ruland for working in tandem with him on the layout. Thanks to the lovely Kim Tran for the fabulous makeup and Margaret Ruble at Senjiva Studio for making the most beautiful yet hideous dress (by request) I have ever seen!
And last but not least, a heartfelt thanks to Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) and Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) for creating and sustaining the Creative Workforce Fellowship. Thanks for relighting the creative fire within me and providing me support so I can invest in myself and music. If it wasn’t for the fellowship, this would have taken another 10 years to make. Instead I am already working on the planning stages for the next record.
Record release show: October 18, 9:00pm w/Delaney Davidson & Shale Satans Happy Dog at the Euclid Tavern 11625 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH
The LP is sold out but you can get the digital copy here
Cleveland Public Theatre’s annual benefit will take place on September 13, 2014. I’ll be playing on stage 14 at 8pm.
Featuring dozens of area theatre, dance, visual and performance artists along with fabulous food and drink, Pandemonium is a benefit like no other and an evening not to be missed. Pandemonium’s action takes place in unexpected places throughout the campus as guests decide how they choose to experience this innovative and unusual benefit!
Map and schedule of event http://www.cptonline.org/MapSchedulePan14.pdf This year CPT is honoring Beth Mooney, Chairman and CEO of KeyBank with the 2014 PAN Award, in celebration of her groundbreaking leadership, enduring commitment to community and support of the arts. A dedicated civic leader, Beth has demonstrated exemplary community service and philanthropy throughout the Ohio region and beyond. In particular, her commitment to the arts, healthcare, diversity and inclusion has featured prominently in her efforts to make Cleveland a better place. She is a Trustee and Treasurer of the Board of the Musical Arts Association (The Cleveland Orchestra), a Trustee of Cleveland Clinic Foundation and a Board member of the United Way of Greater Cleveland.
The Monsters are awesome. I played with Reverend Beat-Man of the Monsters (and founder of Voodoo Rhythm Records) in Denver back in 2009 at the First International One Man Band Festival. I have been hooked ever since. Now this nerd (yours truly) gets to open for these sweet Swiss dudes.
How stoked am I, you ask? Well I decided to play this show even though it is my boyfriend’s birthday (Sorry beau, looks like I made your plans for you:|)
A little background- The Monsters were formed in 1986 in small-town Bern, capital of Switzerland. Their sound is a fuzzedout mix between 60ies garage punk, wild teenage trash rockabilly and primitive rock‘n‘roll.
Besides the countless shows in Switzerland, The Monsters played extensive tours through Europe including Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Austria, England, Denmark and Spain. In 2003 the band toured Argentina, Brasil, and New York.
