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What Are We Fighting For.mp3

For Only A Day.mp3

Feel All Right.mp3

For_So_Long.mp3

You_Tear_Me_Down.mp3

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About our MUSIC

"If vulnerability pulls at the heartstrings, then Rebecca L. Bolam shreds the aorta into a thousand pieces." - Independent Songwriter Magazine

Originally from the Midwest, Rebecca has been songwriting since age 11. After moving to California to earn her degree in Composition/Vocal Performance from California Institute of the Arts, she has been working on independent recording projects ever since.

Upon recording her debut CD, Prime Directive (2003) she met engineer/producer James Bennett. Together they formed the independent label, SupremeOverlordMusic. Rebecca has gone on to release Rebecca L. Bolam and The Issues EP (2005) as well as the singles, Branches of Life (2006), and What Are We Fighting For (2011). Performing regularly in local independent bands and working as a private music instructor, Rebecca continues to write and record.

Rebecca's music is brutally honest, lyric driven indie rock. You can hear strong classical influences as well as a diverse mix of rock and pop genres which leads to a very unique and eclectic collection of songs.

More new music COMING SOON!!!

The Players Past & Present:

Rebecca L. Bolam - piano, keys, voice, and guitar

James Bennett - bass

Travis Daily - guitars

Ed Via - drums

Tim Grove - guitars

Aaron Morrison - guitars

Larry Goetz - guitars

Mike Chylinski - drums

Jay Roberts - drums

Peter Straub - drums

What Are We Fighting For (single) - 2011

Rebecca L. Bolam and The Issues (EP) - 2006

Prime Directive (album) - 2003

Branches of Life (single) - 2006

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At The Knitting Factory

James Bennett - bass

Knitting Factory

at CalArts

Lava Lounge

Aaron Morrison on Guitar

Travis Jay Rebecca James

headshot sepia warm.jpg

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performances

August 2006

8/16/06 AURA - Studio City, CA 8:30pm

8/29/06 The Derby - Hollywood, CA 8:30pm

July 2006

7/26/06 14 Below - Los Angeles, CA 10pm

7/9/06 The Good Hurt - West Los Angeles, CA 9:30 pm

April 2006

4/01/06 The CAT CLUB - Hollywood, CA 8:30pm

March 2006

3/04/06 Old Towne Pub - Pasadena, CA 9pm

January 2006

01/22/06 The Good Hurt - W. Los Angeles, Ca 8:00pm

October 2005

10/28/05 The Mint Los Angeles, CA 9:00 pm

August 2005

8/3/05 The Mint -Los Angeles ,CA 10:00pm

8/26/05 Old Town Pub - Pasadena, CA 8:30pm

September 2005

9/16/05 The Lava Lounge - Hollywood, CA 8:00 pm 21+

July 2005

7-3-05 The Good Hurt - W.Los Angeles, CA 8:00 pm +

June 2005

6-22-05 The Good Hurt - W.Los Angeles, CA 8:30 pm

May 2005

5-26-05 The Joint - Los Angeles

April 2005

4-15-05 Universal Bar & Grill -

North Hollywood, CA 9:30 pm 21+

March 2005

3-30-05 Room 5 Lounge -

Hollywood, CA 9:00pm $8 21+

October 2004

10-2-04 The Knitting Factory - Hollywood, CA

September 2004

9-03-04 Java Junction -Newhall CA

March 2004

3-14-04 Molly Malone's - Hollywood, CA 9:00 pm

February 2004

2-7-04 Mr. T's Bowl Highland Park , CA

2003

October 2003

10-29 THE ACOUSTIC PLAYHOUSE , W. HOLLYWOOD , CA 9:00pm

September 2003

9-1 VIVA CANTINA- BURBANK , CA 8:30 pm

9-10 14 BELOW- SANTA MONICA , CA 8:00 pm

9-30 THE JOINT - LOS ANGELES , CA 8:30 pm

find us:

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news

October 1st, 2011

Welcome to our new and improved website! There is new music to hear and there will be even more soon! We're also pleased to announce our new single, "What Are We Fighting For" is available on iTunes. AND, we've got new band pages up on Facebook and Reverbnation.com so you can hang out, listen, and connect with us! Thank so much for listening to our songs and supporting independent music.

September 15th, 2011

Check out this video on YouTube! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBIdiCiH50Q

Our song "Branches of Life" is the featured music for this heartwarming video that chronicles the Scribner family's experience at the Nebraska Medical Center's NICU. This video represents exactly what this song was meant for! Thank you to the Scribner family!!

October 10th, 2005

Hello Everyone!

Rebecca L. Bolam and The Issues has very recently completed the single "Branches of Life" written to commemorate the opening of the new NICU at the University of Nebraska Hospital. "Branches of Life" is a warm, uplifting song meant to comfort the parents of hospitalized premature infants during their stay and will be given to them as a source of hope. We had a fantastic time recording at The Lair studio with our dear friend and James' mentor, Larry Goetz. (Definitely check out his studio at thelairstudio.com, which can be found on our links page because it is THE best place to record!) We were total goofballs during the session, but we still managed to make it a very produtive weekend. Finally getting to hear my string arrangement played by actual people was pretty neat too!

We also managed to record another song that we're darn proud of, "Feel All Right", which we've been performing regularly at shows and getting a great response from. This song is included in the next pressing of our EP, out NOW.

All of our music is available on iTunes and CDbaby.com.

Hope to see you out soon, and thanks for stopping by to find out the latest!

Rebecca

March 2nd, 2005

Hello all! Some updates for you

First of all, and very importantly, Id like to officially welcome our new drummer, Ed Via, to the band! Hes completely pro and very excited about the tunes, and a complete pleasure to work with!! Ed has also learned the songs so quickly that were already scheduling our first shows with him. This brings me to my next update; weve got a show scheduled for March 30th, 9 pm at Room 5 in Los Angeles, so Come One Come All!

http://www.room5lounge.com

Also, the past few months, weve been submitting songs and doing some scoring for a few independent films, including The Lonely Ones, Cross Country, and Liars. Thanks guys for including us in your creative endeavors!

Finally, weve been doing our best to update the website. Weve got some new songs for your listening pleasure available to download, and the site has a whole new look. So keep checking back as we continue to inform you of our recent goings-on!

Best to all,

Rebecca

September 12, 2003

Hello all!

Hope you're enjoying the cool down as Fall approaches!

Rebecca L. Bolam and The Issues has officially started performing in Los Angeles. We played at Viva Cantina in Burbank with Asbury Park as a special night for Randy Bennett, and 14 Below in Santa Monica. We're really enjoying just getting out there and playing for people and getting new people to hear what we do! Also, considering that mostly everyone we know was at those shows and already have a copy of Prime Directive, the fact that the few people there who'd never heard of us liked it and purchased copies of Prime D is to me, frankly, amazing. Keeps us looking forward to playing more shows. If we could do this every day, that'd just be cool.

Prime Directive has been reviewed again by Erasing Clouds web magazine and Girl Player magazine. Here's what they said.

Erasing Clouds Review:

by John Stacey

The female singer-songwriter genre is getting pretty crowded again. Rock, pop, angst, issue-led, roots, bluegrass, country, blues.the list is endlessly diverse and endlessly interesting. Of course, for every Caitlin Cary -- the former/existing, depending on what you've read, violinist/singer from Ryan Adams's band Whiskeytown -- whose albums are universally lauded and get to be discounted at places like Tower Records, there are dozens more who are probably better singers and more worthwhile of our hard-earned cash. Rebecca Bolam is one such. I took delivery of her album Prime Directive, which is her first independent release on the nattily-titled Supreme Overlord Music imprint, expecting to hear something bland and pretty middle-of-the-road; you know, the sort of stuff that's churned out ad nauseum and then speedily consigned to the trash bin. Boy, was I in for a shock. And the biggest shock was that Prime Directive is the sort of album Madonna would have made if she had started out as a singer and then became a dancer and not the other way round. The dancer Madonna always had a squeaky, disco duck type of voice that ultimately grated. Rebecca Bolam sounds incredibly like Madonna in that she Madonna's pitch, but lower, more mature and more memorable. The tracks "Nobody Home" and "Tonight," with their swelling piano and measured arrangements, are everything Madonna could have been had her career taken another direction. The backing, from the Grammy award-winning band Ozomatli and including drummer Andy Mendoza, is firm and supple and musical. Prime Directive demands repeated plays. You won't be disappointed. Just get your order in for the follow-up!

Girl Player Review:

The debut release from Rebecca L. Bolam, Prime Directive, most definitely shows where she has taken influence from, which can go either way. You don't want to be known as the one who sounds like.whoever. In Rebecca's case, she lets you know what she's into without becoming a carbon copy.

As for the songs, they flow well for the most part. Good playing, nice key changes, and interesting arrangements make it worth a listen. The second track, "Nobody Home" , has a soft, ambient feel with a mix of acoustic and electronic. Number nine, "Beyond Life", has a very jazzy, odd time groove that had me tapping along to figure it out. Nice. The only track that seems out of place is "Blue Man", the third cut. A good song, just out of place in the overall mix of tunes. If nothing else, it shows that Rebecca L. Bolam is willing to step out of line and take a chance. And for that I give her credit.

Reviewed by: M. Alden 8/03

So thank you to Erasing Clouds and Girl Player for their kind reviews!

I hope everyone gets a chance to come out and hear us, (our next show is Sept. 30 The Joint in LA) keep checking the show dates page for more info!

Rebecca L. Bolam

June 10, 2003

Well guys,

I wanted to update you on the aforementioned shenanigans, so here goes...

In March, I mentioned that Independent Songwriter Magazine gave Prime D a really positive review, which I'm still reeling over. And they had a poll going on for the readers to vote for their favorite indie songwriter of the month, and yours truly came in second! Since I have yet to play a show to promote Prime D, this means I've got some really awesome friends who voted! Thanks guys!

I'm very excited to share with you that the band is in full gear with rehearsals, and we recently added Travis Daily, as our guitarist! So here's the official line-up, we've got moi, singing and playing the piano, guitar, and accordion, my darling James Bennett on bass, and probably guitar sometimes, Jay "man who can't decide on a last name" Buckner on drums and on guitar, Travis Daily ! We should be booking shows by mid to late summer this year!

Also in May, James and I went to New York city where I performed with Jackson and Almeda Berkey in a 250-voice choir to perform Jackson's "Crucifixus" and "Cantate 2000" at Carnegie Hall. We had a blast!! Having never been to New York, I didn't hesitate to walk a good 6 miles a day around Manhattan, charlie-horses and all, to see as much as possible! New York city is absolutely incredible! We saw a taping of David Letterman and after the show met up with the CBS Orchestra bass player, Will Lee, and gave him a copy of Prime D. We also went to see a one-man show written by Eric Bogosian and performed by our most favorite current author, Jonathan Ames. Amazing, (and no, we weren't the two people who had to run outside to faint at the description of blood) And we couldn't resist giving him a CD too. Amidst all the touristy behavior, I sang in some very intense rehearsals followed by a very fun show! So, thank you to the Berkeys, and Diane Hurley for making it happen.

So that's all for now. I hope you all have a great summer and hope to see you at our first shows!!

Rebecca L. Bolam

MARCH 27 , 2003

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to the first news installment on the site!

Thank you so much for checking out my website and listening to the music. I certainly hope youve been enjoying the songs!

After getting Prime Directive back from the manufacturers (Groove House Records) at the end of December 2002, James and I have been working on sending out promotional copies to college and internet radio stations as well as magazines and labels. Weve been really fortunate to be included in rotation for both WKRP.FM and WRCK radio, and almost immediately after our listing came up on CDBABY.com, we were contacted by DJs from Belgium and Spain who have since played their copies of the album.

Recently, INDEPENDENT SONGWRITER MAGAZINE reviewed Prime D, and this is what they had to say:

If vulnerability pulls at the heartstrings, then Rebecca L. Bolam shreds the aorta into a thousand pieces. "Prime Directive" draws on the intensity of emotion to capture its audience, but it shows no mercy once it has you in its clutches. Its swaying fragility is nothing more than a butterfly with fangs; coaxing us into a world all her own...one that is so hard to leave once we've been taken hostage.

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r e b e c c a l. b o l a m photography

home

discography

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contact

rlb photography