January 16th, 2010
After a long pause of keeping busy with other projects and writing new songs, I am very happy to let you know that we will be completely redesigning this website in addition to posting new music very soon! Please check back for more information!
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, I’d like to officially welcome our
new drummer, Ed Via, to the band! He’s completely pro and very excited
about the tunes, and a complete pleasure to work with!! Ed has also learned
the songs so quickly that we’re already scheduling our first shows with
him. This brings me to my next update; we’ve 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, we’ve 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, we’ve been doing our best to update the website. We’ve 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
December 17, 2004
Well, it’s been quite some time
since I’ve updated you on newest, juciest news, so here goes…
It’s been a helluva year! 2004 brought many life changing events for
everyone in the band. James and I had a truly difficult start to the year
with the loss of some very dear relatives. And that happened only a few months
after my father had SEVEN bypasses, and no, I’m not exaggerating. We’re
happy to report that he’s doing well now.
On a much happier note, or a few notes actually, Jay and his wife Suzanne
welcomed their second son, Finley into the world in September, and Travis
passed the BAR exam this summer! Then, James and I were married on October
1st, in downtown Los Angeles! It was a really intimate, sophisticated and
stylish little affair and there was excellent food and wine, thanks to Ciao
Trattoria. And thanks to Steve for the cake and Asa for the wine! The next
night, we played a really fun show at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood as
a finale to all of the wedding festivities. It was indescribably great, and
a little nutty, to have my whole family and James family together for a week
of fun!
Creatively, we’ve also been heading further along the path. We recorded
7 new songs in September and put a new disc together with 4 of those new songs.
We’re really happy with how they turned out, and it’s amazing
to see how we’re developing as a band. The “ISSUES” disc
has not yet been released officially, but if you want a copy, just email me.
We’ll soon be updating the site to include clips of those new songs.
So, needless to say, after all this we’ve been on a bit of a vacation.
We’ll be back up and running in January 2005, and scheduling shows and
so on. So keep checking back for new show dates!
I hope you all have a fantastic holiday season, and have an amazing 2005!
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 you’ve 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. We’ve 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.”
Be sure to check out their website as well.
http://www.independentsongwriter.com They’ve got a poll going on
this month, so you can vote for your favorite artist. Any vote for me will
be greatly appreciated!
We’re truly grateful that as of yet we’ve only heard positive feedback about Prime D, and thank you to everyone who’s purchased a copy!
James and I are also in the process of rehearsing with our new drummer, Jay Buckner/Wollenhaupt, (you’ll have to ask him about the last name thing; it’s a long story) and we’ve been interviewing and auditioning guitarists. (if you’re interested, email us at supremeoverlordmusic@hotmail.com) I guess one could say that we’ve been busy.
Thank you again for checking us out, and check back often for more news, show dates, and other shenanigans!
Rebecca L. Bolam