Bridge 19

"Equal parts folk and pop, the arrangements of Bridge 19 creep into Americana as they harmonize like sibling, but mostly this band displays a clear comprehension of the value of being a working band and has the attitude to gracefully ascend as an act." - Atlanta Guide

PRESS QUOTES:

“Bridge 19's debut album The Fall Back is a force to be reckoned
with...and listened to! I've been highly anticipating this album after
Audrey Cecil's & Amanda Lucas's solo efforts held such promise. Now to see
them join forces has been like hearing a new voice, one great voice.” -Laura Shine, On-Air Host @ WFPK Louisville

“Solid songwriters and arrangers with great voices for the material. The songs are all potential hit singles in terms of the hooks. Once again: Louisville has so much hidden treasure. Here is just one more example.” –Kevin Gibson, Louisville Music News

“Some of the best songwriting in Louisville today.” -Marion Dries, On-Air Host @ WFPK, Louisville

“It’s a reminder of the simplicity of American songs, and how that simplicity leaves lots of room for beauty.” -Tim Roberts, Louisville Music News

“If you enjoy intelligent lyrics intertwined with melodic structures that sound surprising yet instantly familiar, then this music is for you.” -Marion Dries, On-Air Host @ WFPK, Louisville

“Amanda Lucas and Audrey Cecil are singer/songwriters. They play guitars; really play them. They play other things too. They harmonize to the moon. They laugh. They work hard. They love it. You can tell…You can tell because when you watch them, they make you love it too. You’ll find your foot tapping before you realize it’s doing it. You’ll find yourself lost in lyrics before you know what they mean."
- PRESS QUOTES

In his song, "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow," Ray Stevens tells the subject of the song, "No one knows how to suffer quite like you."

Bridge 19 may know a bit about that. On The Fall Back, the singer-songwriter tandem of Audrey Cecil and Amanda Lucas present 13 songs filled with all sorts of raw emotion, some of them quite heavy. That's not to say this album is a downer, though – in fact, it is a beautifully crafted album that carries the listener through quite a number of feelings.

Lucas and Cecil have woven a piece from varying textures as well; from the catchy pop of "Low Down" to the Americana of "One at a Time" to the sweet folk of "Cabin Song," there are enough musical bends in the road that the listener is assured of never getting bored.

One of the high points of the album as a whole is listening to Cecil and Lucas sing together – both are excellent singers, but putting their voices together in harmony really does create a sum greater than the two parts.

Oh, but those heart-wrenching stories. Pretty much every lyric explores some sort of loss or difficult emotion. In the aforementioned "Cabin Song," the lyric sets up a beautiful scene in a serene atmosphere, but deals with a protagonist who is lamenting alienating someone and not understanding how or why.

This kind of sadness becomes an interesting juxtaposition the farther you get into the album, because the melodies and vocals are so lovely. The music provides a sort of aural sense of hope in the darkness of the sad songs. Probably the best example of this is the last track – it's a bouncy, smile-inducing song about a love affair, and it's titled … "Match Made in Hell."

It doesn't hurt at all that the record was produced and mixed so deftly, and it also doesn't hurt that Bridge 19 had a talented supporting cast in Ric Hordinski Jeremy Rice, Peter Searcy and others. From start to finish, the entire project was quite well orchestrated.

Well done, ladies. Now, excuse me while I go cry myself to sleep.

Find out more at bridge19.com.

Bridge 19 will celebrate with a release party May 12 at Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts. - Louisville Music News

Jumping on the Bridge

After four years of playing together, Audrey Cecil and Amanda Lucas have made it official. Their first album as Bridge 19, The Fall Back, is being released this week, with a performance at the Kentucky Center on Saturday (8 p.m., $10).

“Fans kept asking, ‘Where’s the CD with you both singing together? We want that.’ … We are friends first, bandmates second. We’ve been pals since we were little kids. It just so happens we have the ability to make pretty music and run a business together.”

As kids, both listened to the country music their parents enjoyed, and Cecil was also exposed to bluegrass and classic rock. As teens, both fell hard for Alanis Morissette. Lucas was also turned on by No Doubt and the Dave Matthews Band, while Cecil gravitated toward early Sheryl Crow. In college, “I really started getting obsessed with the stuff that shapes me now,” says Cecil. “Fleetwood Mac, Indigo Girls, Sarah McLachlan, Paul Simon.” Today, in their 20s, both listen to a lot of singer-songwriters. Lucas also cites pop/rock, while Cecil loves “a lot of classic R&B.”

LEO: How many of your songs about relationships are “happy” songs, lyrically?

AL: About half of the songs I’ve written about relationships are “happy” songs, lyrically. Sometimes the “happy” songs don’t make the cut for the album for various reasons — too slow, too cheesy, etc.

AC: Amanda’s definitely the one to answer this question. She’s got the relationship songwriting covered. My songs tend to fall all over the spectrum in terms of topics. Sometimes about relationships, sometimes not, sometimes written using a relationship as a metaphor for something else.

LEO: If you got fat, would you consider changing your name to Fridge 19?

AL & AC: We considered “Refrigerate After Opening” for a band name, so, yes, we would — but only if “fridge” is capitalized. How about FRIDGE 19.5?

Learn more at bridge19.com. - LEO Weekly

Pioneer News
By STEPHEN THOMAS, Staff Writer

HILLVIEW – Amanda Lucas grew up participating in the two things she enjoyed most: softball and music.

Both led her to a long and successful friendship with Audrey Cecil. The two now perform live music together and plan to record an album later this year.

Neither anticipated the biggest news of their lives this summer: The singer/songwriters were selected to perform at the Lilith Fair concert in Indianapolis.

Lilith Fair is a touring showcase of female musical artists. The concept was co-founded by singer Sarah McLachlan in the 1990s to help promote women in music.

After a 10-year hiatus, Lilith Fair returned in 2010 with more than 30 concerts throughout the United States and Canada. Various shows include headliners ranging from Colbie Caillat, Selena Gomez, Heart and Sheryl Crow to Kelly Clarkson, Martina McBride, Emmylou Harris and Loretta Lynn.

Each show features 11 acts ranging from international artists such as McLachlin to local and regional acts such as Lucas and Cecil.

McLachlan is scheduled to perform in Indianapolis, along with Suzanne Vega, Mary J. Blige and Miranda Lambert.

Lucas and Cecil earned the honor by winning an online contest via www.ourstage.com, a Web site devoted to promoting independent music artists and allowing fans to listen and select which artists they enjoy most.

“These Web sites have really opened the door for artists to get their music out there,” Lucas said.

On a whim, the duo decided to enter the Lilith Fair contest. Lucas said about 70 acts entered the contest, with fans voting for the top 20 through the first round.

Lucas and Cecil entered their duo version of a song, “Chance”, that originally appeared on Lucas’ album.

“We just kind of did it aimlessly,” Lucas said of the contest. “We were number four in the first week without even telling our fans.”

A panel of judges narrowed the field of 20 to 10 prior to selecting a winner. Lucas received a call at her day job on June 21.

“I immediately said, ‘…you just made my life’. But I couldn’t tell anyone until the press release in two days,” Lucas recalled. “I was dancing around and screaming in my office and co-workers were looking at me, but I couldn’t tell them.”

Lucas and Cecil first met at age 10, playing together on a fast-pitch softball team in Valley Station called the Dixie Dynamite.

After six years Lucas began playing softball for Bullitt East High School. From there she attended Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia.

Lucas and Cecil met again through college softball, competing against one another as Cecil played for Spalding University.

The two always pursued their musical interests. Two years after college graduation they met again on MySpace. At the time Cecil had recorded and released an album with her band, Two Cent Penny. The band consisted of Cecil on guitar and Bullitt Countian Rob Gable on bass.

“(Cecil) saw that I played music and asked if I would be interested in playing with them,” said Lucas. “We hit it off, I joined them and we became a trio.”

Lucas was writing and recording songs for an independent solo album when she and Cecil became an official duo in December 2007. The album, “Half Empty”, was released in June 2008. Cecil performed with Lucas during live shows supporting Lucas’ album.

Cecil would release her own self-titled solo album through One Horse Records in March 2010. Lucas now returns the favor, helping to perform Cecil’s songs.

The duo, now billed as Amanda Lucas and Audrey Cecil, performed more than 150 live shows in 2009. Primarily a regional act, they’ve performed as far away as Atlanta and Michigan. They are scheduled to perform in September at a charity benefit in Seattle hosted by musical artist Brandi Carlile.

Gable still accompanies the duo on bass, along with Richard Hendrix on drums. Keyboardist Leah Sproul Palatie, who assisted with Cecil’s solo album, will join the band on stage at Lilith Fair.

Lucas and Cecil will open the show in Indianapolis on the Village Stage. They will play 30 minutes, featuring three songs each from their solo albums.

At the end of the day the duo will join the other acts on stage for a special encore. They will have an opportunity to meet and greet during lunch for the artists.

Following the show Lucas and Cecil are scheduled to perform during an after-party at Mo’s Irish Pub. Lucas said they were invited by Cari Ray, the artist that finished second to them in the contest.

“If you help each other out… that’s just the way to go,” Lucas said.

The duo fuses a Folk/Pop sound out of Cecil’s Folk background and Lucas’ lean toward Rock.

“We’ve taken both to create something that we both enjoy doing,” Lucas said. “Audrey added a lot of harmony to my songs. They sound different live.”

The artists hope to capture that live feel on their upcoming album.

“I think there’s an energy that comes from playing live,” said Lucas. “We draw - Pioneer News

Last week, we caught up with Ashley Matte, Annie Bethancourt, Terra Naomi and Xolie Morra to hear about their experiences performing at the 2010 Lilith Fair. This week, we are featuring the latest batch of Lilith winners and their stories. In case you haven’t heard, OurStage partnered with Lilith in April to give aspiring female solo artists and female-fronted groups the opportunity to play at the famous festival on stops across the US this summer. Since last week, OurStage winning artists Sarah Swenson, Katie Todd, duo Amanda Lucas and Audrey Cecil, and The Airplanes have all performed their sets, and we caught up with them afterward to hear how things went. From their stories it’s clear that each artist had a unique experience, but what they share in common is the increased exposure to new fans and the chance to stand side by side with some of the world’s top female performers.

Singer-songwriter Sara Swenson performed at the Kansas City stop of the festival alongside artists the likes of Emmylou Harris, Heart, Sarah McLachlan, and Ingrid Michaelson. “It was an unforgettable experience, from the buzz of interviews and excitement of fans beforehand to the fun photos and feedback afterward,” recalls Swenson. “It was a dream to be on the same bill as Sarah McLachlan and the other ladies on the Lilith Tour, and both playing a set to an attentive and enthusiastic audience on a secondary stage and sharing the big stage with all of the headlining artists for the finale were experiences I’ll never forget.”

Recently, singer-songwriters Amanda Lucas and Audrey Cecil combined forces to perform and write as a duo. At their Lilith performance in Indianapolis, Cecil and Lucas played songs to “the largest crowd on the tour for the first performer of the day.” “Playing at Lilith Fair has created more of a buzz than we have ever experienced up to this point,” commented the duo. “By the time we were two songs in, our stage area was packed. Since returning from Lilith fair, we have had constant fan requests/chatter on our social networking sites and web page.” In the upcoming year, Cecil and Lucas have plans to record their first album together and hit the road to play dates in many US cities.

In St. Louis, songwriting duo Airplanes performed for new faces and learned a little about the festival business. “Performing at Lilith was pretty much one of the best things that has happened in our short career so far. It was a really nice opportunity to perform with some great artists and to perform to crowds that we may not have been able to perform before otherwise. It gave us a really cool opportunity to gain a new fan base in a sense. I really learned that it takes a lot of hard work from everybody to really get a show of this magnitude up and running. From the sound people, to security, to both festival and artist staffs, it takes a real team to make the shows so awesome and so fun.”

At the end of the day, each winning artist had the opportunity to perform a special finale on stage with all the other acts on the bill. Katie Todd, winner for Chicago, recalls the experience: “I really enjoyed the sense of camaraderie amongst all of the musicians. For the finale, Sarah McLachlan had all of the artists who performed that day up on the main stage singing ‘Because the Night’ by Patti Smith, and I’m still on a high from that experience.” You can watch a video of Todd onstage with McLachlan, Heart and Mary J. Blige, to name a few, here. - Ourstage.com

Strictly Global is a TV broadcast committed to breaking new trends and alternative lifestyles, especially in the way of music. To kick off their season premiere, the fine folks at Strictly Global put together an episode dedicated to Lilith 2010. Best of all, the episode will feature a number of artists who were chosen by the OurStage community to open select Lilith dates across the country. Legendary musician and festival founder Sarah McLachlan and Lilith co-founder / Nettwerk label owner Terry McBride will grace the screen, as will OurStage CEO, Ben Campbell.

The Strictly Global Lilith 2010 episode will air on over 30 million TV screens across the United States, and will bring viewers fantastic interviews and music videos from emerging talent. Click here to learn more about the featured artists.

http://www.ourstage.com/blog/2010/09/17/lilith-winners-to-be-featured-on-national-television-show-strictly-global/

ALAC’s music video for the song “Move On” will be featured on the show. Click on the link below to check out the official video for “Move On.” - Ourstage.com

"It’s like they figured it all out on this record, the magic formula that’s making it work from the songwriting to production." - Laura Shine - 91.9 WFPK Radio Louisville