Rania Khoury

Rania Khoury – “Break Me Down.”
RIYL: Getting serious.
What else you should know: It’s been a minute, but Rania Khoury is back with a sophomore record, due out April 22. One of our favorite local producers, Jason Burt, had a hand in it, which isn’t surprising to hear. Dude’s had his hand on the pulse lately, working with lots of different folks in lots of different genres, making them all sound great. But Khoury doesn’t require much outside help to sound great. Her strong vocals do that with aplomb. The songwriting and arrangements also find Khoury moving beyond the quirkiness of her last record – which I have to admit is one of the things that drew me to it in the first place – to a place of assured, soulful pop. - Central Track

#8 - Rania Khoury STONE WOLF - Central Track

Rania Khoury -- Rania Khoury's debut album Stone Wolf was a hell of a freshman effort for the summer of 2013. The big, booming, bluesy sound of her ballads and strong vocal belts set her apart from a lot of female vocalists in Dallas. Khoury is a skilled guitar and piano player, and takes to both in her compelling and flooring live show. This Summer she wowed the audience at Klyde Warren Park's outdoor Summer concert series. Rania Khoury is definitely worth putting on your live music agenda for 2014. VQ - Dallas Observer

#5: Rania Khoury- Sweet Apple Pies - Central Track

Rania Khoury

You won’t forget the first time you hear singer-songwriter Rania Khoury’s voice. It’s a marvelous, melodious thing — soaring and stretchy and filled with peculiarities that make you sit up and take notice — and it’s the engine fueling the Arlington native’s assured debut album, Stone Wolf. It was produced over an 18-month period, and features killer songs like Sweet Apple Pies. She’s keeping busy promoting the record with area performances: Khoury will take the stage Sept. 6 at Bryan Street Tavern and Sept. 12 in Klyde Warren Park in Dallas.

Online: facebook.com/RaniaKhouryMusic - www.DFW.com

Rania Khoury

You won’t forget the first time you hear singer-songwriter Rania Khoury’s voice. It’s a marvelous, melodious thing — soaring and stretchy and filled with peculiarities that make you sit up and take notice — and it’s the engine fueling the Arlington native’s assured debut album, Stone Wolf. It was produced over an 18-month period, and features killer songs like Sweet Apple Pies. She’s keeping busy promoting the record with area performances: Khoury will take the stage Sept. 6 at Bryan Street Tavern and Sept. 12 in Klyde Warren Park in Dallas.

Online: facebook.com/RaniaKhouryMusic - www.DFW.com

Steve Carlson, Major 7th, Rania Khoury
Friday, August 2 | $10 | The Prophet Bar
The Prophet Bar's small room has long been a platform for the singer-songwriter. The intimate setting provides a perfect platform for a full band to a single guitar and mic. Hotel Cafe regular Steve Carlson will be stopping through to grace Dallas with his particular brand of country-tinged folk rock. His cover of Elliot Smith's "Angeles" with television actor Jensen Ackles (of Supernatural fame) is a popular fan favorite. Local siren Rania Khoury is no doubt expected to steal the show, as she debuts her new album, Stone Wolf. Khoury, who has played The Prophet Bar many times, will be doing so with a full backing band for the first time. From Stone Wolf, fans can expect to see a different side of Khoury. As she steps out of her shell creatively, a bigger, more fully realized sound will pleasantly surprise and impress. Influences like Adele and Amy Winehouse still shine through, but Khoury's incredibly powerful voice has truly evolved into a sound entirely her own.
Vanessa Quilantan - Dallas Observer

Update: Rania Khoury (Prophet Bar): The local singer-songwriter will be celebrating the release of her new album, which is entitled Stone Wolf. If you’re wondering whether or not the often-soulful singer actually howls on the record, as have so many pop singers—Sam the Sham, Warren Zevon, and Shakira among them—she does. On the first song. Even though that’s good company, the record picks up considerably after that. I can’t really say I’ve heard a song like “Sweet Apple Pies” from an area songwriter in recent memory. - D Magazine: Front Row

When Cosign Magazine last left Rania Khoury, she was an up and coming solo singer songwriter with flair of her own; but a lot has changed. The originality is still present, but no longer does she sound so alone. On her debut album *Stone Wolf*, Rania proves that her and her band play by a set of rules long forgotten in music. Every song is crafted and arranged with a hint of maturity not seen in young songwriters. Especially ones not used to performing with a full band like Rania. Thanks to some stellar musicianship and production work, a song like “Stone Wolf” jumps the album off with a rocking start. From there Rania shifts gears plenty of times, and pulls at every emotional chord she can with her tone and words. With the passion she sings it with, the meaning can be felt with the two part “My Muse, Don’t Go”, just as much as her sense humor shines on the Billy Joelish sounding Sweet Apple Pie (personal favorite). The entire album is put together with the same thought process as each song it seemed, with none of the ten songs feeling like a filler. The overall sound of the album harkens back to the early days of soul music, when artists were just trying to find themselves. There are parts when Rania’s very unique voice is lost in indecisiveness, as she finds exactly how she wants to sound. The promise is for this to be the start of a very productive music career, for a girl who has been going at it for a long time on her own. A wolf is a pack animal by nature and Stone Wolf proves all Rania needed was the right pack around her.

Pros: Originality and Humor, Terrific Arrangements, Genuinely fun listen, and Perfect length for multiple listens.

Cons: Sounds at times like she is still figuring what she is vocally, lacks the energy of the live performances at times. - Cosign Magazine

Rania Khoury, ‘Stone Wolf’

For 18 months, Dallas-based songstress Rania Khoury labored over her 10-track debut, Stone Wolf, with producer Lindsay Graham at his Junius Recording Company. Given its lengthy gestation, it would be understandable if the record bore traces of the difficult birth, but Stone Wolf exudes a brash confidence from first note to last. With style to burn, Arlington native Khoury, whose Regina Spektor-ish voice is endlessly elastic and prone to glottal gymnastics unlike much else in the local scene, handles high drama and smoldering romance with equal aplomb. But the record’s sharpest tune, by a good margin, is the spectacular Sweet Apple Pies, an effervescent, acid-tinged kiss-off that would, in a just world, be in heavy rotation (psst, KXT?). Khoury’s Stone Wolf packs a serious bite.

Online: facebook.com/raniakhourymusic - www.DFW.com

If you're looking for a rock band that's loud and incomprehensible, then you're looking in the wrong spot.
Senior Rania Khoury tones the mood down and invites you to listen to the world through the eyes of an adolescent.
With influences ranging from Coheed and Cambria to Bjork, Khoury creates a sound that is distinctively her own, and with a touch of heart-pounding lyrics, it's hard not to listen.
"The typ of music I play is Indie, I guess," Khoury said. "But I really don't like labeling my music because a lot of my songs are really diverse."
The sound and style of Khoury have not only caught the ears of metroplex listeners, but also of various independent artists scattered across the country through the use of Myspace.com. Some singer/songwriters have also been caught stealing Khoury's songs and claiming them as their own.
"There was this guy on Myspace.com who covered one of my songs without my permissions." Khoury said. "That wasn't cool, so my friends I started leaving a bunch of hateful comments on his sites, and the I copyrighted all my songs so no one can cover them without my permission."
Equipped with a guitar instead of a pen, Khoury spells out her feelings and views on the canvas of life, unafraid of what society may think about it.
"All my songs come from little bits of my journal when I just randomly sit and write," Khoury said. "Simple things like being under stress, to going somewhere far, or maybe even losing someone I loved or cared about."
One of her songs is also an ongoing eulogy for Scott Stapleton, a former Martin student who committed suicide two years ago.
"it just hurt a lot when I found out that he killed himself because I was just defending him in school a week earlier," Khoury said.
But Khoury's most famous song, "Mexican Unicorn," is what really separates her from the crowd. The salsa beat of the guitar and a childish story about losing a unicorn cant help but make you smile. There is also a clap-chorus in the middle of the song, making her shows more interactive and fun.
"It's like a dream come true," Khoury said " when I get on stage and look out and see that the room is full and my friends are screaming out my name and people are singing along with my songs, I just want to stop in the middle of my songs and thank everyone for being so supportive."
"I guess its just the whole experience of having all the attention on me, then afterwards people coming up and asking questions and telling me how good the set was, it's just amazing," Khoury said. "its something that I love and something that Im good at. It has pretty much become my life."

Hear more about Khoury's music at www.myspace.com/rania. - Warrior Post