New Album “The Motivator” – Debuts Top 20 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Chart
(Los Angeles, CA) – September 3, 2019 – Los Angeles-based, female rock icons, Cherie Currie and Brie Darling have announced the initial dates for their first-ever tour together. The tour, in support of their recently released new album The Motivator is set to kick off in Las Vegas on November 8. The month long trek will weave through major markets including Chicago, Philadelphia and New York as well as some Canadian dates. All dates will go on sale Friday, September 6 at 8 AM PST/11 AM EST.
“I’ve worked my whole life for this. I feel so lucky to share this new experience with an icon I truly admire.” says Cherie Currie while Brie Darling sums up her excitement for the upcoming tour with “It's gonna get noisy ...You're gonna wanna be here!"
The Motivator debuted in the Top 20 on Billboard’s Heatseeker’s Chart and has received rave reviews with The Big Takeover saying “the chemistry of Currie and Darling is awe inspiring as the vocal gymnastics of both complement each other perfectly,” while Uncut magazine raves “The pick of their three originals is the defiant pop-rock anthem, “This Is Our Time”. “It ain’t over yet, turn up our voices past 10,” sings Currie. And they have.”
In addition to major feature stories in the LA Times HERE and Billboard Magazine HERECherie & Brie recently sat down with CNN to discuss the new project: Brie & Cherie on CNN
The Motivator via Blue Élan Records was produced by the six-time Grammy nominated Dave Darling (Brian Setzer, Stray Cats, Janiva Magness, Tom Waits) and features nine classic covers by bands including The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, and John Lennon, plus three powerful new originals, “Too Bruised,” “I’m Too Good, That’s Just Too Bad” and the topical “This Is Our Time.”
Order The Motivator here: https://smarturl.it/ccbdmotivatoroutnow/
The Youngbloods’ "Get Together" and T. Rex’s "The Motivator"
Guests on the album include a host of family and friends who came in to do backups, including Currie’s sister, actress Sondra Currie, her ex-husband, actor Robert Hays; friends, Susan Olsen of Brady Bunch fame, Leslie Koch Foumberg, and actress/director, Allison Scagliotti. Darling’s brother, Henry Berry is on “He Ain’t Heavy”; and brother Phil Berry does a guitar solo on the Kinks tune “Do it Again” while her sister, Rory Berry Bishop plays drums on Thunderclap Newman’s “Something in the Air.” Patti Quatro—Suzi’s sister and a member of Fanny—plays guitar and sings on “For What It’s Worth.”
The Runaways front-woman and solo artist, Currie, met the Fanny drummer and singer, Darling, in 2017 and immediately connected. Currie had come in to contribute vocals to Fanny Walked the Earth, a reunion album from the trailblazing Fanny, the first all-female band signed to a major label (Reprise) in 1969. Though the two musicians were certainly admirers of each other, they had not yet met until that session. Once connected, the idea to continue collaborating was hatched and soon the idea to record an album was solidified.
It was decided they would record an album of cover songs that resonated with the duo. The covers chosen mostly share—unintentionally—a socio-political resonance that’s as relevant today as when the songs were written. “The original album concept was that Brie was going to sing a few, I’d sing a few, and we’d back each other up,” furthers Currie. “But I knew our voices really work well together. On T. Rex’s ‘The Motivator,’ Brie did a great soulful rock scratch vocal but maybe I have more of a tough rock quality to my voice, so I think Dave decided I was going to sing it. But in my head I heard a duet, me doing the first verse, her on the second verse….and that started the dialog of using our voices together as a concept. Our voices complement each other, so we decided we should share the majority of these songs, because it makes them better.” Producer Dave Darling says, "It's extremely rare to have two such powerful vocalists in the same band. Cherie's a steam roller and Brie's a flame thrower. That just doesn't happen!"
Tour Dates (2019)
NOV 8 Las Vegas, NV
Vamp'd BUY Tickets
NOV 9 Pioneertown, CA
Pappy & Harriets BUY Tickets
NOV 15 Patchogue, NY
Stereo Garden - BUY Tickets
NOV 16 Philadelphia, PA Kung Fu Knecktie - BUY Tickets
NOV 17 New York, NY Les Poisson Rouge - BUY Tickets
NOV 19 Ottowa, CN
Brass Monkey
NOV 21 Toronto, ONT
Rockpile - BUY Tickets
NOV 23 Detroit, MI
Magic Bag - BUY Tickets
NOV 24 Three Oaks, MI
The Acorn Theater
NOV 25 Chicago, IL
City Winery - BUY Tickets
DEC 5 Los Angeles, CA
The Whisky - BUY Tickets
DEC 7 Costa Mesa, CA
Tiki Bar
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To listen to The Motivator, visit:
http://www.blueelanrecords.com/release/the-motivator password: motivator
For more information on Cherie Currie & Brie Darling, contact:
Ken Phillips/Ken Phillips Publicity Group, Inc./ kppublicitygroup@gmail.com
Melissa Dragich-Cordero/MAD Ink PR - Blue Élan Records/ mdragichcordero@blueelan.com
SONG COMMENTARY ---- CHERIE CURRIE & BRIE DARLING
Gimme Shelter (The Rolling Stones)
For ages I wanted to record “Gimme Shelter” as a duet with some badass male rock/soul singer. I loved Merry Clayton’s stratospheric, hard vocal from the moment I first heard it… my kind of style!
When Cherie and I first talked about making a record, I presented the idea of doing ‘Gimme Shelter’, and then together, we might choose other songs that we loved from that era, something we shared in common. It was a cool concept, and I wanted to send her a raging demo of what we could do with ‘Shelter’, I knew it would have to blow her away. Dave (my husband and our producer) and I wrestled that one to the ground at our home studio. Singing it with another female, meant I wasn’t able to hit the chorus octave like I could singing with a male! It became too high. Several attempts later, it morphed radically, but it paid off and she loved the demo! When she came in bringing yet another dimension with her ideas and unique style, we made it our own. (Brie)
This was the first song we recorded together. It cemented my desire to work with Brie and Dave Darling. The key was a problem. In the original key we had to sing actives. I kept pressing Dave to find that right key where we could harmonize, blend and he did. That key change changed the whole song! It’s fresh but not overdone. It just worked for me, how our voices (and the studio experience) was something I wanted and needed to continue with Brie. This was the turning point for me as an artist. I felt I’d found the Holy Grail. (Cherie)
For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield)
This song always takes me back…to 1969 in my teenage band, laying on the floor in front of my drums in the rehearsal room of our band-shared house in San Jose, just before I moved to LA. Sometimes after rehearsal, we’d hang out in the dark, pass around a bottle of Thunderbird, stare at the glow from the power amps, occasionally someone would beat out a hole burning into the old carpet, and we’d listen to this song over, and over, and over…along with Stevie Winwood, Jackie Lomax, Richie Furay, Steve Miller, Bob Dylan…(Brie)
This has always been one my favorite songs growing up. Classic and exceptional! (Cherie)
He Ain’t Heavy (The Hollies)
The counterpoint lyric that Cherie wrote is beautiful and genius. It makes me cry. (Brie)
My twin sister Marie Currie has asked me to record this song for a decade so I threw it in the hat. I know it wasn’t Dave’s top choice because it’s tricky and has been done so many times before. Yet I was hearing something special in my head for Brie to sing as a lead, background that focuses on our homeless vets. It adds something special and different to a heartfelt and beautiful song. (Cherie)
Get Together (The Youngbloods)
Kirk Pasich, our record company president, put this one on his ‘suggestion list’. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love this song. (Brie)
Another one of my favorites that speaks to us in any day at any time. Especially now. (Cherie)
Do It Again (The Kinks)
My brother, Henry suggested this song. It’s from a little later date, the 80s. Cherie’s voice ‘kills’ on this song. I couldn’t have sung it. I learned so much from her during this record. She had me sing the bridge in a super exaggerated British accent. She made it fun, and it shows on the recording! (Brie)
I love The Kinks and I adore Dave’s strong kicking production on it. My friend Phil Campbell (Motorhead) added his voice to the song as well as friends and family who added their voices to it! What a fun song! I just love Brie’s vocal in the bridge! (Cherie)
The Motivator (T. Rex)
Dave picked this one. I wasn’t really feeling it at first, but he insisted that he lay down a track and thought it would be a good one for Cherie to sing. I laid down a demo vocal for her at our studio. Oh man, I LOVED singing it. But the song was going to her. (Brie)
This is the song was meant for me but cemented my desire to do as many duets as possible on this record. I love Brie’s voice and told Dave we needed to switch verses. Brie had no idea we had mixed it down with her and I sharing the song. It was thrilling to see her face when there she was on that second verse! (Cherie)
Something In The Air (Thunderclap Newman)
It just feels so good to sing this song. Plus, I get to sing my guts out. It modulates twice, sending me into the stratosphere by the end high chorus parts! Plus, who doesn’t like to sing a song by a band called Thunderclap Newman! (Brie)
This was a challenge for me because I naturally sing a higher harmony and rarely all lower harmonies but Dave’s a great teacher! It turned out great and Brie kills it! (Cherie)
Gimme Some Truth (John Lennon)
Don’t hate me, but it took a minute to love the idea of singing this song…up until I sang it the first time through. When you get to sing/moan/yell/spit out …“Just give me some truth, All I want is some truth”, full throttle, out into the world, to whoever… how can you not love that. At that moment, howling those words, it was right. (Brie)
I wasn’t a fan of this song since I’d never heard it before but when I heard Brie sing it I turned to Dave and said, “Well that’s done!” (Cherie)
Higher Ground (Stevie Wonder)
This song was suggested by our friend, Patti Quatro. Stevie Wonder has written some of my favorite songs, and this scared me a little, ‘cause it’s hard to do iconic songs and not sound like a cover band. Dave had this brilliant idea to do it rock style, straighten out the shuffle, use modern sounds and scream it! Oh Yeah!! (Brie)
This song was just fun to do! Brie and I worked really well together on the choruses! (Cherie)
Too Bruised (Original)
Sometimes we want so badly for something to work out, that we go way beyond, knowing the odds are against it. Having put in so much time and effort into making a relationship work, it becomes hard to give up. Then you reach that moment, you realize that’s exactly what you need to do…let it go. Leave the pain, the hurt, and some of the joy, along with the anger and resentment behind and accept your part, accept it for the past that it will become, free yourself and move forward. Bruises fade with time. (Brie)
When I first heard this song I kind of freaked out! I called my son Jake Hays and said “I’ve just heard a song that is a perfect thing!” When he heard it, he agreed! It’s a perfect thing! (Cherie)
This Is Our Time (Original)
Cherie said “This is our time” to me in one of our early conversations. I think she was talking about us, her and me. It hit a chord with me…what a concept for song! So, we wrote it…
It’s about taking, or better yet, making opportunity…holding on to that ball and running it up the field. Seize the day, however you want to say it. This is it. Do something amazing. Do it now. (Brie)
It’s a stand up song for these times. (Cherie)
I’m Too Good, That’s Just Too Bad (Original)
Another song Cherie and I wrote together.
There are those who will want to hold you back, for whatever reason. This song is coming from the perspective of someone who has grown to recognize that, and doesn’t buy into it anymore. Who hasn’t been there?? (Brie)
Ditto Brie! It’s was also fun to sing! (Cherie)
The Ones That Got Away
Hey Hey, My My (Neil Young)
For Your Love (Yardbirds)
Lay Down (Melanie)
Day AfterDay (Bad Finger)
Ball Of Confusion (Temptations)
I’m Not Like Everybody Else (Kinks)
Heart Full of Soul (Yardbirds)
We Gotta Get Outa This Place (The Animals)
CHERIE CURRIE & BRIE DARLING BIO
The Runaways front-woman and solo artist Cherie Currie and Fanny drummer and singer Brie Darling were ‘70s icons who got the headlines. But they didn’t always get the credit they deserved as strong women holding their own and forging new ground in a rock & roll playing field then dominated by old-school masculine mores.
While Currie and Darling had a mutual admiration society, the two didn’t meet until 2017, when Darling reached out to Currie to contribute vocals to Fanny Walked the Earth, a reunion album from the trailblazing Fanny, the first all-female band signed to a major label (Reprise) in 1969. Now fierce friends and cool collaborators, they’re singing together on the new album, The Motivator, a 12-song album featuring nine classic covers by bands including T. Rex, The Rolling Stones, Buffalo Springfield, Stevie Wonder, and John Lennon, plus three powerful new originals, including the tough rocker “Too Bruised” and the topical “This Is Our Time”. The tour is set for late 2019.
“I loved her soulful style, her sultry voice. I’m not a person who holds back. I get really excited when I meet somebody I like,” recalls Currie. “I told Dave [Darling, Brie’s husband/and Grammy-nominated Cherie Currie & Brie Darling producer] that the only problem with the Fanny Walks the Earth record is I wanted to hear more!”
Darling picks up the story: “That’s how this whole thing came about: For the Fanny session, Cherie walked in saying, “Man, I just love your voice. You’re the bomb." That made me feel good about saying, down the line, ‘Hey, do you wanna do something together?’ Never in a million years would I have thought I was gonna ask Cherie Currie, who’s like way up there on the ladder, to do a record with me!”
The two Californians, who grew up with similar influences and worked tirelessly to overcome similar obstacles in their pioneering all-women groups, vibed quickly. “It was truly collaboration,” says Currie, who actually was ready to leave the music biz after years of grueling touring. “With us, there’s no ego, no push-pull. I don’t stand for that. I grew up with it, and I’m fed up with it. I’m into lifting people up, not putting people down.”
The covers chosen mostly share—unintentionally—a socio-political resonance that’s as relevant today as when the songs were written. Whittling down the selections from a huge group of favorites, the songs chose their singers. “Lennon’s ‘Gimme Some Truth’ was not one I was screaming for until I heard Brie’s scratch vocal on it; and I said, ‘That’s it. That’s done,’” says Currie. Darling, likewise came to love it: “At first, the song seemed so one-sided, so kind of fed up, angry. But as I sang it, with it’s intensity, especially with what’s going on in the country today, I got it, and loved singing it.” The poignant take on the Hollies version of “He Ain’t Heavy” was one Cherie brought to the table plus she wrote a poetic addition, “a beautiful counterpoint piece that we used as a background part.”
“The original album concept was that Brie was going to sing a few, I’d sing a few, and we’d back each other up,” furthers Currie. “But I knew our voices really work well together. On T. Rex’s ‘The Motivator,’ Brie did a great soulful rock scratch vocal but maybe I have more of a tough rock quality to my voice, so I think Dave decided I was going to sing it. But in my head I heard a duet, me doing the first verse, her on the second verse….and that started the dialog of using our voices together as a concept. Our voices complement each other, so we decided we should share the majority of these songs, because it makes them better.”
Producer Dave Darling says, "It's extremely rare to have two such powerful vocalists in the same band. Cherie's a steam roller and Brie's a flame thrower. That just doesn't happen!"
“It just fell together like it was liquid,” Darling agrees of Cherie Currie & Brie Darling. “Though some of the songs were tough, because we didn’t want to do these legendary songs like a bar band, we didn’t wanna do ‘Gimme Shelter’ like the Stones did, so we had a little fun with it.” Also fun was bringing in a host of family and friends to do backups, including Currie’s sister, actress Sondra Currie, her ex-husband, actor Robert Hays; friends, Susan Olsen of Brady Bunch fame and actress/director, Allison Scagliotti. Darling’s brother, Henry Berry is on “He Ain’t Heavy”; and brother Phil Berry does a guitar solo on the Kinks tune “Do it Again” while her sister, Rory Berry Bishop plays drums on Thunderclap Newman’s “Something in the Air.” Patti Quatro—Suzi’s sister and a member of Fanny—plays guitar and sings on “For What It’s Worth.”
While there’s at least one female musician on every song, with Darling playing drums on nearly all the cuts, everyone had to earn their place. “We don’t wanna use women musicians just because they’re women,” says Darling. “I don’t think that helps the women’s cause. You have to be good at what you do. To make it in this really hard business, be the best one in the room. Earn it, just like anybody.”
If the covers resonated lyrically, so too do the originals. “I feel strongly about what’s going on with women,” Darling states. “So the song ‘This is Our Time’ is not only about what’s going on with women, but it’s also what’s going on with Cherie and me. Both of us having been in these girl groups who never really got their day in the sun. I’m not bitter about it, but this song is very intentional on my part. I said, ‘listen—this is about women. This is about you and me. This is our time, so let’s take it.’”
For the live shows, Currie and Darling have deep catalogs to draw on in addition to the recorded work on The Motivator. Currie, a renowned chainsaw artist, did two legendary studio albums with the Runaways, plus solo albums, including one with twin sister Marie Currie. Her most recent, 2015’s Reverie, features Runaways bandmate Lita Ford, produced by her son, Jake Hays and original Runaways producer, the late Kim Fowley. Reverie was Fowley’s final production. Currie wrote a powerful memoir, Neon Angel, which inspired the 2010 biopic, The Runaways (executive produced by Joan Jett with Dakota Fanning as Currie) fleshed out both Currie’s story and The Runaways mythos.
Darling, also known as Brie Howard, has recorded as drummer, singer and writer with Fanny in the ‘70s, as well as with the bands American Girls in the mid ‘80s and the Boxing Gandhis, who have put out three albums since the mid-90s. As a backing vocalist, and percussionist, Darling played with or has written songs for the Pointer Sisters, Jimmy Buffett, ELO, Ringo Starr, Carole King and more.
Darling and Currie both have acted in several films. Currie starred with Jodie Foster in the 1980 film Foxes and Brie starred in the film Android, opposite Klaus Kinski. Brie’s creativity also extends to the kitchen: Darling is a cake artist who won her episode on the Food Network’s Cake Wars.
Both women feel fortunate that Dave Darling produced the record. “Dave’s a flippin’ genius.” says Currie. “It’s no small feat to take such classic songs and breathe new life into them. I’ve never had an easier time making a record.”
Cherie Currie & Brie Darling’s The Motivator is the end product of years of groundbreaking musical and personal work. But it’s also a new beginning, an album infused with a power, joy and enthusiasm that was forged—and doubled—thanks to the inspiring and exceptional Currie and Darling collaboration.
3/2019
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