March 10, 2009

MEDIA CONTACT: Carl Graci
(202) 994-3003; cgraci@gwu.edu

MADELEINE PEYROUX PERFORMS FROM HER HIGHLY
ANTICIPATED ALBUM BARE BONES

EVENT:

Possessing a voice eerily reminiscent of Billie Holiday, Madeleine Peyroux has achieved both critical notice and sales success. Peyroux will be performing songs from her eagerly awaited release Bare Bones.

WHEN:

Saturday, June 20, 2009, 8 p.m.

WHERE:

The George Washington University
Lisner Auditorium
21st & H Streets, NW, Washington, D.C.
Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro (Orange and blue lines)

TICKETS:

General admissions $25 - $30. Admission for GW students and alumni is $15, limited availability tickets. Group rates available for groups of 10+. Tickets are available at the Lisner Auditorium Box Office, TicketMaster outlets, PhoneCharge (301) 808-6900 and ticketmaster.com. For more information, call (202) 994-6800.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Possessing a voice eerily reminiscent of Billie Holiday, Madeleine Peyroux has achieved both critical notice and sales success. Peyroux has been hailed an "exquisite interpreter" of an extraordinary range of songs (Boston Globe), from thirties and forties standards to the bent of modern singer-songwriters, with a special sympathy for the blues. Peyroux's intimate readings of original and contemporary love songs evoke emotions laid bare. She exudes "a kind of postmodernist coolness that inevitably draws the listener in" (LA Times).

Peyroux will be performing songs from her eagerly awaited release Bare Bones. The newest album finds Peyroux diving into songwriting with the same emotion she has given others' songs in the past. She had a hand in writing all 11 tracks on the album, creating a deeply personal piece of work that gives listeners a window into her fascinating life story -- moving from the US to Paris with her mother as a child, dropping out of high school to busk on the streets, and rising up to critical acclaim and commercial success. The result is fluid and enthralling.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that every now and then the clouds break, offering a glimpse of a newfound, and hard-earned, lightheartedness--not something one would associate with this deep, deadly serious artist, whose previous outings have been steeped in melancholy. "I've been working toward this all along," she points out. "I don't think that we can really know drama without knowing comedy. They need each other in order to be real and complete. So in a sense I'm trying to push the envelope of that subtle marriage between two opposites--happy and sad, tragic and comic or grief and renewal."

"I'm really happy that I got to write," says Peyroux, "It feels like a new segment, and it's great work. I'm surrounded by beautiful sounds, really honest musicians, really honest playing."

Additional Information, high-resolution photos & interviews available.

GW Lisner Auditorium is dedicated to the presentation of local, national and international artists.

For more information about GW's Lisner Auditorium, visit http://www.lisner.org/.

For more news about The George Washington University, visit www.gwnewscenter.org.

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