QUOTES!
"She inhabits her songs so fully you can't help but be pulled into her world." – Boston Herald writer Daniel Gewertz
"Mesmerizing vocal riffs...bounding folk-rock sound." – Northeast Performer
"One of the most inventive writers and solid performers of the current crop of singer/songwriters coming out of Boston. [She] makes me proud to be one." – veteran singer/songwriter Vance Gilbert
"Infuses contemporary singer/songwriter with traditional folk vibe. It's no wonder she's being recognized in her genre." -Soundcheck Magazine
“The only other time I’ve had this kind of reaction to a performer was when Bonnie Raitt first started doing the rounds of small venues... it was that same thrill of connection.” –Dayle Ann Stratton (fan)
"She could be the love child of Joni Mitchell and Dave Matthews." - Brian Kelly (fan)
PRESS!
PopSyndicate 1/20/2009
'Stream of Concrete' Album Review
Des Moines CityView 10/30/2008
'Stream of Concrete' Album Review
Teresa Storch brings some refreshingly vibrant blue-eyed soul to her funky blend of folk-rock on “Stream of Concrete.” The Boston singer-songwriter delivers 11 original songs like she’s been singing them for years, though she has only been performing professionally since 2003. “Your Story” starts the album in fine form with a catchy R&B tune that you can’t help but to groove to. It is the first of many “folk” songs that avoid the trappings of most new folk records by dwelling too much on the lyrics and not enough on arrangements… just listen to songs like “Bullet Proof Vest” and “Time is Yelling.” Then there’s the jazzy ballad “Mr. Moon,” alongside the Allman Brothers Band-inspired title track and “Tongue-Tied,” complete with Commodores-like horns, to remind you of Storch’s expansive artistry. — Michael Swanger
(Teresa Storch plays Friday, Oct. 31 at Ritual Café at 8 p.m.)
Teresa Storch swapped her computer for a guitar
By Jay N. Miller Patriot Ledger Posted Oct 08, 2008 @ 10:06 PM
Losing her job as a software developer was the best thing that ever happened to Teresa Storch, who then swapped a computer for a guitar.“I began playing in the subways and around town, and making music my main focus,” said Storch, who lives in Boston. “Now I still enjoy part-time software jobs to make ends meet, but my music is the main thing.”
Storch’s debut CD, “Stream of Concrete,” has just been released.
Of course, engineers and software developers make a pretty good living, while the income for young musicians on the way up can be scarce. Storch, who grew up in Omaha, said she has no regrets, despite her mother’s warnings.
“She was very concerned, worrying about me, and what I was going to do if the music didn’t work out,” Storch said. “It just seemed so clear to me, and overwhelming, that now I’m so happy with what I do. Working on software is not a bad life, but with music and creativity, I’ve discovered a part of me I never knew.”
The first song on “Stream of Concrete,” in fact, spewed out a conversation Storch had with her mother. The song, “Your Story,” is a remarkably vital and rock-inflected, horn-fired bit of musical caffeine, and it has a companion piece in the rock/funk “Time Is Yelling.”
The latter is a paean to seizing the moment, delivered with the kind of sizzling arrangement you’d find on a Tower of Power record.
Clearly, Storch is not your average folkie, and the guest list on her album includes musicians like T. Lavitz of the Dixie Dregs on organ, David Goodrich on guitar, and brothers John and Scott Aruda on sax and trumpet, respectively.
“I always write with funky rhythms,” she said, “and I put a lot of soul and energy into my shows. I still can get people kind of grooving, even solo, and that is my goal.”
In other cuts on the CD, Storch achieves a twangy feel (“Stream of Concrete”), jazzy R&B as Steely Dan might’ve done it (“Tongue Tied”) and classic Tin Pan Alley (“Mr. Moon”).
“My brothers were Steely Dan fans, but I was not of that era,” Storch said. “A friend told me that ‘Tongue Tied’ sounded like them, and played me one of their records. I said ‘Oh my God.’ It’s actually just a song about me flirting with a guy. People say ‘Mr. Moon’ is my Hoagy Carmichael song, which is a huge compliment. I wrote it when one of my brothers got married, and it’s about choosing to love one person the rest of your life.”
Storch has a full-band CD release show scheduled for Nov. 21 at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, Mass. In the meantime, she’s built a solid fan base around three areas: Boston, Colorado and Omaha.
“I love touring,” Storch said, adding she has 200,000 miles on her old Pontiac. “I love driving alone for long distances, and I’ll go out to Omaha and Colorado four times a year.”
Storch Speaks of her Song Ship Journey
By Chiemi
The Somerville News, April 26th, 2006
Engineering a singing career
By Ed Symkus/ Chronicle Staff
Thursday, February 2, 2006 - Updated: 08:18 AM EST
Never mind the degree in engineering physics. Never mind the musical career that’s moved from open mikes to subway platforms to clubs and to the recording studio. What’s really important is whether Cambridge singer Teresa Storch is related to gonzo actor Larry Storch, who played Corporal Agarn on "F-Troop" and was recently seen in "The Aristocrats."
"I’ve never looked into it," says Storch, who packed up a U-Haul and moved to the area from Colorado almost seven years ago. "My dad’s family is from the Czech Republic. The only Storches I know in this country that I’m related to are my dad’s family. I think I watched ’F-Troop’ when I was a kid, but I only remember seeing Larry Storch on ’Love Boat’ when I was little."
While the Teresa-Larry Storch connection will remain a mystery, she’s an open book about singing and playing her own music. The songs on her first CD, "Muscle Memory," certainly have a lot to say about her range, from the defiance of the poppy "Hand Against My Fist" to the spare sadness of the ballad "Gone Away" and the smooth, swinging shuffle of the title track.
"This is strange to me," she says, not only of her upcoming show at the Nameless Coffeehouse on Saturday, but also of the fact that she’s just returned from a tour of clubs in Colorado and her home state of Nebraska. "I didn’treally think I’d end up doing this."
It’s not that she hadn’t been thinking about it. A look back in her childhood diary reveals that she was impressed by a singer she saw perform, and that she was acting in some children’s theater performances and dancing ballet.
"I was in a singing and dancing troupe in Omaha in junior high," she recalls "We did show tunes and performed for retirement communities and talent contests. We were called the Sunshine Revue.
"We quit when I was around 13 because it wasn’t so cool anymore," she adds, laughing. "And that’s when I switched to focusing on ballet. I did that all through high school. And I came to Boston when I was 14 for a Boston Ballet summer program."
But as parents sometimes do, hers pushed her in a different direction, in her case to pursue math and science because that’s what she excelled at. But after graduating from the Colorado School of Mines, and working as an engineer for a while, she found time for lessons in guitar and voice.
"I lived in Boulder and had a roommate who had come from Boston and who knew a lot of local musicians," recalls Storch. "She moved back home, and I decided to walk away from my engineer-ballet dancer life. And I started over."
She started over with music on her mind.
"I had no idea what I was getting myself into," she admits. "I came out, pretty frightened. I had a nice, high-paying software job here to support myself. But it was like, ’How could I go from being an engineer to being an artist?’ I started finding voice teachers and guitar teachers. I was going to the Burren and the Kendall open mikes, to get my courage up. I started meeting some musicians."
Then, in 2001, she was laid off from her software job.
"And that was really the beginning of my subway career," she says happily. "That gave me a reason to get up in the morning. I was living on unemployment and my severance pay for a while. But I realized at that point that I wanted to keep doing music, so a part-time job was more useful to me, and I’ve only had part-time jobs since.
"Right now I do editing of technical books. But the goal, of course, is to make my living with music."
Although she was used to performing alone - accompanied only by a microphone and her guitar - when Storch went about putting her CD together, she decided to go the band route, so some players were brought in to back her up.
When she performs at the Nameless on Saturday, it’ll be solo, and she promises, again with a laugh, that the show will feature - as always - "my personal folk rock anthem ’Hand Against My Fist,’ and I have a lot of new tunes I’ve been working on."
She’s also looking into new producers for a new CD and thinking more and more about playing out with a band.
"It’s been more economical to tour alone," she says. "I love being solo because I really get to connect and interact with the audience. But a band is great, too. It’s a totally different experience. And my goal is to have a band. In fact, I have a band show coming up at the Burren on Feb. 22. So I’m putting one together for that."
Teresa Storch plays at the Nameless Coffeehouse in Cambridge on Feb. 4, along with Tastes Like Gravy String Band, Frank Critelli and Rebecca Katz. Lloyd Thayer is the host. The show starts at 8 p.m., and suggested donation is $8. Call 617-864-1630.
Ed Symkus can be reached at esymkus@cnc.com.
"Teresa Storch debuts her promising singer/songwriting talents on Muscle Memory. Her Vega/Merchant-esk vocals...set of 6 fabulously catchy folk-genre’d tunes. We’ll be keeping an anxious eye on this newer talent and look forward to her next effort." "Teresa Storch is another impressive member of the Boston Music scene with a wide range in vocal flexibility, as heard on her first CD, 'Muscle Memory'. Going from rock, to folk, to smoky blues (title track) Teresa stays true to the music she sings. With the well crafted music [on] 'Muscle Memory'...I believe there are some really good things ahead." |