Introducing Leerone: A Folk, Experimental, Blues and Soul Artist

True fans of the ever-changing, seemingly faded folk music genre rejoice! Leerone is here and she is prepared to fill the void in popular music which has sadly passed, seemingly unnoticed, by the throes.

Much the same as a long-untended dirty scab which has fallen into such neglect that we might as well just sever ties with the limb in question, folk music has undergone rapid deterioration since names like Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell, Karen Carpenter, and Don McLean firmly set it in place. There was a long time when folk fought with disco and dance music, then sort of faded off into memory when punk and arena rock came to the fore. Hip hop and new wave pop were dominant in the late 80's and 90's which receded into just hip hop. Meanwhile a brave new world of purveyors tried to find their own road in an industry which had largely written them off for dead. First maybe it was Kate Bush, trying to carry on what had come just before her, in her own quizzical manner. Shawn Colvin, Tori Amos, Aimee Mann (post "Til Tuesday") even pop princess Tracy Thorne of "Everything But the Girl" dabbled successfully in the genre, but there seemed to be no real direction for the overall thrust of where the music is going, what the music is trying to say, and who will lead the charge.

Enter Leerone. A solo artist from the Los Angeles area who is her own machine. Scan her MySpace page from the top and you will see her opinion on the matter: "me+you= the band;" immediately including you the passerby in her plan, whether you knew it or not. There is a refreshing sentiment to her aurora and a familiar, yet seldom heard plea in her singing which demands synergy but she still coyly wants to be liked. It's a loose kind of sound; think The B-52's with a deep and somber intensity.

While Leerone is, in my eye, a folk singer; she credits blues as her strongest influences. She is such an amalgam of unfamiliarity and uncertainty that it will surprise no one that in our brief conversations, both she and I have a difficult time pegging down who SHE is.

When sitting at the piano she is equal parts Tori Amos or Bjork; when she's got more of a backing band she could be dainty Sarah Brightman just as easily as she rocks like Courtney Love.

While I've spent this whole article comparing this singer to divergent personas you may think that I'm just clueless; give Leerone a listen and judge for yourself.