“We may or may not have stalked Mieka initially...”
- Brian and Andrew
The Mieka Canon was born of two seperate entities. Mieka Pauley began as a solo artist in Boston. Her haunting voice and heartbreaking lyrics gained her more than a few fans, securing her bills with Citizen Cope, KT Tunstall, Natasha Bedingfield, Ben Kweller, Mason Jennings, John Legend, the Avett Brothers and many others, and winning her the first ever Starbucks Emerging Artist Award, the New York Songwriters Circle Songwriting Contest and much more. Her love affair with vocalists and poets led her to study and understand the art of singing, inside and out. But her obsession with words and melodies left a void she desperately needed filled: to realize the music she heard in her head, but did not understand enough to create.
Enter Brian Cassagnol and Andrew Morgan, just a few miles away, obsessing about soundscapes and the power of electric guitars. In the beginning they were fans, introduced to Mieka's aching songs at Boston's Paradise Rock Club. They initially began playing as her backup band, but each side quickly realized their artistic complement in the other, and a beautiful collaboration began. Brian produced Mieka’s 2007 album, Elijah Drop Your Gun, and fans enthusiastically validated the project by financing the record in its entirety.
The collaboration between the three artists was critically solidified when the band, under Mieka's moniker, was named Cosmopolitan Magazine's Fun Fearless Female Rockstar of the Year at the end of 2008, though Mieka claims full credit for the gender. In August 2009, they officially acknowledged their entanglement and began performing together as The Mieka Canon, releasing their first EP, From the Mouth of Paris.
"This is the first time I have actually liked my own music," Mieka says.
So, the music: Imagine Radiohead tiptoeing silently behind Patty Griffin as she makes her way backstage. Imagine Jeff Buckley in drag, singing along loudly at a Nirvana concert. Imagine Death Cab hiding in the back of an Emily Dickinson reading. The band describes their music as "mainstream indie rock" and feels the contradiction perfectly describes their obsessions.
Genres:
Acoustic, Alternative, Alternative Country, Blues, Folk, Indie Pop, Indie Rock Sponsored by SideCho, Pop, Pop Videos, R & B, Rock, Rock Videos, Singer-Songwriter (female), Soft Rock
Members:
Mieka Pauley - songwriter/vocals/guitar
Brian Cassagnol - producer/guitar
Andrew Morgan - bass
Gabriel Hays - keys
David Previ - drums
Setup Requirements:
solo show:
vocal mic on boom stand, D.I., 1-2 wedge monitor(s)
band show:
mieka (lead vox/gtr): vocal mic on boom stand, D.I., instrument mic (for amp), wedge monitor
brian (elec gtr/bkgd vox): instrument mic (for amp), vocal mic on boom stand, power nearby, wedge monitor
andrew (bass/bkgd vox): D.I, instrument mic (for cabinet), wedge monitor
landon (keys): two D.I.'s, power nearby, wedge monitor
sarab (drums): (minimum) 1 mic for kick, 1 mic for snare, 2 overheads, wedge monitor
