Rating: 
Summary: Real people telling their stories
Review: SOLO is real people telling their stories, sharing their feelings. Each one is human, with hopes and fears. The stories do not come from the hand of a publicist. They are not authorized biographies "as told to. . ." The photos are real, too, not staged for marketing. SOLO is about the creative process, its pain and its satisfaction.
Rating:
Summary: a book to change your life, a must read, a classic!!!
Review: SOLO is the most beautiful, artistic, informative book I have read in years. The lessons I learned from these women are lessons for life. From Shawn Colvin's experience getting over an addiction to Joan Osborne describing what it means to be a woman in a male dominated world to Sarah McLachlan speaking about what she does to feed her soul SOLO rocks the foundation of my world!!I am giving it to all my girlfriends, and my mother.
Rating:
Summary: SOLO:a book of wisdom from today's female singer-songwriters
Review: SOLO: Women Singer-Songwriters In Their Own Words is just that: a compilation of 'collected wisdom' from some of today's female singer-songwriters. Each piece is accompanied by striking black and white photographs by Emma Dodge Hanson, and the essays themselves are written ina laid-back conversational style that makes it easy to curl up on the couch on a cold winter's day and read the book.Editor Marc Woodworth has done a fine job of presenting these outstanding women as intelligent and wise -- or perhaps it could be said that they didn't need any help from Woodworth to come across that way? Woodworth has given each songwriter a clean slate to talk about themselves and their work, and ech artist shines. The end product is a compendium of "selected wisdom", if you will, that flows fluidly from the pages. To the reader, it feels as though one were listening to each artist chat about life, over a coffee at the local cafe. Gone are the cliched phrases and anecodtes that all too often mar books about artists in the music industry. The remarkable thing that Woodworth has managed to accomplish is to present these women as human beings, not just as songwriters. While they talk about their craft a great deal, each comes across as being very experienced (or embattled!) in matters of the heart. Very often a given artist chats about her upbringing, how they got into music, and their various influences, topics that I found very interesting. Each artist is very honest about mistakes they have made, not only on a practical level but on a emotional one as well, information that I suspect would be difficult to glean from male singers! Because the book reads like a "book of conversations", and not a "book of discussions about each artist's individual style", I found even the writings of artists I don't like to be very interesting. For example, I'm not a huge fan of Mary Chapin Carpenter, but she had some very intelligent things to say. Someone else who I don't recognize writes that "I realized it's okay to feel multiple ways about a certain thing," a concept that struck me as being very true and very human. The book is full of these little observations about life and human behaviour. Overall, I was very impressed with the content of the book and the way in which it was assembled. The layout is very aesthetically pleasing and the photos are beautifully done. Thanks to Marc and Emma on a job well done.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing look into the minds of today's female musicians
Review: Solo:Women Singer-Songwriters in Their Own Words, is an intimate look into the lives and experiences of today's finest female musicians. Unlike other books about rock stars this is not a cheesy interview with repeated questions that you hear all of the time. Each artist speaks uninterrupted and it seems as though you are listening to the artists in person. It is revealing and interesting and for many young female (and male) musicians it is inspiring. The pictures are excellent and expressive adding the perfect touch to this already amazing book. Definitely 5 out of 5 stars! Great work!
Rating:
Summary: If you're a true fan of any of these women...
Review: The minds who brought you this wonderful collection of women singers which ranges from brilliant, well-respected Joan Osborne to confusingly individual Ani DiFranco should be rewarded for their efforts: buy this book! It's great - what's stopping you anyway? This book is worth considerably more than its asking price!
Rating:
Summary: Thank you Emma and Mark
Review: The night I bought this book I sat down and finished the whole thing. I bought this book because I was a huge fan of Sarah McLachlan and Shawn Colvin, Jewel and Cheryl Crow, but I learned so much more from the other singers too. Sarah's interview struck me as the most down to earth, but every interview was intriguing and I just couldn't put it down. Some of the artists I had never even listened to like Ani Difranco but then next day I borrowed a friends CD and I have to say thanks to this book my CD collection has gotten a lot larger! Thank you Emma and Mark! The only bad thing about this book is......it ended! (and Tori Amos wasn't in the book, but was mentioned by Sarah McLachlan! =)So that was fine by me!!!)
Rating:
Summary: amazing, beautiful and enlightening
Review: these women's stories encourage me to be more creative. I always thought I was an artist but now I realize the meaning behind it. Sarah Mclachlan opened my eyes in her chapter of SOLO. What a book! Buy this book... the photographs are stunning and I know that you will love it.I am getting it for all of my friends!
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful book about real women who happen to be artists
Review: This book is not for people looking for a glamorous "inside edition" type of experience. The women in this beautifully-done paperback and affordable edition are real people who have the courage to "follow their bliss" and make a living creatively, thereby giving the world the gift of their talent. The stories they tell are stories of "everywoman" and those of us who happen to be female are lucky to get a double whammy. You poor guys simply get a profound glimpse of the artistic mind at work. The photographs are stunningly done in their simplicity and "realness" (these women look like me!). This book is on my Christmas list for all the women that I know and all the men that matter.
Rating:
Summary: A terrific book for singer/songwriter enthusiasts!
Review: This is a wonderful book for those of us who have enjoyed the talents of some or all of the artists presented in this book, through CD's, concerts, or television appearances, and have wanted to know more about who these women are and how they came to be. In their own words, and not in 10 second soundbites, we hear from musicians like Shawn Colvin, Jewel, Lucy Kaplansky, Lucinda Williams, and many more. Their stories, accompanied by superb photos taken by Emma Dodge Hanson in a collaborative effort with editor Mark Woodworth, are informative, interesting, touching, and amusing. It's a book that can be read one singer/songwriter at a time and returned to, or from cover to cover. The photos seem natural and revealing. I recommend this book to those who are familiar with these women singer/songwriters, and to those who aren't.
Rating:
Summary: A Lilith Fair Bible!
Review: This is the finest example of what beautiful photography and amazing storise can do for your soul. This book should be read by every woman in America at every age. The stories are personal, enlightening and truly amazing! There is so much to learn from SOLO... I return to it daily.
|
