CHRISTINE SANTELLI has been a legendary presence in theblues and roots singer-songwriter
underground since the mid-90's. Firmly establishing herself in the NYC music scene that spawned
the likes of Joan Osborne and Jimmy Vivino, she was voted "Blues Artist of the Year (Deserving
Wider Recognition)" in Downbeat Magazine's 46th annual critic's poll. She crossed the Atlantic to
perform triumphant shows in Paris, Madrid and Moscow, which were later released as live recordings.
Internation touring continued with many trips to South Africa, Norway, Germany and Switzerland, and
included an acclaimed performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Back in the USA, Christine's 2002
CD, Season of a Child (co-produced by Popa Chubby) garnered further raves. On Any Better Time
(release date 3/17/09), Christine brings her signature style and unmistakeable grit-and-soul vocals
to thirteen brand new original songs, produced by Dave Gross. In an early review,
The Daily Freeman's Dave Malachowski declares, "Santelli really comes into her own with this release,
and it couldn't be at any better time."

for more information, visit: www.christinesantelli.com 

No better time for singer Santelli
New release for blues/rock maven
by Diana Schwaeble

 There is perhaps no better time to embrace original music. Christine Santelli’s latest album
Any Better Time draws the listener in and doesn’t let go.  With her lush vocals, confident guitar
licks, and vibrant storytelling, one tumbles into her world, which is richly hypnotic: a broken down
truck, a darkened bar, and a guitar playin’ man are all featured on the musician’s seventh album.
The latest CD, released on March 17, contains a baker’s dozen of songs that showcase her skill
as a songwriter and a performer.
Fans can hear selections from her latest album when she plays a show with the full band on
Tuesday, April 21 at the Dubliner in Hoboken.

Emotional tapestry

The album, which was produced by Dave Gross and VizzTone Label Group, is a fusion of genres.
It blends simple blues truths and country sensibility mixed with a rock base.
_____________

Her low-pitched vocals are rich with emotion – weaving up the scale and around the drums –
in the aptly titled “Butterfly.”
________

Santelli bares her heart on this album with a rewarding result. Fans of the local singer will
recognize in the songs stories that are at once sadly knowing, yet defiantly hopeful.
Her low-pitched vocals are rich with emotion – weaving up the scale and around the drums –
in the aptly titled “Butterfly.”
“And when you’re flying way up high, I will be near by. And when you’re tangled up in the trees,
you know where I’ll be. Fly on, fly on, fly on, my little butterfly.” “Ode to Bill” is a moving tribute to
a “guitar playin’ man” who travels the world playing guitar:  “Made a lot of records soon to be a star.
He was a guitar playin’ man – a guitar playin’ man.” Yet as good as those two songs are, it is perhaps
the title track that listeners will go back to again and again if only to hear the Santelli’s lively foot
tapping anthem: “Any Better Time.”

Well-known local
Jersey City resident Santelli has made her mark in the blues scene and at many local venues since
the mid-nineties. She personally nurtured and began the popular series of open-mic nights in
Hoboken that feature singer-songwriters and include a pool of talented musicians who participate
regularly. Her series is now at the Dubliner in Hoboken and includes Saturday afternoons, and
nights on Sunday through Tuesday.
 The well-known Popa Chubby, has stopped by the scene and also plays on her latest album.
The album also includes bandmates Matt Mousseau (drums), Tim Tindall (electric bass, upright bass),
Jason Green (guitar, banjo), and musicians Brian Mitchell (Wurlitzer, piano), Arthur Nielson (guitar),
Dave Gross (guitar), Gibb Wharton (pedal steel), and Mazz Swift (violin).

In addition to her large local following, she has gained international renown at shows in Paris,
Madrid, the Montreal Jazz Festival, among others.
Whether or not listeners are familiar with Santelli’s music, they should appreciate the new album –
which put simply – soars. She captivates the listener with her gritty passion that shines through
whether she is softly singing a melancholy ballad or passionately engaging in a foot-stamping
rock song.
Christine Santelli will play at the Ear Inn in Manhattan on Wednesday, April 8 and at the Dubliner,
on Tuesday, April 21 at 9:30.No better time for singer Santelli
New release for blues/rock maven

FROM THE BILLBOARD WEBSITE: "a solid roots rock winner"

Album Review
On her seventh CD, blues-rocker Christine Santelli shows off her stylistic
versatility with a varied program that includes a couple of excursions into
country, a not to New Orleans, a strange and carnivalesque number, and
plenty of straight-up roots rock. The focus here is on her voice, which is
interesting: at its best, it's a dark, smoky, and richly textured instrument,
while at its worst it can be almost painfully scratchy and raw. Santelli's
songwriting is grittily mature, and on highlight tracks like the sultry "Guilty,"
the softly gorgeous "Brown Haired Girl," and the straightforward blues-rock
of "Sparrow," the vulnerability of the lyrics and her intimate vocal delivery
come together perfectly. Her sidemen are also worth noting; Tim Tindall's
basslines are self-effacing but utterly perfect on "Butterfly," and Brian
Mitchell's barrelhouse piano adds a very nice swamp-boogie element
to the title track. "Calgary" is built on a minimal and lovely arrangement
that showcases Santelli's voice at its roughest, and effect that detracts
from the song in a few places, and the album-closing "On the Farm"
sounds almost like a Hee Haw parody.
But for the most part his album is a solid roots rock winner.
- Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
 

 ARTS

http://thebluegrassspecial.com/archive/2010/november10/video-file-november-2010.php

Christine Santelli: ‘I consider myself, especially now after doing this,
a writer who’s not working in only one genre.’ (Photo: Alicia Root)

100 Videos In 100 Days
Christine Santelli’s Ambitious Self Promotion Hits The Mark
By David McGee

Christine Santelli is threatening to ascend from the “criminally overlooked” category to being recognized as
one of the finest singer-songwriters around. And she’s doing it on her own terms, taking advantage of the
Internet’s opportunities for self promotion to showcase a whole mess of new songs she’s written since this
past summer, as well as some older ones revisited in different arrangements, all captured in video
performances shot at her home and at venues where she’s played.

The idea originated with her husband, Matt Mousseau, who is the drummer in Santelli’s fine band and
plays freelance gigs with other groups when his wife is not performing. While he was away at one of
those freelance gigs, Santelli wrote a new song. When she played it for him, Matt’s response was to
suggest she “should record a hundred songs in a hundred days,” Santelli says. “I was like, alright.
he next morning I thought, I made the commitment, I’m actually going to do this.”

She started posting videos on her Facebook page, then uploading them to YouTube, feeling that by
going public with her project, “I could keep myself on track.”

Most of the videos were shot in Santelli’s home, in what she calls “the Red Room” (where her essential
album Tales From The Red Room was written) but a few were filmed at gigs or during radio interviews.
Of the 100, “six or seven are from years ago that were started but never finished. There’s 50 total that
haven’t been recorded. They only exist in these videos. Brand spanking new? Thirty-eight, maybe forty.”

Apart from the challenge the project posed, Santelli has found this focused songwriting lab paying off in
multiple ways she hadn’t anticipated but which have been critical to her ongoing evolution from a blues
artist to an uncategorizable singer-songwriter.” I’ve never sat with an instrument as much as I did in the
last three months,” she said. “It’s made me such a better guitar player, and more in tune with songwriting,
a better songwriter just from doing this. I’ve also noticed I listen to songs differently—I listen to parts.

“I consider myself, especially now after doing this, a writer who’s not working in only one genre. Now I
really need to spend some time with the songs and learn them, and that’s always been a struggle for me.
That’s the hard part; it’s not fun to do that. It’s homework, you know.”

Christine Santelli was profiled in the June 2009 issue of TheBluegrassSpecial.com.

Visit her website for news and tour dates.

And starting next month, check the Contents page of each issue of TheBluegrassSpecial.com for the
exclusive Christine Santelli Video Of The Month.