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PRESS RELEASE – Run Through April 21, 2012

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Imagine a harp shrunk to the size of a crossbow. Brushed chrome, with 32 strings. A woman in a sleek black boustier straps it on, plugs it in like an electric guitar and pulls sounds from the strings that you never thought could come from a harp: Hendrix-style wails, Flamenco, Blues and lush atmospheric sounds capes. Singing with a voice that’s been compared to Carly Simon and Joan Baez, in one-woman shows that are unified, like a collection of musical short-stories, by one artist’s imagination.

The woman is GRAMMY®-Nominated recording artist Deborah Henson-Conant. The instrument was designed for her by the CAMAC company in France, built with racing-bike technology, it weighs 11-pounds, and has 32 strings, with a whammy-type lever on ever one of them, and they’ve named it after her, the “DHC Light.”

She’s headed to Rockport, MA on April 21 at 8pm to perform at the Shalin Liu, presented by Rockport Music. (Click here for info & tix.) The new performance center features a state-of-the-art concert hall with a two-story stage window with direct ocean views. The Center is unique in New England, combining intimacy, extraordinary acoustical quality, and a matchless natural setting, which attracts and inspires artists and audiences alike.

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Henson-Conant has jammed with the likes of Bobby McFerrin, Steven Tyler and the Boston Pops, she’s been interviewed by journalists from Charlie Rose to Joan Rivers, and she’s just returned from a 5-week U.S. tour that included symphony stages, arts series, vintage vaudeville theaters and even a radio theater.

Henson-Conant is both a throwback and creative pioneer: a throwback to solo performers who combined virtuosic skills with humor and theater to create unforgettable one-person shows.  She’s a creative pioneer in her collaboration with the CAMAC company to develop the electric harp, and in her unique use of the instrument combining classically-developed craft, cutting-edge playing techniques, a looper box, a Hendrix-style distortion pedal – and her powerful singing voice.

The art of solo performance is part of her long-term passion. “When you can take a single instrument and do more with it than anyone ever imagined,” says Henson-Conant, “that’s a metaphor for what we’re each capable of, and that’s the subtext I want people to walk away with.  I also love to perform.  The stage is about the only place I ever feel I’m not too big, too loud or being too ‘creative.’

Unlike artists who focus on a specific genre, Henson-Conant explores genres to expose different aspects of this new instrument – and she uses story to put each genre in context:  from disasters of parental misunderstanding to the middle-aged anxiety of what we see in the mirror, the secret cultural life of dogs, the heroism of fruit, the romance of the sous-chef and the revenge of the dust-balls under your bed.

And with her “Hip-Harp,” she’s completely mobile, and capable of huge musical range, from delicate arpeggios to Hendrix-inspired sound clusters, with a voice that “crisscrosses between the huskiness of Carly Simon and the refinement of Celine Dion.” (Webster Post), and a wicked sense of whimsy “she tells tall tales with the ease of a stand-up comic” (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

The New York Times Credits Henson-Conant with “Reshaping the serenely Olympian harp into a jazz instrument. The Austin American-Statesman describes her show as “… dazzling harp playing, gorgeous jazz/pop singing, comic timing and impressive songwriting.

BELOW FIND FULL TICKET INFO & WEBSITE LINKS FOR HENSON-CONANT’S 8pm SHOW ON April 21 AT Shalin Liu in Rockport.

CONTACT: Beatriz Harley, 781-483-3556, info@HipHarp.com
MORE INFO: https://hipharp.com/publicity.html
HI-RES IMAGES: https://hipharp.com/pressphotos.html

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BASIC DETAILS, LINKS & TIX

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WHO: GRAMMY® Nominated Electric Harpist Deborah Henson-Conant
WHAT: “Hip Harp at Shalin Liu!”
WHEN: Sat. April 21, 2012 at 8:00pm
WHERE: The Shalin Liu Performance Center, 37 Main St, Rockport, MA 01966
TICKET PRICE: $19 – $34
PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE: http://www.rcmf.org/jazz-world/4-21-12.html
BOX OFFICE: 978-546-7391

ARTIST WEBSITE: http://www.HipHarp.com
ARTIST DEMO VIDEO: (on the home page of her website) http://www.HipHarp.com
VENUE WEBSITE: http://www.rcmf.org/

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ARTIST WEBSITE & SOCIAL MEDIA:
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Website:
http://www.HipHarp.com
Facebook Official Page: http://www.facebook.com/HipHarp
Blog: https://hipharp.com/blog/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/HipHarpist
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/HipHarpist

For more artist info or to schedule an interview, contact:
Beatriz Harley, 781-483-3556,
info@HipHarp.com

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