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It’s become a holiday tradition here at Now
Playing world headquarters to write a column about Marina V on her yearly
Yuletide return to central Illinois. I consider it a privilege and an honor
not only because she is a good friend and a considerable artist but also
because every year she has accomplished so much and continues to make
strides in the music business. The Russian-born singer/songwriter came to America as
a teenager, graduated from Illinois College in Jacksonville, and, after a
few years of slugging it out on the playing grounds of central Illinois,
set her sights on Los Angeles, a world center of the music industry. Every
year since departing from the Land of Lincoln to the land of opportunity
her small victories have loomed large, for just to exist and function there
is considered “making it” by many, including me. Through the years, besides building up a regular
playing schedule in the café jungles of Southern California, Marina
has managed tours of Russia, Eastern Europe, the United Kingdom, and other
worldly locations. She’s signed a management deal with David Krebs,
who has worked with Aerosmith, Don McLean, AC/DC, the Scorpions, and the
Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and used the production talents of Jack Douglas,
who was also chosen as a producer by the likes of John Lennon, George
Harrison, and Aerosmith. January 2008 marks the release of Modern Fairytales, Marina V’s
fifth CD of original music. The recording took place at the home studio of
Graham Nash, ’60s legend and the Nash of Crosby, Stills and Nash. “We’re [she and collaborator Nick Baker]
good friends with sound engineer Jared Brown, who works at Graham’s
studio,” says Marina. “He asked Graham, and we got the OK to
record.”
The house is classic LA, complete with memorabilia and
neighbors, including the blue jeans Nash wore at Woodstock hanging on the
wall and a guy who did voices for the Smurfs living down the street.
Whatever environment the situation created, it was
certainly good for the music. This recording is the finest work Marina V
and Baker have produced. The lyrics are more concise yet still meaningful,
the music more evocative but also more soothing than her previous works.
It’s a sure sign of musical maturity to progress artistically and
professionally while retaining one’s core sound. On Modern Fairytales the
familiar emotive vocals combine with pleasantly polished music, pushing the
progressive-pop arrangements into intensely enjoyable songs that not only
grab your mind but reach into your heart as well. That’s vintage
Marina V all right, just better than ever. Aside from the wonderful songs and gorgeous
production on the disc, the cover is an extraordinary piece of art. “A friend of a friend, actually a postal worker
from Arizona, did that,” she explains. “I had a clear idea of
what I wanted in my head, sketched ideas in a rough way, gave him a real
photo of me, and he came up with the cover.”
But what does our ever-climbing higher, hard-driving
artiste think of it all? “I just want to keep working on more and more
things,” says Marina. “I feel I’m getting better all the
time, and good stuff keeps coming my way.”
Contact Tom Irwin at tirwin@illinoistimes.com.
Catch Marina V in concert at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 21,
at the Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 745 Woodside
Rd., 217-585-9550. Tickets cost $10; all ages are welcome, and children
under 12 get in for $5. Get more information at www.aluuc.org or
www.marinav.com.
This article appears in Dec 13-19, 2007.
