Hannah Christianson to Play Winnipeg

A Celebration of Women and Their Music is a local festival founded in 1998 by local blues singer, Deb Jenkins. Inspired by Lilith Fair, Deb knew something like that would work well with the female artists in the area. Featuring local, regional and, occasionally, national artists, and helped by the support of local venues like the Fargo Theatre, The Aquarium, and Monte’s, among others, the 11th Annual festivities took place this last February.

The money raised by the festival goes into an endowment fund established with the F-M Area Foundation. The endowment provides four awards for $250 and one for $500 to local high school artists. This years Celebration of Women Award winner is Fargo singer-songwriter, Hannah Christianson.

Not surprisingly, Deb has kind words to say about Hannah: “Hannah has this high energy that is just addicting; she has no fear. As cliché as it may sound, she has it! The looks, sound and the absolute talent and energy to do it,” Jenkins said. She added “The other thing that is important, at least to me, is that she understands that it is not those things, that I mention, about looks and such that are important. It is having the heart and commitment to what she feels is true to her art.”

Originally from Alexandria, Minn., Hannah moved to Fargo three years ago and graduated from Shanley High School this year. A multi-instrumental threat, Hannah bangs out most songs on the piano, but also plays the occasional song on guitar and can switch to flute or drums if needed. Among her influences, she states Ingrid Michaelson, Billy Joel, Bruce Hornsby, Regina Spektor and solid newcomer Sarah Bareilles. “I really like Sarah Bareilles. I like her because I can listen to her music and not get sick of it. Its all good and its not just one good song here and there,” Hannah said in a recent interview.

What may be most impressive about Hannah, though, are her unique vocals and her knack for writing pretty melodies and great hooks. “Every song is different. The most common is jamming out on a piano chord progression, which leads to another chord progression, which leads to a pretty song. Or sometimes I’ll sing something and I’ll have the melody first and then I’ll figure it out.”

Sometimes you forget you’re dealing with a teenager when you hear songs like the sultry “The Day My Heart Stopped Singing,” the Spanish language comedy of “Tito,” and the hopeful, deep “Opportunity.” And the list goes on and on of original songs the caliber of which you don’t hear a lot of in this area. The two standouts, though, are “Mid-September” about the death of a friend and “Saturday Mornin’,” a spunky, up-tempo song that has hit written all over it.

Hannah will be bringing her original songs to the upcoming Winnipeg Folk Festival, July 10-13, as part of the Young Performers Program, which gives young artists a chance to perform on stage, as well as mentoring from professional musicians. It’s probably not difficult to figure out how she got invited to Winnipeg: “Deb Jenkins. She’s such a great person. I went on her show and she told me to apply for this program at the WFF called the Young Performers Program. I applied and got in the same day she called me back about it. I get to work with a guy from The Weakerthans.”

Deb Jenkins, a long-time Winnipeg Folk Festival attendee, had this to say about Hannah’s chance to play the festival: “Hannah had no idea about the Winnipeg Festival, but she is exactly what the young performers are all about. It is something that will be a life changing event forever for her.” She added, “These performers will be with major artists that they may only have dreamed of maybe seeing in concert some where. They will be mentored by some of these artists and they will perform with some of them, too. What a trip!”

Not to be outdone by things like Winnipeg and playing the occasional coffee-house gig, Hannah will be attending the Berklee College of Music this fall. The world’s largest independent music college, Berklee’s alumni list reads like a who’s who of songwriters and musicians, including Donald Fagen, John Mayer, Aimee Mann, Bruce Hornsby and Steve Vai.
Hannah got the Berklee bug after attending a songwriting workshop there last summer. “I went there for five days. My mom thought it would be a good learning experience, so I flew out there by myself and took a taxi. It was a really great experience; I met people from all over. Like a quarter of each class are from another country. We attended different workshops about songwriting. It was really great and I wrote like four songs while I was there.”

You can check out Hannah at the WFF, as well as most coffee places around town until she leaves in the fall. And you can bet that wherever her path leads she’ll be just fine: “I always try to be as good as I can be and as outstanding as I can be. If it’s something that’s just mediocre, then I’m not going to get anywhere. I know I’m going to try and make it my life, but if it doesn’t work out that’s okay. I know I’m always going write music and perform, but the point is not to make money, but for somebody to get something out of it.”

If You Go

Who: Hannah Christianson
What: Winnipeg Folk Festival
Where: Birds Hill Park, Manitoba
When: July 10-13
How Much: $185 (Adult 4-day pass)
Info: www.myspace.com/musicofhannah