HEATHER ALEXANDER

'Heather Alexander' is an American singer, musician and songwriter in the Celtic and World music genres. Alexander blends mythical, fantasy, and traditional themes in her performances, switching between instrumental fiddle and songs accompanied by her guitar, bodhran, and fiddle playing.
In 2002, Alexander told ''Strange Horizons'' that she is "a musical entertainer. I sing, play, compose, and tell stories." She has also been a popular and influential artist in the field of filk music.
As of OryCon 2006, Heather Alexander retired. Her music is being carried forward by Alexander James Adams, who made his debut at Seattle's Norwescon 30, on April 6, 2007. ^[1]

Contents

Career

Literary Collaborations

Cultural References

Pegasus Awards

Discography

Solo albums

DVD

Band albums

Guest Appearances

See also

References

External links

Career

A native of California, Heather Alexander began performing her original music in the mid-eighties for friends, renaissance fairs, and filk conventions. Off Centaur Publications was recording performances at one convention and asked to include Alexander. This began an association where Alexander recorded for Off Centaur and later Firebird Arts and Music, primarily work for hire. Strange Horizons Interview, 29 July 2002
In the late 80s Alexander founded the Celtic fusion rock band Phoenyx, with which she released one album, ''Keepers of the Flame''; the band disbanded in 1991 after achieving a high degree of local fame, and that album is no longer in print. See also Alexander's page on the album, including information from the album's press kit; Alexander's FAQ; Mark Ungar's Discography; Cat Taylor Discography.
Alexander returned to her acoustic roots and embarked on a solo career, including a live concert recording produced by Firebird Arts and Music. She released her first solo album, ''Wanderlust'', on her own label (Sea Fire Productions, Inc) in 1994. Two live concert albums and several studio albums have followed. Strange Horizons Interview, 29 July 2002 Discography on the official website, www.heatherlands.com Alexander also moved to the Pacific Northwest, settling in Banks, Oregon in 2002.
In 2001, Alexander founded a new band, Uffington Horse, together with Andrew Hare and Dan Ochipinti. Alexander continued to perform solo gigs in between Uffington Horse appearances. In 2004, a limited run of the Uffington Horse promotional CD was offered to fans to help finance recording their first studio album, ''Enchantment'', published in 2004. Discography on the official website, www.heatherlands.com
Heather Alexander and Uffington Horse have performed at numerous science fiction and furry conventions, such as OryCon, Norwescon, Further Confusion (2004 and 2005), Eurofurence (2005 and 2006), and CascadiaCon (2005). She was Music Guest of Honor at FenCon in 2006. Alexander also performs at Highland Games, Renaissance fairs, coffeehouses, and weddings.

Literary Collaborations

Several of the Firebird Arts and Music albums include songs inspired by the writings of Mercedes Lackey and Andre Norton. (See the discography below for more information.)
In 2002, Alexander released the album ''Insh'Allah'' on her own label, inspired by Steven Barnes's novel ''Lion's Blood''. The songs and the book were written concurrently, and several of the songs are quoted in the book and its sequel. Strange Horizons Interview, 29 July 2002
In a similar vein, Alexander's 2006 album ''Merlin's Descendants'' is based on the fiction of Irene Radford. Discography on the official website, www.heatherlands.comIrene Radford's site.

Cultural References

Heather Alexander's songs have been featured in the novels of John Ringo. An MP3 of ''March of Cambreadth'' was included on an accompanying CD and is available for download at the publisher's site. Per the Midsummer page on the official website, www.heatherlands.com, and BAEN books site.
S.M. Stirling's quotes Alexander's lyrics in his ''Island in the Sea of Time'' trilogy. His ''Dies the Fire'' series features a red-haired musician who plays guitar, fiddle, and bodhran named "Juniper Mackenzie". The lyrics of "Mackenzie's" songs quoted in the books are Heather Alexander's, and Alexander is credited in the Acknowledgments. (Juniper and heather are both plants.) This been commented on in reviews and convention programs.
Mike Shepard used the song ''March of Cambreadth'' in his book ''Defiant''. ''Defiant'' also has a character named Heather Alexander.
Several of Alexander's songs have been parodied, most notably ''March of Cambreadth''.

Pegasus Awards

Heather Alexander has won the Pegasus Award three times:

★ 1996: Best Performer

★ 1996: Best Writer/Composer

★ 2006: Best Battle Song, ''March of Cambreadth''

Discography

Solo albums

These albums are billed as "Heather Alexander". Alexander sang lead vocals on all, accompanied by herself and other musicians. Unless otherwise noted, albums feature a mix of traditional Celtic music & Heather Alexander-penned originals.

★ ''Freedom, Flight and Fantasy'' 1990 (Firebird Arts and Music)
::Lyrics: Mercedes Lackey. Music: Leslie Fish. Arrangements: Cecilia Eng.

★ ''Heather Alexander, Live'' 1992 (Firebird Arts and Music)
::Alexander accompanies her vocals with guitar, bodhran, and fiddle.

★ ''Songsmith'', 1993 (Firebird Arts and Music)
::Songs based on the book ''Songsmith'' by Andre Norton and A.C. Crispin.

★ ''Wanderlust'' 1994 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.)
::First studio recording on her own label with backing musicians.

★ ''Shadow Stalker'' 1994 (Firebird Arts and Music)
::Lyrics: Mercedes Lackey & D.F. Sanders. Music: Heather Alexander & Cecilia Eng. Arrangements: Heather Alexander.

★ ''Life's Flame'' 1996 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.)
::Second live album. Alexander accompanies her vocals with guitar, bodhran, and fiddle.

★ ''Midsummer'' 1997 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.)
::Second studio recording on her own label with backing musicians.

★ ''A Gypsy's Home'' 2001 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.)
::Third studio recording on her own label with backing musicians.

★ ''Insh'allah -- Music of Lion's Blood'' 2002 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.)
::Songs based in the world of Steven Barnes' book ''Lion's Blood''. The book and album were written concurrently; Barnes quotes song lyrics in the book.

★ ''Festival Wind'' 2003 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.)
::Third live album. Alexander accompanies her vocals with guitar, bodhran, and fiddle.

★ ''Album of Secrets'' 2003 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.)
::Primarily bloopers and outtakes from the recording of ''Festival Wind''.

★ ''Merlin's Descendants'' 2006 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.)
::Songs based on the ''Merlin's Descendants'' series by Irene Radford.

★ ''Arms of the Sea'' 2006 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.)
::Traditional and original sea shanties.

★ ''Everafter'' 2007 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.)
::Final studio recording on her own label with backing musicians.

★ ''Cat & The Fiddle'', 2007 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.)
::Compilation of instrumental fiddle tunes from previous Sea Fire Productions recordings.^[2]

DVD

★ ''Everafter'' February 2007 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.)
::Recording of the November 2006 Orycon concert. Alexander accompanies her vocals with guitar, bodhran, and fiddle.

Band albums

★ ''Keepers of the Flame'', 'Phoenyx' 1990 (Phoenyx and Sea Fire Productions, Inc.)
::Issued by the band in 1990. No longer in print.

★ ''Uffington Horse Promotional Album'', 'Uffington Horse', 2004 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.)
::Created for promotional purposes; a limited run was offered to fans in 2004.For more information see the archived product page.

★ ''Enchantment'', 'Uffington Horse' 2004 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.)
::The band's first studio album.

Guest Appearances

In addition to her own albums, Alexander has appeared on several concert collections and other performer's albums.

★ ''Gaia Circles'', Gaia Consort 2000. Alexander played fiddle on most of the tracks.

★ '', Leslie Fish. Alexander appears on the track ''Better than Who''.

★ ''The Constellation'', Hank Cramer 2003.

★ ''Roundworm'', various artists, 2000. Song parodies by Bob Kanefsky. Heather Alexander performs ''December of Cambreadth'', a parody of ''March of Cambreadth'', and ''Something's Under The Bed'', a parody of her ''Up In The Loft''.

See also

★ Alexander James Adams

★ Uffington Horse

★ ''March of Cambreadth''

★ ''Faerie Queen (song)''

★ ''The Stolen Child''

References

1. See announcements 1 and 2, both from manager Kore Bommeli on the official website.
2. Concert fan report at AlexanderFans.

External links

★ Official website, www.heatherlands.com

★ Recent Dragon
★ Con Bio

★ 2006 FenCon Bio; includes Alexander playing fiddle at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in 1985, and Uffington Horse's debut in 2001.

★ Last.fm page

★ BAEN bio of Heather Alexander (BAEN publishes the John Ringo books that reference Heather Alexander)

★ Firebird Arts and Music

★ Review of ''Life's Flame''

★ Strange Horizons Interview, 29 July 2002

★ Strange Horizons Review of ''Insh'Allah'', 29 July 2002

★ Performance review, October 2002

★ S.M. Stirling's website, including sample chapters of the ''Dies the Fire'' series.

★ Irene Radford's site, featuring the ''Merlin's Descendants'' series.