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Molly Magdalain’s “The Open Road” Named February “Best Song
Of The Month”
By Dale Kawashima
Molly Magdalain, a talented, acoustic pop-rock
singer/songwriter based in New York, NY, has won the SongwriterUniverse “Best
Song Of The Month” Contest for February, for her song “The Open Road”. This
song is the title cut of her new 11-song CD The Open Road, which she
released independently last month (January 2007).
Molly Magdalain
“The Open Road” is a graceful, acoustic song, which has a
very articulate, thoughtful lyric theme. The song also has an appealing melody
which gently soars in the chorus, providing an emotional lift. “The Open Road”
is also a good showcase for Magdalain’s expressive lead and harmony vocals, plus her piano and
guitar playing. And another highlight of this recording is the mandolin playing
by Justin Kaufmann.
Magdalain was born and raised in Kansas City, KS, where she
learned to play piano and guitar at an early age. Interestingly, she also has
an extensive background as an opera singer. Magdalain has some notable
relatives in the music field – her second cousin is Katrina Leskanich of
Katrina & The Waves (“Walking On Sunshine”), and she has cousins who are
prominent Celtic musicians. And growing up, she was influenced by such artists
as Sinead O’Connor, Tori Amos and Joni Mitchell.
During high school and college (she attended Colorado
College in Colorado Springs), Magdalain had primarily concentrated on her
classical music training and performances. But after graduating from college,
she focused on establishing herself as a pop singer/songwriter. She lived in
Nashville for three years to develop her music career, and then in 2004 she
moved to Manhattan. In addition to her music projects, Magdalain is an
entrepreneur who has opened a successful jewelry store in Soho, called
StarStrings. The unique jewelry she creates is made from guitars strings that
she obtains from musicians – she has made jewelry for Alanis Morissette, Sheryl
Crow and The Edge from U2.
Molly Magdalain
Over the past four years, Magadalain wrote and recorded the
songs for her debut CD, The Open Road. She produced the album herself,
with help on a couple cuts from co-producers. Her song “The Open Road” was
inspired by her traveling experiences during her college period. “I would take
road trips out to California, from Colorado,” she explained. “I took this trip
during a college break, and it was incredible – it changed me. ‘The Open Road’
is a song about how you can find yourself, when you’re on your own and
traveling with strangers.”
Now with the recent release of her CD, Magdalain is looking
forward to promoting her album, and touring. She has filmed a video for her
song “Why (What Do You Think)”. Also, she will be playing gigs in New York, Los
Angeles, Minneapolis, Nashville and other cities. Magdalain would also like to
license her songs for films and TV shows.