A Need so Wide You\'re the One Ann Vriend Ann Vriend's new album, entitled "For The People In The Mean Time" tells tough tales of the struggle of city life against the backdrop of explosive retro soul beats and harmonies, with Vriend's unmistakable voice guiding the way. Borrowing sounds from the likes of Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, Sly Stone, P Funk, Aretha Franklin, and Ray Charles the album has an old, familiar quality to it, yet Toronto producer Tino Zolfo has simultaneously kept it contemporary to current pop-- albeit on his signature quirky, gritty side of that category. "For The People In The Mean Time" will be officially released March 11, 2014, with a single airing on Australian radio station Triple J this January, and a guest appearance on CBC's "Vinyl Cafe" with Stuart McLean airing in April in Canada and the U.S.

This past July Vriend won the Canadian nation-wide "She's the One" contest at the Ottawa Bluesfest in the solo category. To quote Obscure Magazine: "With her soaring vocals, impressive songwriting ability, and instrumental prowess, Vriend is truly an all-in-one package." She will tour Australia, Canada, and Western Europe in the next 4 months in support of her new album.

Edmonton based Ann Vriend pronounced "Vreend" was born in Vancouver, BC. When her parents discovered their 3-year-old could play nursery songs on a Fisher Price xylophone, they encouraged her musical development by enrolling her in violin lessons. At age nine, when Vriend sought to accompany herself as a songwriter, she took piano lessons from an elderly woman down the street who charged $5 per visit. In high school, in order to be able to do submit her home-made recordings for a school project, Vriend was coerced into performing 3 of her compositions at the school talent show. Accolades from her fellow students translated into projects with older students in bands, scholarships at music college, 1st place in a songwriting contest which paid for her debut album, interest from NYC record labels, and praise from critics and loyal fans around the world.

First, the voice: "Soulful, inspiring, brave and bluesy" Rip It Up, Adelaide with a "vocal range from vulnerable delicacy to blasts of soulful power" Halifax Chronicle Vriend's vocal sound has been described as an enchanting cross between the girly timbre of Dolly Parton and the blues-filled prowess of Aretha Franklin-- and as "almost confronting in its candour" by The Sydney Morning Herald.

Besides this, Vriend's songs possess a natural knack for melody, garnering her hits on both independent and commercial radio stations — including Gold rotation for her tune "Feelin' Fine" — and have charted on college stations as far away as Germany and the Netherlands.

Without any publishing representation Vriend has been commissioned to write songs for organizations such as the Canadian Tourism Corporation and the Commonwealth Games, and her music has been featured in a U.S. DVD release of "Party of Five."

After being invited by the Songwriters' Association of Canada to perform alongside Canadian songwriting heavyweights such as Marc Jordan and Dan Hill Hill invited Vriend to write with him. The result is many successful ongoing songwriting sessions and a song Vriend and Hill wrote together, entitled "The Greatest Killer," which appears on "For The People In The Mean Time." Hill is quoted as saying: "Ann Vriend is a brilliant songwriter, and equally gifted as a singer and piano player. Her way of writing accessible and yet highly unique and authentic songs, is, in my opinion, unparalleled by any new singer/songwriter emerging in N. America today."
But at the core of Vriend's career is her live shows. Despite being an independent artist she has sold more than 14,000 albums off the stage. As a balance between her intensely performed songs, "Vriend is fantastic in concert -- a very, very, funny woman that tends to belt out her songs in between her most entertaining comedic intervals" A n E Vibe Magazine. Her rapport with her audience can be heard on her live album, "Closer Encounters," released in 2009. It is this connection that has sustained her career to this point, and she enjoys an avid and committed international fan base.

Stated forcefully by the Toronto Star: "Don't miss her." 4 stars