marianne dissard

Bio

"Her work has a lovely, mournful lilt, a sort of Parisian blues. Even those of us who don't speak French cannot help but be touched by the stark beauty of her phrasing". LA Weekly.

Calexico fans will recognize Marianne as Madame to Joey Burns' lovestruck gold digger on Calexico's hit single, "Ballad of Cable Hogue" from their 2000 album "Hot Rail". She also duetted with Naïm Amor on the 2001 album "Tête A Tête/ABBC" by Amor/Belhom/Burns/Convertino, and she is featured, along with Jane Birkin, Françoiz Breut and other filles, on the 2007 "Filles Fragiles" CD compiled for Dutch label Essential Dance Music. Marianne contributes to the upcoming tribute to American folksinger Kath Bloom by Australian label Chapter Music and to compilations that include the "Christmas In Tucson" CD produced by Olivier Mosset with tracks by Bob Log III, Al Foul and other garcons. For that release, Marianne collaborated with Jonathan Richman's drummer Tommy Larkins to cover the 1980 British hit, "Stop The Cavalry". She also wrote an original Christmas song with Amparo Sanchez of Amparanoia for the Dutch blog Filles Sourires. Finally, UK label Regular Beat Recordings has announced a March 2008 release date for a split 7 inch vinyl with Alaska in Winter, featuring Beirut, on the flipside. Support shows have been scheduled for April 2008 in the UK. A first 7 inch vinyl (4 tracks with bonus 11 tracks digital download) was self-released in the spring 2006, selling out shortly afterwards.

A lyricist, poet and activist, documentary filmmaker and multimedia performance artist, singer Marianne Dissard was born within sight of the Pyrénées mountains in the South of France but has lived in the American West since the age of 16. Her lyrics are sung by Françoiz Breut, Howe Gelb and Naïm Amor. During the 2004 US presidential election, Marianne launched the Tucson Suffragettes, a gang of sexy downtown vixens who went after "virgin voters", enlisting the help of Linda Rondstadt, Chuck Bowden, Shepard Fairey and the Tucson arts and music community. As a documentary filmmaker, she has collaborated with director Robert Kramer and poster artist Robbie Conal, and directed the Giant Sand documentary "Drunken Bees". As a multimedia performance artist, she was exhibited at the Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris (Hiver de L'Amour), then got subsequently invited to the Musée D'Art Contemporain, Marseille by Philippe Vergne (Walker Art Center) and to Foundation Cartier in Paris. Marianne, no longer hiding behind a camera or her words, now wishes she could have sang with Johnny Cash and Jean Sablon but hopes she can still duet with Scott Walker one of these days.