| Val Halla Winner of the Summer of 2009 Tennessee Concerts Talent Competition |
| TENNESSEE CONCERTS SEARCH ENGINE Search this website Website by Pat Adams. pat@tennesseeconcerts.com |
| Check out the great talent at www.SonicBids.com featuring artists & bands from all over Sonic Bids Runner ups: including Sonic Bids link 1. Hightide Blues 2. Miche Fambro 3. TJay 4. Brian Mackey 5. Michael Staron 6. Hilary Weaver 7. The Brian Mullen Band 8. Ann Blair 9. Steve Chizmadia 10. Jennifer Norman More Sonic Bids Artists: in alphebetical order including Sonic Bids links About a Mile Arlette Broda Chakras Chasing Blue Chris McCune Donald Lee E Class Emyna GIANO Holly Cormier Jack Sparks Jessica Frech Jim Bradford Leslie Dysinger Lucas Hunter Luke Malone Mark Bates Robin Lee Field The Doubting Thomas Band the guy |
| Val Halla I called Val, Marilyn from the first listen to her Sonicbids EPK, and after just a few strums and her no nonsense approach to the guitar, suspected she would be the winner of this round. Her sound is a little bit pop and a whole lot of electric attitude. If Nancy Wilson could sing like Val, she could have kept all the money. I have always been a fan of Chrissie Hynde because she sings and plays as good as any guy. So does Val Halla. Val riffs and revs it up like a rock star and knocks you over with tasteful solos. The songs are clever and I immediately pictured Bonnie Raitt with the bad attitude of Joan Jett. Val is not afraid to step out of the ladylike gender roles from times gone by, and she no doubt invokes a lot of air guitar with her live show. Elle Magazine did a top ten list of women guitarists and in my opinion Val could be right up there with up and coming players like Orianthi, from Michael Jackson’s band who I think also ranks up there with any male guitarist (Carlos Santana says he would have no problem passing the torch to her). Val is a bad ass though and may club you over the head with the torch. I like that of course. She possibly would not beat me up, as her Dad is a Canadian fiddler that loves The Charlie Daniels Band. I have that going for me. One more comparison and I’ll stop. I hear Lita Ford in some of the more metal style shredding, but with more of a hard rock edge that suits her songs and style. Best of all her music is a sexy riff filled group of songs, that are accessible, well performed and she has a musical maturity beyond her years. She is high energy, has a wicked tight band, and she won me over. Now please don’t hurt me, I’m one of your fans. Congratulations, you’re going to Disneyland ! Gary Allen (The Charlie Daniels Band/JJ Cale/Stonewall Jackson) Tennessee Concerts is not affiliated with Nashville Drummer Gary Allen |
| Summer 2009 Tennessee Concerts Talent Competition 1st Place: Val Halla from Nashville Tennessee |
| Val Halla playing "The Bad Girl Touch" at the TennesseeConcerts sponsored Play It Again Jam on October 11, 2009. Playing in the band with Val were Tag Graves (who played with Lita Ford, Blackfoot & Molly Hatchet), Mike Guathier (who has played with Taylor Swift and many others), plus other professional musicians. Video by Pat Adams from TennesseeConcerts.com |
| Val Halla YouTube videos |
When Val Halla was only 12 years old she purchased her first guitar magazine. At the time Val had just started learning songs of the 90’s grunge
movement, playing on an old nylon string classical guitar her grandfather had given to her mother. After a few years of lessons focusing on grunge
and rock n roll, Val’s guitar teacher was finally able to persuade her parents to buy her an electric guitar. “All I was playing was Nirvana and Classic
Rock.” says Halla, now 25. “My guitar teacher saw how I was struggling with this thick fretboard on the nylon string with my tiny hands, trying to play
Aneurysm, and just couldn’t stand to watch it anymore.” Thanks to Halla’s childhood guitar teacher, she soon discovered the joys of overdriven
guitar tones and new sonic and technical landscapes she had never before dreamed of. Now an endorsing artist for both Mack Amps (www.
mackamps.com) and Carparelli Guitars (www.carparelliguitars.com), she has found a unique style and sound all her own, and is making big
waves in the guitar and music communities alike. Val Halla’s song “The Bad Girl Touch” was featured and reviewed in the November 2009 issue
of Guitar Player magazine by the Editor in Chief himself, Michael Molenda. Molenda made note of Halla’s “seductive singing and coy lyrics” in
addition to a positive review of her playing abilities. Only a few weeks later Halla was contacted by Guitar World Magazine to be featured
in their 2009 Holiday Buyer’s Guide. Gary Allen, best known for his days drumming in the Charlie Daniels Band and with guitar legend JJ Cale,
remarked “If Nancy Wilson could sing like Val Halla, she could have kept all the money.” Steve Gunner of Creedance Clearwater Revisted testifies
“She is very talented, and has a great future in the music business.” Gunner adds that Halla “is serious about her craft, and I admire her
determination.” That determination was first demonstrated just after Halla turned 17 years old, moving two provinces away to the big city of
Vancouver, British Columbia to pursue her music further. “My parents didn’t believe me that I was going for music. They asked me if there was
some guy who was brain washing me to go out there. I just told them I knew I had to go, because the music was out there calling to me. I don’t
blame them for thinking I was crazy!” After 7 years in Vancouver, 3 full length albums, a cross Canada tour, and a 3 year audio engineering
apprenticeship, Halla decided it was time to take back her base on the prairies in her hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan. She is now able to
spend her time touring extensively all over Canada and the United States, and working with great writer’s, producers, and players in her part time
home of Nashville, TN. “Being in Nashville this past year has really kicked me into overdrive. Its turned my playing, writing, and performing skills
up to 11!” laughed Halla. “I feel so proud of the songs I’ve been writing lately because I feel like they are the most sincere compositions I’ve ever
made. I’ve been able to come to terms with some of the struggles I’ve gone through in my life and some that I still am going through. I’m hoping to
give other people inspiration or relief in the face of their own struggles, by writing in the most honest way I can. I want to know I’m not in this alone,
and I want them to know that too.” Halla’s new album is scheduled to be released in January of 2010. It will be her first full length release in two
and a half years. “No one has accused me of being lazy because most people have seen me out busting my ass these last few years.
I basically threw myself into my own strict boot camp. I wanted this next album to be a journey, so I’ve been playing live shows like a mad woman,
working on my sound and playing, then writing like a lunatic every day. Most record labels these days want nothing to do with artist development,
so I decided to put myself through it the old fashioned way, before even approaching the labels. The funny thing is now that I’ve done it, I’m starting
to see interested parties come looking. It’s a good feeling, but you just hope that the momentum continues and that some of those boomerangs
you started throwing out years ago, are about to come back and knock you off your feet. My biggest fear is having someone else force me to make
music in a way that I don’t want to make it, so my main focus is still to hone my own craft, and keep developing and growing as an artist.
Whatever comes after that shouldn’t be too frightening!”
movement, playing on an old nylon string classical guitar her grandfather had given to her mother. After a few years of lessons focusing on grunge
and rock n roll, Val’s guitar teacher was finally able to persuade her parents to buy her an electric guitar. “All I was playing was Nirvana and Classic
Rock.” says Halla, now 25. “My guitar teacher saw how I was struggling with this thick fretboard on the nylon string with my tiny hands, trying to play
Aneurysm, and just couldn’t stand to watch it anymore.” Thanks to Halla’s childhood guitar teacher, she soon discovered the joys of overdriven
guitar tones and new sonic and technical landscapes she had never before dreamed of. Now an endorsing artist for both Mack Amps (www.
mackamps.com) and Carparelli Guitars (www.carparelliguitars.com), she has found a unique style and sound all her own, and is making big
waves in the guitar and music communities alike. Val Halla’s song “The Bad Girl Touch” was featured and reviewed in the November 2009 issue
of Guitar Player magazine by the Editor in Chief himself, Michael Molenda. Molenda made note of Halla’s “seductive singing and coy lyrics” in
addition to a positive review of her playing abilities. Only a few weeks later Halla was contacted by Guitar World Magazine to be featured
in their 2009 Holiday Buyer’s Guide. Gary Allen, best known for his days drumming in the Charlie Daniels Band and with guitar legend JJ Cale,
remarked “If Nancy Wilson could sing like Val Halla, she could have kept all the money.” Steve Gunner of Creedance Clearwater Revisted testifies
“She is very talented, and has a great future in the music business.” Gunner adds that Halla “is serious about her craft, and I admire her
determination.” That determination was first demonstrated just after Halla turned 17 years old, moving two provinces away to the big city of
Vancouver, British Columbia to pursue her music further. “My parents didn’t believe me that I was going for music. They asked me if there was
some guy who was brain washing me to go out there. I just told them I knew I had to go, because the music was out there calling to me. I don’t
blame them for thinking I was crazy!” After 7 years in Vancouver, 3 full length albums, a cross Canada tour, and a 3 year audio engineering
apprenticeship, Halla decided it was time to take back her base on the prairies in her hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan. She is now able to
spend her time touring extensively all over Canada and the United States, and working with great writer’s, producers, and players in her part time
home of Nashville, TN. “Being in Nashville this past year has really kicked me into overdrive. Its turned my playing, writing, and performing skills
up to 11!” laughed Halla. “I feel so proud of the songs I’ve been writing lately because I feel like they are the most sincere compositions I’ve ever
made. I’ve been able to come to terms with some of the struggles I’ve gone through in my life and some that I still am going through. I’m hoping to
give other people inspiration or relief in the face of their own struggles, by writing in the most honest way I can. I want to know I’m not in this alone,
and I want them to know that too.” Halla’s new album is scheduled to be released in January of 2010. It will be her first full length release in two
and a half years. “No one has accused me of being lazy because most people have seen me out busting my ass these last few years.
I basically threw myself into my own strict boot camp. I wanted this next album to be a journey, so I’ve been playing live shows like a mad woman,
working on my sound and playing, then writing like a lunatic every day. Most record labels these days want nothing to do with artist development,
so I decided to put myself through it the old fashioned way, before even approaching the labels. The funny thing is now that I’ve done it, I’m starting
to see interested parties come looking. It’s a good feeling, but you just hope that the momentum continues and that some of those boomerangs
you started throwing out years ago, are about to come back and knock you off your feet. My biggest fear is having someone else force me to make
music in a way that I don’t want to make it, so my main focus is still to hone my own craft, and keep developing and growing as an artist.
Whatever comes after that shouldn’t be too frightening!”
| VAL HALLA LINKS WEBSITE www.valhallaonline.com CDBABY www.cdbaby.com/cd/valhallarock Sonicbids www.sonicbids.com/valhallamusic Reverbnation www.reverbnation.com/valhallamusic Myspace www.myspace.com/myspacemusicvalhalla Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/VAL-HALLA/37043161661 Blog http://blog.valhallaonline.com |
| Val Halla being interviewed about Val Halla tour as well as moving to Nashville on the Vancouver Global Morning News show |
| Val Halla sings her song "Something Else" on the Global Morning News Show in Vancouver |
| Val Halla sings her song "Angle Inside" on the Global Morning News Show in Vancouver |
| Val Halla playing "Strange" at their last show before Val left to follow the dream in Nashville :) |
| Val Halla's Winning Plaque |
| Val Halla interview on March 3, 2009 using a Flip Video camcorder This is a very good interview with Val, as she tell her story |
| Pictures of Val Halla at Nashville's Play It Again Jam, with jam host Pat Adams from TennesseeConcerts |
| The Tennessee Concerts Sponsored |
| Tennessee Concerts Song Contest |
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| Val Halla on Ted Nugent's 2010 Tour |
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