VV Brown Rides A Shark Into The Spotlight

Remaining shows with Little Dragon – whose ’80s-via-the-21st-century release Machine Dreams was one of the best pure pop releases of 2009 – include April 9 in Seattle; April 12 in Bellingham, Wash.; and April 13-14 in San Francisco.

After a short break to recharge, Brown will kick off the first of what are sure to be many, many headlining dates this year April 28 at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom. Other stops on the books so far include San Diego (May 10), Los Angeles (May 12) and Minneapolis (July 10).

Complete info on VV Brown’s upcoming headlining shows, including ticketing details, is available at VVBrownUS.com.

Brown told me earlier this year that the clips featuring covers of other artists’ songs she and her band recorded in her bedroom that caught the attention of the public – as well as critics and the labels – were her attempt to head off those who might view her as style over substance.

“I just wanted people to know that I can really do it,” the singer explained. “You know, that it’s real. Because it’s so easy nowadays in our industry for artists who come along that are so manufactured. Sometimes the marketing is so clever that they look like real artists, but they’re not really.

“So I just thought if I can sing something in my bedroom – with no microphones, no compressors, no reverb – just on my bed, then people can know that this is genuine project. This is a genuine album. That I’m a genuine, sincere artist.”

The covers are so engaging, I wondered if she’d been contacted by any of the original artists.

“No, I haven’t,” she said. “Although we did do a gig way, way back with Kings of Leon on Jools Holland – which is a show in England sort of like David Letterman. I never thought that I’d be doing a cover of them a year later. But I’ve never had anyone contact me about the covers.”

The love of variety on display in the clips carries through to Travelling, which runs the gamut from swinging barn-burners like “L.O.V.E.” and heartfelt ballads like “I Love You” to the manic “hit the road Jack” bounce of “Leave!” and breezy pop chestnuts like “Shark in the Water” and “Crazy Amazing.”

“I love all kinds of music,” Brown explained. “I hate to be boxed. I deliberately wanted to be free and open when I made this record. Because I was free and I didn’t have an agenda, I think every kind of music that I love just came through. And that’s why I think it’s such an album of fusion and a mix of many styles.

“Because I didn’t sit down and say, ‘Right, I want to make a folk record’ or ‘I’m going to make a blues record or a hip-hop record.’ It was just, ‘I’m going to make a record that represents who I am.” And who I am is a lover of many different styles.”