REPOSTING FROM MYSPACE ON APRIL 14, 2008:   THE BLUES PHOENIX BAND WELCOMES A NEW MEMBER!!! :  The BLUES PHOENIX BAND would like to announce that we've added a new member to the band.  Ivee brings dynamic female lead vocals to the band, along with a strong stage presence. Her vocal abilities rank up with the likes of Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt and Susan Tedeschi, to name a few!  Don't forget that our 2008 season kicks off on June 7th at the Upper Deck in Salisbury Beach, MA from 9PM to 1AM.  We'll be delivering a powerful blend of blues, boogie and southern rock to the beach.  Hope to see you all there!

TELEGRAPH - July 20, 2006: Barefoot, with wild reddish-brown curls spilling down her back, Deb Soucy stands nearly a foot below most of the musicians gathered in an underground recording studio in Carlisle, Mass. At just over 5 feet tall, it’s Soucy’s voice that looms large as she emerges from an isolation booth to hear the track replayed, set to the music of a live band. She later admits to being nervous – it’s her first shot at putting together an album and the musicians around her are seasoned. Even the digs are a little intimidating – the studio is hidden from view, marked only by a tiny sign that reads “Blue Jay” and an antenna poking out of the grass. It becomes visible at the bottom of a sloped driveway. The inside is posh. Co-owned by Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson and music producer Marcus Siskind, who has worked with artists such as Queen Latifah, it has a silver mesh-looking ceiling, dropped lighting and shiny electronics from wall to wall. That was early June, the first of many recording sessions for Soucy, 33, of Hudson. She’s still in the midst of recording vocals at a smaller studio in Derry, and the release is tentatively set for late September. Soucy plans to market the album to radio stations and perform live on the local circuit, but has no illusions about becoming an instant success. “I’m trying to be realistic about it,” she said. “People do records all the time and it doesn’t go anywhere.” For Soucy, the experience has been a lesson in how complex the recording process is – you don’t just waltz into a studio and sing for a few hours, she said. It’s also the realization of dream that began in a karaoke bar 12 years ago. All in the family. Music is sort of a family legacy for Soucy. Her grandfather, Ralph “Shorty” Lebrun, could play any instrument he picked up without formal training, and played bluegrass with a local band called the Lost River Ramblers. In 1977, he died of a heart attack on stage in the middle of a violin solo, Soucy said. “The last thing he saw was people looking at him giving him a standing ovation,” said Soucy’s father, Ray Lebrun of Nashua, an avid supporter of his daughter’s musical ambitions. Her grandmother was a well-known local country singer dubbed the “Yodeling Cowgirl.” The couple opened for Johnny Cash in his one appearance at the former Lone Star Ranch in Merrimack, Soucy said. They also appeared regularly on a local country-western radio show. Soucy didn’t inherit a love for yodeling. She describes her style as Melissa Etheridge meets Janis Joplin. “I enjoy doing rock, blues, contemporary pop – as long as it’s not bubble-gummy,” Soucy said. “I’m trying to appeal to an older crowd.” Her voice is deep and bluesy, although she challenges the limits of her range on at least one track by hitting some higher than usual notes, she said. Soucy has been singing for fun since childhood, but public performances didn’t begin until shortly after her 21st birthday, when Soucy’s older sister invited her to go to a karaoke bar. “We had never been close, so I was excited just to be invited out,” Soucy said. Soucy entered a karaoke contest, singing, “I Will Survive.” To her surprise, she won. From there, she began singing at weddings and jumping in on open mike nights. Last winter, she recorded a couple of songs to submit to the reality show “Rock Star: INXS,” a contest to find a new lead singer for the band. That’s when she first encountered her album producer, Steve Devino, who owns a studio in Derry called Granite Rocks. A reason to say yes. Until recently, there was always a reason to say no to pursuing music. Soucy is a single mother to an 8-year-old girl, Brianna. She works full-time as a legal assistant in Nashua, and is taking night classes at Hesser College to earn a paralegal degree.Eventually, her boyfriend gave her the final nudge she needed to stop putting it off, offering to back her emotionally and financially. Now, she wants to get the album done in time for her aging grandmother, the Yodeling Cowgirl, to enjoy it. “I just want her to get a copy of it before she’s gone,” Soucy said. The disc will have eight songs – three written by Soucy, four she purchased from songwriters, and one Janis Joplin cover. It comes as no surprise that Soucy’s originals are based on life experiences. A song called “Had Enough” is about two of her friends who have a rocky relationship. “Wanting, Needing” talks about another close friend who has a drug addiction. Soucy writes spontaneously – whenever an idea pops into her head. In addition to doing the lead vocals, Soucy is doing all her own backups for the album, so the recording process hasn’t been short. Perfecting just one song involves doing take after take – she recently spent 2½ sessions working on just one track, Soucy said. “It’s frustrating,” she said. “You’re your own worst critic.” Soucy goes by the stage name Ivee, and the album will be titled “Vines of Life.” Devino, the producer, encouraged Soucy to start performing with a band to find a following, so she has started practicing with a local group called Project Mess, which has an already established fan base, she said. She jumped in on a few songs with the band when they played recently at Cattleman’s in Nashua. She gets nervous just before a live performance, but relaxes as soon as she gets on stage. “When I first get up there, every time my hand shakes,” she said. Soucy plans to hold a release party when her album is finished at Johnny’s Pizzeria in Hudson. The exact date is to be announced. The road has been chaotic thus far, but given the chance, she wouldn’t change it, Soucy said. “I wouldn’t give this back for anything.” 

 HIPPO PRESS- JULY 2006: From karaoke to album Singing mom lives her dream - By Richie Victorino Shortly after her divorce, Deb Soucy got a tattoo of an ivy plant running down her back. The ivy plant has 13 leaves. "Each leaf signifies someone who's impacted my life," Soucy said. Not every leaf represents a positive moment in her life. But regardless of how these people impacted her life, Soucy understands one thing. "They all helped shape me to who I am today," she said. There is still one leaf missing on that plant, the one that represents her current boyfriend/fiancé/other half. Soucy's boyfriend is just one of the many people in her life who have helped her achieve a lifelong dream: Soucy, 34, is recording an album. Recording an album is a feat of its own. But Soucy's life adds more drama to this equation. She's a single mother (she has an eight-year-old daughter), with a full-time job at a law firm. She's also two classes away from graduating from law school with a paralegal degree. Her daily schedule hardly leaves time for her to breathe. She's up at 5 a.m., dropping her daughter off at school by 7:15 and in the office by 7:45. Her lunch breaks often consists of her taking care of errands or doing some food shopping. At 5 p.m. she clocks out of work, picks up her daughter, gets her ready for bed and then goes to school from 8 to 11 p.m. That schedule might seem hectic, but in Soucy's mind, her schedule finally gives her enough time to achieve her dream of making an album. "I have such an amazing support system," Soucy said. Her family has given Soucy their full support in making this album. But her family hasn't always been close. For years Soucy and her sisters were not close. After Soucy's mother died of leukemia, when Soucy was 16, the family began getting closer, but not as much as Soucy wanted. Shortly after Soucy's twenty-first birthday, all that changed. Soucy's sister invited Soucy out to a bar one night. Unbeknownst to Soucy, her sister had signed her up for a karaoke contest. It was her first-ever singing performance. "I sang 'I Will Survive' by Gloria Gaynor because I was sifting through the book, and it was the only song I knew," she said. "I ended up winning that night." From that point on, it seemed to Soucy that her sisters and she began getting closer. Now, as she embarks on a recording career, her entire family plays a pivotal role in her life. Her father is her manager — "I couldn't imagine anyone else looking out for me" — and her sister is helping to design the album cover. "The whole family is getting involved." Soucy wants to make this album, not for the money or the fame, but for her family. "My goal is to have a legacy for my family and my daughter," she said, "and to say ˜I did it.'" Soucy's family has a long relationship with music. Her grandmother opened up once for Johnny Cash at his only appearance at the Lone Star Ranch in Merrimack. "She remembers that he pulled up in a red convertible with bull horns on it," Soucy said. "She remembers that he was so proud of that car." Her grandfather was musically gifted; it seemed that he could pick up any instrument and play it for the first time as if he had been playing it for years. And in a bittersweet moment, her grandfather died on stage, while playing at a show in Groton, Mass. Dave Navarro and the birth of a music career Dave Navarro is the reason why Soucy is in the recording studio. She wanted to try out for Rock Star, the talent-search show starring Dave Navarro. She ended up nixing her plan to try out for the show, but the producer she worked with in making a demo for the show loved her voice. He convinced her that she should make an album on her own. She had her doubts — she didn't have money, she didn't have time. But the producer, Steve Devino, worked with her on the costs. Her other half, Rick, pushed her to go for her dreams. "He told me 'I think this is the right time'," Soucy said. And so she took a chance. Now she finds herself on the cusp of laying down the vocal tracks for her eight-track album, which will be titled Vines of Life. It includes three tracks written by Soucy, as well as a cover of Janis Joplin's Me and Bobby McGee. She teamed up with a group of professional musicians from across the country for her album. And she's teamed up with local rock band Project Mess, who will perform with Soucy when she starts playing live.