Vonda Shepard
Singer/songwriter Vonda Shepard enjoyed one of the more unique career breakthroughs in pop music history; while most performers rely on radio airplay or relentless touring to win fans, Shepard instead shot to fame as a result of the hit television series {#Ally McBeal}, which featured her performing live on an almost weekly basis. Shepard was born in New York City in 1963, but her family relocated to California a few years later; there Shepard studied voice and piano, and was just a teen when she recorded "Can't We Try," a duet with singer Dan Hill. After tourin...[more]
![]()
Teamed professionally and personally with producer/keyboard whiz Mitchell Froom, Shepard makes a strong post-{#Ally McBeal} statement on Chinatown. The arrangements vary, from one solo track through mixtures of strings and a rhythm section and on to a flirtation with electronic exotica on "Gyroscope," yet the feel doesn't change too much: Her relatively narrow vocal range and fondness for using cloudy weather as a lyrical device shroud the album in a fine mist. (Titles like {&"Rainy Days," [ read more ]
CD $17.08
![]()
When Fox TV canceled {#Ally McBeal} in 2002 and the comedy/drama's star Calista Flockhart moved on to other activities, there was some joking about Vonda Shepard in the music business. Most of the jokes were along these lines: "Oops! What is Vonda McBeal -- I mean Vonda Shepard -- going to do now? Go to law school, perhaps?" (Flockhart's Ally McBeal character was a lawyer). But those jokes were somewhat unfair. It's true that Shepard milked {#Ally McBeal} for all it was worth; she co [ read more ]
CD $15.18