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Ann Vriend wants to have a drunken singalong with you.

Ann Vriend
Myer Horowitz Theatre | May 29

Want a guest vocal credit on Ann Vriend’s new record? It’s as easy as showing up to her Saturday night gig.
The folky piano-pop chanteuse will be bringing along her sound engineer to record a pair of tracks written with audience participation in mind. The songs are slated for inclusion on Vriend’s upcoming record, which she’ll be heading into the studio, along with her seven-piece band, to record immediately after this stint of home-ground shows.
“I’ve written parts for [the audience] to play and sing, some clapping and foot-stomping and singing parts that are easy. At the end of the night there’ll be this sheet to write your name down and your e-mail address, and when it comes to me putting the liner notes together for the album, it’ll be ‘background singers’ and this very long list. I think I’ll have some really long liner notes,” Vriend laughs.
The inspiration for the recording came from the whole gang-vocal concept, where a drunken sing-along is simulated in the studio by pretty much whoever is around.
“When I initially wrote these songs I kind of had that in mind. The way it’s supposed to sound is really impromptu, like it’s in a little honky-tonk bar where everybody’s singing along. If that’s the kind of sound I’m trying to get, why don’t I just get that from the real thing?”
Vriend loves the idea of breaking down the artist-fan divide.
“This is my getting people involved and making it more participatory than just, watch this show and then go home. Involving people that want to be part of it — to me that’s kind of what music is supposed to be like anyway.”
In a way, the decision to record with her audience is a reflection of her evolution as a performer.
“I’ve been playing live a lot the past couple years and getting more and more comfortable being ad-lib with the audience. Just kind of being more in the moment with the live show,” says Vriend.
You, too, can be in that moment — and have the liner notes to prove it.