Highlight Reel
Live Performance
1993 Recipient – Best Female Vocalist – 3rd Annual LA Music Awards – Donna Owen
Nominee – 1996 6th Annual LA Music Awards
A cold, dry northerly wind of the Mediterranean provinces of France, the mistral is unpredictable – a feminine force. The Mystrals can be just as unpredictable – twists and turns of rockin’ blues and toe-tappin’ soul with classic rock and whatever requests they can “pull out of the hat”. These women are talented, versatile musicians who know how to have a good time!
The Mystrals New CD Another Time – Blues Redux is a re-mixed and Mastered (by Bryan Campbell) CD Re-issue of all tracks on their previously released 6 Song EP, Another Time, with the Mystrals first Single EP release on X/S/ records, Little Boys, and 7 new live tracks from the recording made at Fair City In Santa Monica in 1994, including the previous 2 tracks from the EP, Bait & Switch and Grand Prize Winner, sounding better then ever! The New Live recording also features covers of old blues standards such as; Mary Had a Little Lamb, Walkin’ the Dog, I’m Just your Fool, A Good Man is Hard to Find, and Spoonfull. This CD includes a 4 page booklet and photos from the bands live shows, videos and tours. This re-issue features a dedication to all the musician’s who have ever preformed, recorded or toured with The Mystrals, and to the memory of L.J. (Laurie Jean) Lawrence, who died tragically in 1992. L.J. was a friend of mine from my early days in the Bay Area (No. California) and she played bass and Co-wrote Tell me Why, a song on the original 4 song EP Another Time. She had also performed Live with the Mystrals in a show at the Whiskey a go-go in Los Angeles, CA, in 1993. A video from the show is available on You Tube, along with The Mystrals music Video from their first CD, A Step Down From Luxury. Keep an eye on you tube for other Band videos coming soon.
Donna & Amy met at Musician’s Institute in Hollywood and put the band together 5 years ago, they’ve released a folk-y cassette single “Little Boys” on X/S Records an independent label distributed by Rough Trade ! In 1990, and an album, A Step Down from Luxury, on Acoustic Perfume Records in 1992, which received international airplay. The video single from the album was played nationwide on “underground” cable TV. They’ve played extensively on the west coast, and several colleges in the Western and Southwest regions. In 1995 They recorded 4 new Original songs at 4th Street Studios in Santa Monica with Linda Flinkman on Hammond B3 and Piano, Barbara Degnan on Guitar, and L.J. Lawrence on Bass, which was later released as a cassette EP, entitled, “Another Time” which included 2 songs from a live recording of an all-blues show they played at Fair City Club in Santa Monica in 1994.
Donna Owen was born in Dallas, TX, and raised in Berkeley, CA. She won “best female vocalist” at the 1993 L.A. Music Awards, an awards show for local unsigned talent. Her other talents include thrift-store shopping (finding vintage clothing for the band), and playing the harmonica without smearing her lipstick. Donna also writes or co-writes most of the Mystrals material.
Amy Crittenden is from Colorado Springs, CO. She has a BA degree in Music, and is a PIT grad. Before moving to LA, she was in another all-female band, Rare Form, who appeared on MTV’s Basement tapes in 1988. She endorses Pearl Drums and Pro-Mark Sticks. She now lives in Ventura, CA , and has played in numerous local bands, and for the past 10 years has played and toured with with Klymaxx.
Barbara Degnan (now Leoni), originally from La Crosse, WI, graduated from GIT in September of ’90. She’s lived in LA for the last 4 years playing and singing for several different bands visible in the local scene, including all-female group Table Talk. Her touring experience includes performances in Greenland and Japan, China, IRAQ, Afganaistan, and numerous tours, with other girl groups and cover bands both before and after her tour to The Far East with the Mystrals in 1997. She has had an impressive Solo Career, and in addition to her ongoing work as part of the Greg London’s ICONS show formerly in Reno Nevada, currently at the Hilton in Las Vegas, she runs her own music school in Rosamond, CA.
The girls have played blues clubs in Long Beach, and Huntington beach and almost every Sunday at the Melrose Weekend Market in Hollywood. They’ve been featured, or had their shows featured in the LA weekly, the Long Beach Press Telegram, and the Redondo Beach Easy Reader, and have also recently been asked to appear on “KXLU’s” Bluz Hotel. In 1996 they auditioned for and landed a tour with the DOD (Department of Defense) Professional Tours, and were sent to Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Macedonia to entertain at Military and UN Bases, and US Embassies. This was followed by 3 other similar DOD Tours to what the DOD referred to as the “Far East” (Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE, The Island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, Tercia (Portugal), Bosnia, Hungary and Croatia, and finally, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Turkey in 1999.