"AV" is the soul/funk project of award-winning Canadian performer and songwriter Ann Vriend.  During the past 3 years AV has devoted a great deal of time to this upbeat, fun, but socially-aware project, delving with sensitivity into the issues of her immensely troubled inner-city neighborhood as a microcosm of the world's economic and political tension-- all the while invoking a gritty, funky, soulful dance party.

 Both her full length 2014 album "For the People in the Mean Time" and her 2017 EP "Anybody's Different" have received significant airplay, awards, and critical acclaim in Canada and beyond.  With an unmistakably unique and evocative voice often compared to her hero, Aretha Franklin-- plus a knack for writing undeniably catchy melodies-- AV is an award-winning performer AND songwriter, having won the “She’s The One” performance contest at the Ottawa Bluesfest, as well as the 2017 Cobalt Music Prize at the Maple Blues Awards for her gospel style ballad “All That I Can,” to name a few accolades.

 AV consistently assembles a live band that is the admiration of all "musician's musicians," and can deliver a show that is both contagiously fun AND socially thought provoking, while never preachy or simplistic.  Her voice alone turns heads, but there are many more layers that captivate the crowd throughout the entirety of every show of this seasoned "triple threat" artist, whose international touring schedule will take her to Japan, Australia, and Europe in early 2018.