Saturday, December 5, 2009

Diane Birch

DIANE BIRCH - NOTHING BUT A MIRACLE

Diane Birch is a singer songwriter born in Michigan, USA on January 24, 1983. Diane spent her childhood in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Sydney Australia. Her father was a 7th Day Adventist preacher and took his family wherever he worked. When she was ten, her parents relocated from South Africa back to the US, and settled in Portland, Oregon. Birch began studying piano using the Suzuki method at the age of seven.[1] When she was old enough to leave home, she moved to L.A. and pursued work as a "pianist for hire". Eventually she landed gigs at the Beverly Hotel and L'Orangerie in Los Angeles. She then moved to London after being discovered on myspace where she signed a publishing deal and wrote a majority of her debut album. In 2007 she moved to New York after signing to Steve Greenberg's S-Curve Records.

Birch's first album, Bible Belt, was released in 2009 on S-Curve Records and incorporates many styles of music, including blues, soul,gospel, rock and folk. The musicians who played on the record include Lenny Kaye (of The Patti Smith band), Adam Blackstone (The Roots and Jay Z), Cindy Blackman (Lenny Kravitz), George Porter and Tom "Bones" Malone. The album was produced by the Grammy Award-winning team of Steve Greenberg with Betty Wright and Michael Mangini. Birch says her influences for the album were multi-dimensional, but included her father who is a church pastor and her religious upbringing.

Birch wrote all the words and music for all the tracks on Bible Belt. Her television début was on CBS' Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on June 22, 2009. She also appeared on Late Night with David Letterman on July 22, 2009. Other major television appearances include The Carson Daly Show and Jimmy Kimmel, as well as a recent performance of the Daryl Hall webcast called Live from Daryl's House.

Diane's live band is comprised of Jay Foote on bass, Eric Bloom on trumpet and flugelhorn, Josh Dion on drums and Alex Foote on guitars.

Diane Birch. The lead single is "Nothing But a Miracle".

Birch wrote all the tracks on the album. Her backing band consists of Jay Foote on bass, vocals and tambourine, Eric Bloom on trumpet, flugelhorn and backing vocals, and Alex Foote on guitars and backing vocals.

Track listing

1. "Fire Escape" – 4:01
2. "Valentino" – 2:49
3. "Fools" – 3:54
4. "Nothing But A Miracle" – 4:23
5. "Rewind" – 6:09
6. "Rise Up" – 4:31
7. "Photograph" – 5:21
8. "Don't Wait Up" – 3:00
9. "Mirror Mirror" – 4:48
10. "Ariel" – 3:56
11. "Choo Choo" – 3:42
12. "Forgiveness" – 5:08
13. "Magic View" – 3:10

The song Rise Up was chosen as the Starbucks iTunes Pick of the Week for October 20, 2009.