Diane Birch
Encyclopedia
Diane Birch is an American
singer-songwriter
.
and her father was a Seventh-day Adventist preacher whose work took him to several countries. As a child Birch lived with her family in Zimbabwe
, South Africa
and Sydney
, Australia
. When she was ten, her family returned to the United States of America, and settled in Portland, Oregon
. Diane attended Portland Adventist Elementary School and later, Portland Adventist Academy
.
Birch began studying piano using the Suzuki method
at the age of seven and she listened to opera, classical and church music while growing up.
to compose music for films and instead played piano at the Beverly Hotel and L'Orangerie. Prince
heard her perform at the Polo Lounge in 2006 and invited her to join him at his home for a music session with his band. Birch moved to London, signed a publishing contract and wrote most of the songs that appeared on her debut album.
In 2007, she moved to New York after signing with Steve Greenberg
's S-Curve Records.
Birch's debut album, Bible Belt
, was released in 2009 on S-Curve Records
and received supportive reviews in Rolling Stone, Paper Magazine and the Huffington Post.
In 2009 Birch appeared on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Late Show with David Letterman
, the Carson Daly
Show, Jimmy Kimmel
, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
and the webcast, Live from Daryl's House
Her song Rise Up was the Starbucks
iTunes
Pick of the Week in October 2009 and her song Valentino appeared in the movie Valentine's Day (film)
'.
In 2010 Birch was the opening act for Stevie Wonder at the "Hard Rock Calling Festival" in Hyde Park and Nîmes, France and Nick Jonas and the Administration. Birch performed shows in Osaka and Tokyo. In September, Birch released the single track "Gee Whiz It's Christmas" on Amazon
and iTunes
. Birch also co-wrote and sang the song "Too Soon to End" by Alain Clark
.In December Birch released a digital only EP called "The Velveteen Age".
In addition to keyboards Birch also plays guitar and the violin.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
.
Early life
Birch was born in MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and her father was a Seventh-day Adventist preacher whose work took him to several countries. As a child Birch lived with her family in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. When she was ten, her family returned to the United States of America, and settled in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. Diane attended Portland Adventist Elementary School and later, Portland Adventist Academy
Portland Adventist Academy
Portland Adventist Academy is a private high school located in Portland, Oregon, United States operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The school was founded in 1910, and was previously known as Portland Union Academy, serving grades 1-12. The name changed when the elementary section became...
.
Birch began studying piano using the Suzuki method
Suzuki method
The Suzuki method is a method of teaching music that emerged in the mid-20th century.-Background:The Suzuki Method was conceived in the mid-20th century by Shin'ichi Suzuki, a Japanese violinist who desired to bring beauty to the lives of children in his country after the devastation of World War II...
at the age of seven and she listened to opera, classical and church music while growing up.
Career
Birch moved to Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to compose music for films and instead played piano at the Beverly Hotel and L'Orangerie. Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
heard her perform at the Polo Lounge in 2006 and invited her to join him at his home for a music session with his band. Birch moved to London, signed a publishing contract and wrote most of the songs that appeared on her debut album.
In 2007, she moved to New York after signing with Steve Greenberg
Steve Greenberg (record producer)
Steve Greenberg is a record producer currently heading the S-Curve Records label. He is noted for "discovering" popular musical acts such as Hanson, Baha Men, Jonas Brothers and Joss Stone. He received a 2000 Grammy Award in the "Best Dance Recording" category as a producer of "Who Let the Dogs...
's S-Curve Records.
Birch's debut album, Bible Belt
Bible Belt (album)
- Chart positions :- Reception :In Mojo, Charles Waring described it as "a mighty impressive first album" and claimed she "combines strong vocal melodies with infectious hook lines and delivers them with a soulful fervour." He also compared her with Carole King, Laura Nyro and Phoebe Snow, while...
, was released in 2009 on S-Curve Records
S-Curve Records
S-Curve Records was founded in 2000 by former Mercury Records executive Steve Greenberg. It is based in New York City. In 2001 the label established a distribution and licensing agreement with EMI Records. In 2007 Greenberg relaunched the label after a two year hiatus, during which he served as...
and received supportive reviews in Rolling Stone, Paper Magazine and the Huffington Post.
In 2009 Birch appeared on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
, the Carson Daly
Carson Daly
Carson Jones Daly is an American television host. He is the host of NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly, a late-night talk show that began airing on January 7, 2002. Before his role as host of that program, Daly was a VJ on MTV's TRL, and a DJ for the Southern California based radio station KROQ-FM...
Show, Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel
James Christian "Jimmy" Kimmel is an American television host and comedian. He is the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, a late-night talk show that airs on ABC. Prior to that, Kimmel was best known as the co-host of Comedy Central's The Man Show and Win Ben Stein's Money...
, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show that featured Conan O'Brien as host from June 1, 2009 to January 22, 2010 as part of NBC's long-running Tonight Show franchise...
, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...
and the webcast, Live from Daryl's House
Her song Rise Up was the Starbucks
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
Pick of the Week in October 2009 and her song Valentino appeared in the movie Valentine's Day (film)
Valentine's Day (film)
Valentine's Day is a 2010 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall and based on the novel by Michael Connelly. The screenplay and the story was written by Katherine Fugate, Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, Akiva Goldsman, Rob Reiner, P. J...
'.
In 2010 Birch was the opening act for Stevie Wonder at the "Hard Rock Calling Festival" in Hyde Park and Nîmes, France and Nick Jonas and the Administration. Birch performed shows in Osaka and Tokyo. In September, Birch released the single track "Gee Whiz It's Christmas" on Amazon
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
and iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
. Birch also co-wrote and sang the song "Too Soon to End" by Alain Clark
Alain Clark
Alain Clark is a Dutch musician and producer. He is a recipient of the Dutch music awards Zilveren Harp, 3FM Mega Award and the Edison Award ....
.In December Birch released a digital only EP called "The Velveteen Age".
In addition to keyboards Birch also plays guitar and the violin.
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales threshold) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
ITA Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... |
|||
| 2009 | Bible Belt Bible Belt (album) - Chart positions :- Reception :In Mojo, Charles Waring described it as "a mighty impressive first album" and claimed she "combines strong vocal melodies with infectious hook lines and delivers them with a soulful fervour." He also compared her with Carole King, Laura Nyro and Phoebe Snow, while...
|
87 | 77 | 26 | |
| 2010 | The Velveteen Age The Velveteen Age The Velveteen Age is the second album released by Diane Birch. It consists of covers of songs she enjoyed while growing up. She is backed up by the Phenomenal Handclap Band.- Track listing :- External links :*...
|
||||
Other appearances
| Year | Song | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | "Valentino" | Valentine's Day Valentine's Day (soundtrack) -Chart performance:... |
| "Too Soon to End" (with Alain Clark Alain Clark Alain Clark is a Dutch musician and producer. He is a recipient of the Dutch music awards Zilveren Harp, 3FM Mega Award and the Edison Award .... ) |
"ColourBlind" |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
CAN Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... |
||||||||
| 2009 | "Nothing But a Miracle" | — | — | Bible Belt Bible Belt (album) - Chart positions :- Reception :In Mojo, Charles Waring described it as "a mighty impressive first album" and claimed she "combines strong vocal melodies with infectious hook lines and delivers them with a soulful fervour." He also compared her with Carole King, Laura Nyro and Phoebe Snow, while... |
|||||
| 2010 | "This Corrosion This Corrosion "This Corrosion" is a song from the album Floodland by The Sisters of Mercy. It was released as a single in 1987 reaching number 7 in the UK Charts.... " |
— | — | The Velveteen Age The Velveteen Age The Velveteen Age is the second album released by Diane Birch. It consists of covers of songs she enjoyed while growing up. She is backed up by the Phenomenal Handclap Band.- Track listing :- External links :*... |
|||||
| 2011 | "Wind Up Bird Song" | — | — | Wind Up Bird Song (Single) | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Music videos
| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | "Nothing But a Miracle" | Moh Azima |
| 2010 | "Valentino" | Dennis Liu |
| "Rewind" | Gavin Elder |
External links
- Diane Birch youtube channel
- Diane Birch: The 'Bible Belt,' In Eclectic Song from National Public Radio
- Diane Birch live in concert from NPR station WXPNWXPNWXPN is a non-commercial, public radio station operated by the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia that broadcasts a music radio format called adult album alternative , along with many other format shows supported all with an indie slant...
- Diane Birch performs Rewind as part of Guardian How I wrote series