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BIOGRAPHY

Singer-songwriter Diane Birch took half her lifetime, and traveled across the globe, to get to America, where she literally found her voice and made her remarkable debut, Bible Belt. Though only in her mid-twenties, Birch likes to think of herself as an “old soul,” and indeed there is a startling maturity in her singing and a veteran’s self-assurance in her writing. Hook-driven songs like “Fools” and “Valentino” offer more than just instant gratification: they’re like your new best friends – you’ll want to get together with them as frequently as possible. Birch mixes piano-playing virtuosity with easy-going soul, and she can strike an uplifting groove on even the most melancholy tune. Her work bears hints of Laura Nyro (when she was hanging out with LaBelle) and early 70’s Karen Carpenter (when she was ruling the charts), while effortlessly incorporating New Orleans second-line rhythms, gospel fervor, doo-wop harmonies, country-blues guitar and classic AM radio-style melodies. Bible Belt was recorded in New York City and New Orleans with a formidable team of Grammy-winning producers: S-Curve Records founder Steve Greenberg, soul legend Betty Wright and Mike Mangini. Among the players accompanying Birch are guitarist Lenny Kaye of The Patti Smith Group, bassists Adam Blackstone from The Roots, and George Porter of The Meters, acclaimed drummers Stanton Moore of Galactic and Cindy Blackman of Lenny Kravitz fame, saxophonist-about-town Lenny Pickett, and trombonist Tom “Bones” Malone, along with veteran singer Eugene Pitt, lead vocalist of fabled Brooklyn vocal group, the Jive Five.

Birch was born in Michigan, but at a very young age she moved to Zimbabwe with her South African-born parents. Her dad was a conservative pastor who moved his family from continent to continent. So the young Birch migrated with her folks from Zimbabwe to South Africa to Australia, following her father’s mission. Throughout her journeys, Birch longed to be back in America, and finally got her wish when her family relocated to Portland, Oregon, when she was 10.

Compared to the average American teenager, Birch was truly exotic, both in terms of where she had resided and in how she had lived – within the confines of a strict religious community that had little interaction with its secular neighbors. She had to be resilient and adaptable, which at times meant seeking refuge in a rich fantasy life, imagining herself as someone living in say, the eighteenth century, conjuring up imaginary friends/muses like Valentino, the subject of one of her songs, an Amadeus like-figure, somewhat more dashing in proportion than the real Mozart. Until she arrived in the States, she’d had scant exposure to the radio or television and little knowledge of popular culture; she’d only listened to classical music, opera and, of course, church hymns.

Birch initially cycled through a serious Goth phase, perfect for an “old soul” trying to define itself. She embraced Goth both musically and sartorially, as musical inspiration and teenage rebellion - listening to the Sisters of Mercy, Joy Division, the Cure, even Christian Death; arriving at her father’s church in a floor-length black cape and waiting until the rest of the congregation was seated before swanning up the aisle. Her musical education didn’t stop there, though: she fell for songs from the twenties, jazz, the Beatles, psychedelic music, and Fleetwood Mac.

Since she was seven, Birch had been studying piano via the learn-by-ear Suzuki Method and had cultivated the ability to replicate a melody upon hearing it. As she explains, “Ever since I was a kid, I have been incredibly fortunate in that I could hear something and then just play it.”

When she was old enough to live on her own, Birch moved to L.A., with the notion of becoming a film composer: To make ends meet, she quickly learned a standards repertoire and pursued work as pianist-for-hire, eventually landing regular gigs at the Beverly Hills Hotel and L’Orangerie. Prince once saw her play and invited her out to jam with him and his band at his home – an invitation she duly accepted. Up until this point, Birch had always seen herself as a pianist and hadn’t tried to sing until a friend cajoled her into taking a class. In order to have something to perform there, Birch wrote an original song, which her new classmates immediately loved. So she wrote another for the next class, then another after that; thus she became a genuine singer-songwriter.

Thanks to material she began to post on her MySpace page, Birch heard from a manager based in London and before long was able to relocate there, where she soon had both regular gigs and a major publishing deal. It wasn’t long before Birch was on the move again, however, this time to ink a record deal with Steve Greenberg’s S Curve Records in New York, where she currently resides.

As for the album title, “The idea of Bible Belt has a layered kind of meaning for me,” explains Diane. “Because my dad was a preacher, the very religious upbringing I had made a huge impact on my life, in a very restraining and constricting way. I’m constantly talking about heaven, angels, and forgiveness. I’m hugely inspired by church hymns -- their chord structures, their colors. It was a form of constraint for me as a child but now I see that it has fueled my creative fire.”

Over the course of Bible Belt’s thirteen songs Diane Birch has served up her own portrait of American music in all its breadth and majesty, touching down on Beale Street, Bourbon Street, Tin Pan Alley, Laurel Canyon, South Philly, Brooklyn street corners and many points in between. Hers is a tour-de-force debut album.

RECENT QUOTES

"Birch started off her set with a rousing version of "Ariel," a tale of long-distance love in the age of Facebook that could quite possibly be the greatest Elton John song that Elton John himself had nothing to do with. From the moment she took the stage, she quickly transfixed the rapturous audience..... She was effusive as she walked off the stage for the night, knowing full well that she had just converted close to 500 new fans and that the next time she swings through town, she'll be playing to a significantly larger audience." New York Magazine

"Diane Birch has constructed a freshman release that could possibly challenge the music industry to step up to the plate. Written entirely by Diane, Bible Belt is a layered euphony of creativity that won't be ignored....A pure indication that this gal is a one-in-a-million talent". - The New York Post

"Move over Amy, Adele and Duffy: The British blue-eyed-soul brigade gets some serious competition from this Yankee on her Debut!"
- People Magazine, Critics Choice.

"....That exceptional list includes Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Norah Jones and, now, the young bohemian Diane Birch.... her astonishing debut is full of musical wanderlust..... Birch nails the easygoing soul of seventies classics: Carole King’s Tapestry, perhaps, or Joni’s Blue.....give Bible Belt your attention. Because the only word that counts here is beyond the consideration of trends. That word is “TIMELESS"." - Modern Tonic

  “I’ve just heard the future of singer-songwriters and her name is Diane Birch…Birch has delivered an album with strong echoes of Laura Nyro and Carole King but with songs that… retain that thrilling shock of the new...Bible Belt is more than welcoming -- it's downright thrilling” – The Huffington Post

"Diane Birch’s debut album is like a time machine. It sounds like a lost masterpiece from the late 60s or early 70s, yet at the same time it sounds undeniably like the future….it produces the kind of giddy exhilaration that’s been missing from music since the debut of Amy Winehouse. Each song is more exciting than the last." - EDGE

“Singer-songwriter Diane Birch, armed with a brazen voice that harks back to an earlier era, is about to set the world on fire with her debut album Bible Belt.” – The Daily Texan

"Diane makes my brain hurt. Her too perfect to be real talent and charisma are the things that robots are made of, yet somehow she makes it all seem achingly vulnerable and real. "Fire Escape" consists of melodies that soften the heart and a story that recalls that best of Elton John. If Diane doesn't become a huge music force, I may have to ask the world to meet me at the flagpole at recess for a huge pummeling."-New York Post (Pop Wrap)

“Amy Winehouse-style retro pop, minus dysfunction… Her voice is strong and fetching… “Fools” conjures Carole King, “Nothing But A Miracle” echoes Aretha…the melodies stick, and girl’s got taste.” – Rolling Stone

“…she pays tribute to the classics too—Motown, Delta Blues, old-fashioned pop—without sounding musty, combining the emotional sensibility of Diana Krall with the soulful backbone of Lucinda Williams.” – Vanity Fair

“Offering up soaring southern soul, Diane Birch calls to mind Cat Power circa 'The Greatest'” – The Independent (UK)

“Bible Belt seems almost like an American response to the neo-soul stylings of Amy, Lily, Adele, et al.—old-timey and soulful with a dose of homegrown, Stevie Nicks-esque twang.” – Paper Magazine

"Birch has the perfect ear, sound, and writing style for the era when Carly Simon, Elton John and the Doobie Brothers ruled the airwaves. Her kind of formal pop song - with its perfectly rounded melodies, and every-note-in-place arrangements - rescues a lost art". -Daily News, NY

"With a powerhouse debut in Bible Belt, Diane Birch has set the standard for a new decade of songwriting – one that fears not the pressure to fit, and pursues the desire to make art."- examiner.com

"Singer/songwriter Diane Birch hits a grand slam homer her first time at bat with “Bible Belt”. It’s not a stretch to suggest that, had the album had been released in the era of “Tapestry” (King) and “New York Tendaberry” (Nyro), it would be regarded as a classic just like those timeless collections". - Q notes

MANAGEMENT/ALL ENQUIRIES

Will Bloomfield (will@northpolemanagement.com) and Magus Entertainment (wendy@magusentertainment.com and beth@magusentertainment.com)