Chrisie Santoni

Artist Information

Biography

Chrisie Santoni is an award-winning songwriter.
In 2003, she was the Grand Prize Winner in the
Unisong Songwriting Contest for her song Mona
Lisa. This song also won her 1st Prize in the 2004
John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Also, in 2004
she was the lone American to get picked for the
Universal Songwriting Talent Contest for her song
It's All Inside. This honor led her to compete in
Prague and sing her song live in front of a packed
house. Although she didn't come away with a prize,
this experience shows that Chrisie's music goes
beyond any geographical border.

Since then, Chrisie has focused on a stripped down performance approach, using a duo setting with percussionist and harmony vocalist Craig Smith as the format with which to best communicate. This playing-in-the-living room beside-the-fire feel provides a loose, casual vibe to the experience while allowing for the maximum opportunity for improvisation and inspiration as it arises. In an age of blinding bombast, more-is-more, and "I'm the artist and you're the spectator" Chrisie's approach is just the opposite. She frequently will come up with songs on the spot after asking people in the room to toss different topics of interest to her. Result? Everyone becomes involved in the music. Always one to converse with people from the stage, Chrisie never plays AT people, but WITH and FOR people listening to the show. Music as mutual communication.


Edie Brickell's album Shooting Rubber Bands At The Stars is the first album that inspired Chrisie to create her own music. You can hear some of that realism and smooth, sultry toughness in Chrisie's voice. Chrisie cites Dave Matthews, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers, and The Beastie Boys as other formative influences.

Chrisie has opened shows for Jeffrey Gaines, Jill Sobule, Shawn Colvin, Michael Glabicki (of Rusted Root), Derek Trucks, Cheap Trick, Dicky Betts, Everlast, and Academy Award Winner Buffy Saint-Marie.

In September of 2006, Chrisie and Craig had the honor of opening up for the legendary Buffy Saint-Marie at the Caribou Performing Arts Center in Maine, where they won the approval of Buffy's crowd armed with only an acoustic guitar, some hand percussion, and their guts.

Chrisie has produced 5 CDs of original music: Going Home, Lover/Fighter, Puzzle, Chrisie And Craig Live, and Belles And Rebels.

In addition to her original music, Chrisie runs her own music and movement program for children aged 6 months to 4 years called Dancing Bears Music (www.dancingbearsmusic.com). She has produced 3 original CDs for children: Summer Sea, Falling Leaves, and Windy Winter - keeping kids moving and grooving in touch to the seasons of the year.

Averaging about 75 shows a year, mostly in coffeehouse-type settings where there are no pyrotechnics, loud volume, or blinding light shows to hide behind, Chrisie Santoni and people who listen always come away richer for the experience.

Chrisie can be found online at:

www.chrisiesantoni.com

myspace.com/chrisiesantoni


Cheers!

Instrumentation

Chrisie Santoni - Vocals, Guitar
Craig Smith - Percussion, Vocals

Discography

Belles and Rebels (2007)
Chrisie Santoni and Craig Smith Live (2006)
Puzzle (2005)
Lover Fighter (2004)
Going Home (2001)
Paul Revere (CD Single cover of Beastie Boys song, release date Jan. 2005)

Audio

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• November 29, 2004 - Red Bank Roots Rocker Leaves Them Singing in the Czech Republic. [+ Show ]
  

  "It was amazing!" exclaimed N.J. roots rocker Chrisie Santoni, when asked to describe the feeling of..."It was amazing!" exclaimed N.J. roots rocker Chrisie Santoni, when asked to describe the feeling of performing in front of a rabid Czech audience in Prague, Czech Republic last week. "The locals were singing along to my songs even though they didn't understand most of the words or language."
  
  Santoni was the lone U.S. representative in the prestigious Universetalent Prague(www.universetalent.cz) worldwide songwriting and music festival held each year in Prague. Even after being the only American chosen for the privilege of performing, she admits to having been a little nervous prior to her trip. This was partly based on how some other cultures are currently viewing Americans, given the immediate political climate. "I wasn't sure how I'd be received," explains Santoni. "I remembered
  studying that part of Europe (Czechoslovakia) in history class in grade school many years ago, when the region was still under Communist rule. Even then, I felt music could be the thing to bring the world together. Maybe I wasn't too far off!"
  
  Performing in Prague was the third honor in the last 18 months bestowed upon Santoni. Previously, she won the nationwide 2003 Unisong songwriting contest for her song "Mona Lisa," and placed 2nd in the pop category with the same song in the 2003 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Her song "It's All Inside," from her just released CD "Lover Fighter" earned her the honor of performing in Prague.
  
  "I visited a Prague record superstore (Bonton) and it was great to see CD's by Phil Collins, Tina Turner, and R.E.M. among their top 15 best sellers," noted Santoni. What moment did she enjoy most about her week-long trip? It was right after performing at the festival. "When I left the stage, I was literally mobbed by a group of young Czech children waving pens and paper wanting me to sign. It was the most humbling
  moment of my life. I gave each one of them the biggest hug!"

• John Lennon Songwriting Contest Winner [+ Show ]
  

  Congratulations to Chrisie Santoni and John Degrazio, Jersey Shore singer/songwriters who were recen...Congratulations to Chrisie Santoni and John Degrazio, Jersey Shore singer/songwriters who were recently named finalists in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest’s pop category.
  The JLSC recognized Santoni and Degrazio for their song, “Mona Lisa,” which Degrazio also produced at his Colts Neck studio, Waterlands.
  Beginning in 1997, the contest is open to amateur and professional songwriters who can submit entries in any one of 13 musical categories. Over $225,000 in cash awards and prizes are given out to 130 winners (10 winners in each category). There is opportunity for song- writers beyond just cash prizes, with some winners receiving EMI Publishing Contracts and Yamaha Project Studio Equipment. One entry will be named
  
  
  
  “Song of the Year" at the International Music Product Association (NAMM)’s summer trade show in July. The winner will receive $20,000.
  Winners are selected by members of the Songwriters Guild of America, with all final determinations being made by members of the JLSC Executive Committee, comprised of noted singer/songwriters.
  Entries are judged on originality, melody, composition, and lyrics (when applicable). No song previously recorded and released through national distribution in any country will be eligible. Songs may have multiple co- writers, but only one name is requested on the application.
  For more information or to enter the contest, check out www.jlsc.com.

• Director Kevin Smith Recognizes "Mona Lisa" [+ Show ]
  

  In other Jersey Girl music news, Chrisie Santoni, the girl who won Unisong's "Song of the Year" cont...In other Jersey Girl music news, Chrisie Santoni, the girl who won Unisong's "Song of the Year" contest, says her winning song "Mona Lisa" is loosely based on the JG, as she came up with the lyrics while working on the set as a location assistant. Congrats, Chrisie!

• Chrisie Santoni Wins UNISONG Grand Prize! [+ Show ]
  

  CHRISIE SANTONI UNISONG 2003 GRAND PRIZE AND FIRST PLACE POP/ADULT CONTEMPORARY "I want to t...CHRISIE SANTONI
  UNISONG 2003
  GRAND PRIZE
  AND
  FIRST PLACE
  POP/ADULT CONTEMPORARY
  
  "I want to thank everyone at UNISONG along with every songwriter that entered this contest. Like me, many of you know what it is like to tirelessly work at something you love and feel as though you are the only one left that believes in yourself. A year ago I submitted a song that did not even place in the UNISONG contest, but I kept trying and the unbelievable happened. We can never give up on what we love, because what we need could be right around the corner." -Chrisie
  

• Chrisie Santoni Records with Jethro Tull's Andrew Giddings [+ Show ]
  

  By KELLY-JANE COTTER MUSIC WRITER Of all the gin joints in the world, he walked into hers. Ch...By KELLY-JANE COTTER
  MUSIC WRITER
  
  Of all the gin joints in the world, he walked into hers.
  
  Chrisie Santoni, a singer-songwriter who lives in Bay Head, was performing one night last summer at The Dublin House in Red Bank when she noticed a hearty amount of applause coming from a group of Brits at the bar.
  
  One of them approached her afterwards, offering his compliments.
  
  "I didn't know who this guy with the accent was," Santoni said. "I just knew he wasn't from Red Bank."
  
  The guy was Andrew Giddings, who has been the keyboardist for the British rock band Jethro Tull for the past 13 years. Giddings and crew stopped at The Dublin House to throw back a few pints after their own show at nearby Count Basie Theatre.
  
  "I met his girlfriend and he gave me his P.O. box and I sent him a press kit," Santoni said. "A month later, he called to say he thought the material wasn't up to what I did live. So we had this conversation with me feeling out if he was some rock star pervert and him wondering about my level of seriousness."
  
  When the phone call ended, Santoni had made plans to travel to the Cotswold region of England with her mother and sister to visit Giddings and see how he could help her with her career.
  
  Santoni can laugh now about her initial misgivings that Giddings might be a shady music industry weasel, or worse.
  
  "It couldn't have been more opposite than that," she said. "We recorded from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, in this garage studio of this old schoolhouse where he lives. My mother and sister would go sight-seeing and Andrew and I would work on my songs."
  
  This relationship was an unlikely one, bridging two continents and a wider musical gulf.
  
  Santoni's music sounds nothing like Jethro Tull's. Led by singer Ian Anderson, the band Jethro Tull is one of rock music's rare flute-fueled groups. Jethro Tull's use of flute, heavy, psychedelic guitars and medieval folk melodies made the band a leader of the progressive rock movement of the early 1970s.
  
  Santoni, on the other hand, is a lone woman with a guitar. She performs with a band, New Family, but her music relies on her clear soprano and her words, generally musings on relationships.
  
  But Santoni and Giddings found common ground.
  
  "Being an independent artist, it's hard to find the finances to get someone to actually produce a recording for you," Santoni said. "That's what Andrew did for me. I paid him $50 a day, and he pored over everything, helping with the arrangements, suggesting different ways to emphasize this or that, adding a little depth to the songs. He made me see my songs in a new way."
  
  Giddings has worked with other aspiring musicians, including the guitarist Willy Porter and the singer-songwriter Vyktoria Pratt Keating, in the hopes of obtaining distribution deals for their recordings. Santoni said he plans to lobby for her as well.
  
  Santoni, who is in her late 20s, grew up in Baltimore and settled in Bay Head after attending Monmouth University in West Long Branch.
  
  She has performed on the local scene since the late 1990s. Every Tuesday at about 9 p.m. she performs during open mic night at Emma's Beach House, aka the Moby Dick Tavern, on Route 35 South in Point Pleasant Beach.
  
  Santoni recently scored a great gig, opening for Shawn Colvin on Dec. 8. The show is at Santoni's alma mater, Monmouth University, in Pollak Theatre.
  
  "I'm a little nervous about it," Santoni said.
  
  She shouldn't be. Not only is Colvin a Grammy Award-winning songwriter, she's a laid-back, funny performer who bonds immediately with her audience. And Santoni will fit right into that environment.
  
  Santoni's voice, clear as a bell, wraps itself around songs about heartache and confusion in the dating world. On her 2000 demo CD, "Going Home," Santoni recalls Ani DiFranco or a less petulant Jewel. Her backing musicians often veer into jam-band stylings, which pushes Santoni from the coffeehouse realm into rock club territory.
  
  Santoni herself is self-deprecating and down to earth, qualities that will serve her well should Giddings call one day with word of a distribution deal.
  
  "There are so many female artists looking for work and being the same thing at once," Santoni said, worrying that the current success of Michelle Branch and Avril Lavigne will eventually cycle back into fewer opportunities for women.
  
  "I know I'm not re-inventing the wheel or anything, but if I could create a little niche for myself, I'd be happy."

Setlist

Chrisie has a set list of over 50 original songs including the award-winning songs Mona Lisa and It' All Inside, and not including songs written on the spot.

Her shows average three hours in length with several short breaks.

Basic Requirements

Calendar