Artist Information Biography For video, please visit youtube.com/kirasmallmusic “Girl, you sound like a neat glass of single malt in a world of Michelob Ultra.” Those were the words of Grammy award-winning songwriter Mike Reid (“I Can’t Make You Love Me”) when he heard Kira Small sing. This sultry, soulful siren combines the smoothness of Norah Jones, the rawness of Bonnie Raitt, the hip-ness of Alicia Keys and the flat-out-wailing of Aretha Franklin.  Delivered with her huge heart, even huger voice and wicked sense of humor, Kira’s spellbinding original songs and R&B classics seem to snuggle right into listeners’ laps. While Nashville (her current home base) is most known for country music, there is a deep vein of southern soul and R&B running through it that Kira has tapped into, and it has become her lifeblood. Her latest CD, Love In A Dangerous World, was produced by Bruce Dees (James Brown, Ronnie Milsap) and features numerous Motown and Muscle Shoals R&B veterans. How does this white chick from Wisconsin sound like anything but a white chick from Wisconsin? Who knows, who cares…it’s working. Maybe it was the gospel, jazz and R&B she discovered in high school. Maybe it was Berklee College of Music's many and varied influences. Maybe it was her years of soaking up soulfulness in Austin, TX. Maybe it was the position of the moon and stars at the precise moment of her birth. Whatever it was, this is an old soul speaking through a vibrant and powerful new voice. Kira has followed her muse to many musical and geographical destinations. She sang and danced in production shows in San Antonio, witnessed Mardi Gras from behind the piano at Pat O’Brien’s, became a fixture in the Austin music scene, returned to Boston as a member of Berklee’s voice faculty in 1999, and finally (for now) landed in Nashville in 2001 where she has worked with Peter Frampton, Wynonna Judd, Martina McBride, Faith Hill, Gretchen Wilson, Radney Foster, Alan Jackson, Ronnie Milsap, Ray Stevens, the Jordanaires, Jimmy Hall, Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns, and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, among others. Instrumentation Kira has worked with many wonderful musicians and singers she can call upon to join her when a larger band is needed, but has been performing lately as a solo (vox/keys) or as a duo w/bassist Bryan Beller. Here is more info about Kira & Bryan together: KIRA SMALL & BRYAN BELLER - BIO With a sensual, soulful sound borne of shared loss and rediscovered passion, singer/songwriter Kira Small and bassist Bryan Beller share a deeply intimate musical connection with an even deeper story behind it. As fellow standouts at Berklee College of Music in the early ‘90s, they ran in the same circles, played on each other’s projects, and even flirted a bit. They then went their separate ways, musically and personally: Kira to Austin and Nashville, working with Martina McBride, Wynonna Judd and Peter Frampton; Bryan to Los Angeles for gigs with guitar virtuosos Steve Vai, Mike Keneally and Dweezil Zappa. But in early 2005, after reuniting at the memorial service of a mutual friend – bassist Wes Wehmiller (Duran Duran, Lisa Loeb) – sparks flew amidst a community in grief, and a far deeper bond was formed. Just three years later, Kira and Bryan were married in Nashville by none other than Wes’ mother, an ordained minister. While an unlikely duo given their disparate musical experiences, Kira’s soaring vocals and dexterous keyboards meet Bryan’s instinctive groove on the common ground of Kira’s soul/R&B-infused songs about love, lust and life. Bonded together as both musical aces and life partners, Kira and Bryan achieve a compelling level of intensity when performing together, and possess an intimacy that touches anyone within earshot, transforming the typical concert experience into something far more universal.  Discography "Love In A Dangerous World" Offrow Records 2006 "Wanderin' Star" Crooked Whistle Music 2003 Links http://www.kirasmall.com