Christina Rasch
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Christina Rasch

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"RadioIndy review of Christina Rasch's CD "Every Color Is Blue""

RadioIndy review of Christina Rasch's CD "Every Color Is Blue"
posted by: radioindy on 11 Dec 2006 10:07 PM
"Every Color Is Blue" features the outstanding vocals of Christina Rasch. The hook-filled songwriting, pro musicianship, and high quality production complement Christina's vocals, which lie somewhere between Mariah Carey and Sheryl Crow. The CD includes songs such as "Crying in My Sleep," which are pop/rock songs with hook-filled choruses. Furthermore, the CD includes songs with an excellent groove, such as "Remember When," which will have you moving. If you enjoy adult pop music featuring excellent female vocals, you'll love this CD. Pick up a copy today!

- Radio Indy


"Local singer’s career goes from Dust'N'Roxx to Ringo Starr"

Local singer’s career goes from Dust'N'Roxx to Ringo Starr

By Lynn Taylor Rick, Journal Staff Writer

Most people probably remember Christina Rasch as the big-haired teenage singer in the ’80s Rapid City band Family Affair and later in Dust'N' Roxx.

But since 1995, Rasch has lived in Sherman Oaks, Calif. All grown up now, the big hair is gone. Her love of music is not.

With a new CD and a decade of music experience thanks to work with stars such as Ringo Starr and John Tesh, Rasch is making a break for it as a solo artist.

And to think it all started with a tambourine.

Rasch was only 12 when her father, Bob Rasch of Rapid City, made an off-hand comment one night while watching “Let’s Make a Deal.” Looking at a set of musical instruments on the show, he asked “Wouldn’t it be fun to have a family band?”

Before long, Rasch found herself taking piano lessons, and her brother was learning to drum.

Not long after, Family Affair premiered in Buffalo Gap, playing popular covers. Initially, Bob Rasch did most of the singing. Rasch recalls that she played “mostly tambourine at that point.”

The tambourine didn’t last.

Before long, Rasch was behind the keyboards and then the microphone. Family Affair gained a loyal Black Hills following, playing together for 8-1/2 years.

Rasch knew from the start that she had found her calling.

“Even then I knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life,” she says, calling the realization both a “blessing and curse.”

After Family Affair, Rasch joined Dust and Rox with her sister Mary and brother Bobby before deciding to pursue a career on the West Coast in 1995.

Only 22, she had every intention of pursuing a solo career in music, but like most aspiring performers, she quickly discovered that it’s not that easy.

To make ends meet, she landed a receptionist job at a store called West L.A. Music. Initially unhappy about the desk job, Rasch changed her tune when she began meeting her idols such as Stevie Wonder.

Intrigued by her Midwestern accent, Wonder quickly befriended Rasch. She fondly remembers the word games that Wonder enjoyed playing.

At the store, Rasch also met music producer Mark Hudson, who showed an interest in her singing. When he asked for a demo tape, Rasch happily obliged. “The next day, he came running into the store and said, ‘You really have something here … do you have more?’” she remembers. “That’s how I sang for Ringo Starr.”

Hudson helped her sign with a publishing company and produced several of her songs on a new demo. Because he was producing Ringo Starr at the time, Hudson also hired Rasch to sing backup for the former Beatle. For five weeks, Rasch sang with and observed Starr as he worked.

“I will say working with a Beatle was amazing because the Beatles were the biggest thing in our house,” she says.

That back-up singing job led to a second session with Starr on another album years later.

With that induction into the music business, Rasch joined the tour of Mexican singer Jose Manuel Figueroa, which took her around the world performing for crowds of up to 200,000 people.

She nabbed that job by learning Spanish songs phonetically overnight. “I had no idea what I was singing. But they didn’t care,” she says. “The key to most of my success is just doing it instead of thinking about it too much.”

In 2000, when that touring gig “slowed down” a bit, Rasch decided she needed to make a little extra cash. She answered a blind ad in the Hollywood Reporter, reading simply, “Producer needs assistant. Needs to be PC and Mac proficient.”

Rasch answered the ad and quickly found herself hired by musician and former television personality John Tesh.

Within a short time, Tesh made changes in Tesh Media Group, whittling the staff down dramatically. Rasch remained, taking over his tour management and other duties in running Tesh Media Group.

Although Tesh knew Rasch sang, she had never had the time to perform for him. Then, while preparing for a performance on a local New York City television station, Tesh spontaneously invited her to join him on stage.

With no more rehearsal than a little harmonizing in the car, Rasch joined Tesh for the song “It Wouldn’t Be Christmas Without You.” Afterward, he told her, “Wow, I didn’t know you could do that.”

From then on, Rasch joined Tesh in performances more and more, even developing her own signature song, “I Can Only Imagine.”

In 2002, still managing Tesh’s company, Rasch found herself producing a Red Rocks television special while preparing to perform with Tesh as well. She jokes that in between rehearsals, she would stand with a Blackberry in one hand and a cell phone in the other trying to manage the business end of things.

“It was an eye-opening experience for me. I didn’t shy away from it. I embraced it. But it was scary, don’t get me wrong,” she says.

The experience was also a turning point for her.

“I thought, if I can do this for him, I can do anything,” she says.

By the time Rasch approached Tesh last year and told him she needed to get back to her music, she felt she had learned so much from both the job and the man.

“I was pretty disillusioned with the business by the time I came to John,” she says, noting that “sexual harassment in this business is alive and well, and I encountered it a lot.”

To work in a company where she felt respected by her employer and could grow and learn about the business proved to be life-changing. “I think that was a blessing. I do think that was God taking care of me,” she says. “I was working for a Christian guy who became my mentor. He became like my uncle and he became a good friend.”

Although she still sings with Tesh on occasion, Rasch is mainly making a go of it as a solo performer nowadays.

She sells her new release “Every Color is Blue” on her Web site, christinarasch.com, at Amazon.com and at CDbaby.com.

Rasch classifies her sound as soulful pop rock with influences ranging from the Beatles to Stevie Wonder. It’s also a little different from the average fair. “It’s more organic, meaning there are more real instruments than a lot of newer artists use.”

While Rasch is enjoying her return to performing, she hasn’t give up on the business side of the music business. Eventually, she would like to produce as well as develop new acts.

But she isn’t giving up on making it on a grander scale as a performer. It’s something she believes is still possible.

“It has everything to do with timing and luck and at the same time, it has everything to do with perseverance,” she says. “You may get 50 no’s … but it only takes one yes to change your life. You just have to be willing to take chances.”

And Rasch has proven time and again that she is willing to take those chances.

Contact Lynn Taylor Rick at 394-8414 or lynn.taylorrick@rapidcityjournal.com. - Rapid City Journal


"Review - Every Color Is Blue"

Christina Rasch, Every Color is Blue (2006, La Da Dee Music)
www.christinarasch.com

“Code ‘Blue’” might be a more apt title for this South Dakotan’s new album.
Every Color is Blue may need a warning label.
It’s habit forming.
Christina Rasch enjoys a well-earned reputation as a top-notch backing singer – whether in the studio with the likes of Ringo Starr, and on stage with a variety of big name artists.
On Every Color is Blue, the statuesque beauty emerges from behind the backing mic with one of 2006's most solid debut albums.
Every Color is Blue rightly emphasizes Rasch’s assured vocal presence within tight punchy production (mainly from Mark Hudson, one of those veteran “name” producers who has worked with everyone who's anyone).
Throughout the eleven tracks there is enough variation of style, yet a consistency of song strength, that’ll keep you from hitting the "next track" button.
No duds here, folks.
Many of the arrangements highlight a distinct Beatle-esque vibe and harmony nuance, particularly on the infectious “In My Head.”
Combining that direction with a lithe funkiness throughout, Rasch manages to avoid devolving from style to schtick.
A uniqueness of songwriting style compliments Rasch’s unique vocal lines.
There’s almost a non-rock ‘n soul approach to many of the melodies and chord changes.
Not exactly a usually workable formula, or at least one promising to be more interesting than listenable.
Yet Rasch finds a way to successfully wrap these melodic lines around a vibrantly danceable rhythmic end.
Lyrically, like a scene from “Deadwood,” themes of heartache battle it out with declarations of rise-above-it-determination.
When the dust settles, heartache loses.

Unlike much of what dominates independent releases (which tend to present little more than glorified genre pieces, and stumble badly when it comes to capturing a really enduring track), there are hits here.
Without a doubt.
For instance, the title track is already making a strong showing wherever it has received airplay.
And the Hudson-penned “I Cried” grabs your attention, and compels doses of repeated listenings.
For me, the one that simply won’t let go is the almost-Tom Pettyish “Ain’t That Kind of Girl.”
I dare anyone to explain why this one doesn’t deserve an immediate spot on “heavy rotation” lists.
Go ahead, … I’m waiting.
If you find yourself unable to stop listening to Every Color Is Blue after four consecutive hours, seek prompt hospitalization.
And don’t say you weren’t warned.

Ben Eicher,
Contributing Editor, Rock & Rap Confidential


- Rock & Rap Confidential


Discography

"Every Color Is Blue"- CD
Songs on radio:
This Way
Crying In My Sleep
Every Color Is Blue

Photos

Bio

" Somewhere in the Black Mountain Hills of Dakota there lived a young girl named Christina Rasch…"
The singer-songwriter with the soulful voice, was born fourth of ten children into a musical family in Rapid City, South Dakota. Her father had been a guitarist and professional musician who played everything from Country to Rock 'n Roll, so there was always music in the house. By the time she was two, Christina knew she wanted to sing. By age eight, she had written her first song and knew her calling.
Now living in Los Angeles Christina has collaborated with several successful songwriters including Grammy award winning singer-songwriter, performer and producer, Mark Hudson.
Christina's influences stem from the Beatles to Prince to Stevie Wonder and Sting to Sheryl Crow. A talented pianist, Christina has clearly shown her own ability to write well in several genres. Much of this can be attributed to the diversity of music she's performed over the years.

In May of 1996 Christina began touring as a background singer for an upcoming young Mexican Tejano star named Jose Manuel Figueroa. A year later she began singing backup with his famous father, Joan Sebastian. She toured all of the U.S., Mexico and Central America until 2001.
In March of 1999 she was signed to Warner/Chappell for her songwriting. After one listen, the VP of Warner Chappell, John Titta decided to sign Christina on to an artist's publishing deal. In the next two years she wrote and recorded several new songs and collaborated with several other songwriters like Kevin Savigar, Jamie Houston and Dean Grakal among others.
In October of 2000, Christina began working at John Tesh's independent label, Garden City Music/GTS Records where she has been learning the other side of the music business, the business side. Within a year she was not only running his label but also became the tour manager for him and his band.
In December of 2002 Christina joined John Tesh’s band as one of his backup vocalists touring extensively across the U,S, with the Tesh band and performing on national TV shows such as the Wayne Brady show, TBN’s Praise the Lord, DayStar’s Celebration show and later in 2004 on the Tony Danza Show.
In October of 2003 Christina produced John Tesh’s Public Television Concert Special, Worship at Red Rocks, shot at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver, CO. She was on vocals again leading a choir along with Christine Miller. This produced a live CD and DVD that were released in September of 2004 within the top 10 of Billboard’s Praise and Worship Charts, Her solo performance of “I Can Only Imagine” has been cited as one of the highlights of the concert special.
Christina continues to write and look to the future to use the talents and skills she's acquired over these many years. She's already a veteran to some in this business but she's at the age where some artists get their start and she has only just begun to show us what she's capable of.