Music
Press
Post from itunes:
“Amazing! Her voice is just WOW!!!! This song speaks to me, and is just a great song! Really nice if
you just sit down and listen to the lyrics - Thanks!!”
Post from amazon:
“This song is awesome, can’t believe I am not hearing it on the radio in FL. Deanna’s voice is beautiful. The words to the song are so moving and inspiring. Please get this on stations nationwide. Thanks” -Joy Wilson (Lakeland, FL)
Posts from fan page:
“Deanna is a blessing to hear, to the ears and the heart. She is exceptional and has so many
musical talents. I love to hear the songs she writes and to hear her play the harp and piano. We are blessed to have her in our church when she’s not busy in Nashville! ? We love you Deanna!!
Keep glorifying Him above all!!” –Ashley Whiddon Claunch (Springfield, KY)
“Your music is so beautiful and so very special. The love of the Lord shines through you and
you’re such an inspiration to everyone. I hope God continues to bless you!” –Betty Watts (KY)
“Your songs refresh and encourage my heart! Thanks for sharing with us and may you continue to treasure and proclaim Christ through music!” –Karin Viet (Chicago, IL)
“Thank you so much for your performance at Mount Pleasant Church this morning! You are a true gift from God!” –Chelsea Goodman (KY)
“Let Go!! This song was definitely a song that the Holy Spirit gave you to share his message to us! Just beautiful!!!!!!!!!! This is my favorite!” –Jessie Meeks (Nashville, TN)
“Just wanna say one more time that “Let Go” is amazing – keep up the great work, and never stop looking to Him for inspiration!” –Jonathan Boulden (Maryland)
“We’ve played your CD’s and enjoyed them so much!! It was great getting to know you and to hear you play in person. Bless you as you grow in the Lord.” –Bro. Miles (Texas)
“I got your CD a few weeks ago and was so excited! It is so awesome how much God has blessed
you and how you are blessing other people with your gifts. I’m sure you get that a lot, but it’s true! ? Your songs have really ministered to me… they speak to my heart, especially now when things aren’t as easy as they used to be. Thanks for being an inspiration!” –Shiowei Cheng (MD)
“Thanks so much for making this CD!! It is fabulous and has already been such a huge inspiration to me. Keep up the great work!” –Emma Leigh (PA) - Big Smash Music Group
The Community Arts Center continues its monthly “Lunch with the Arts” series Wednesday with a lunch-hour presentation by professional harpist, pianist and singer Deanna Loveland. Through her presentation, “The Complex Simplicity of Music,” Deanna will attempt to explain the simple connection she makes between musical instruments,
musical styles and songwriting that has enabled her to explore her abilities and strengths in the world of music.
The idea one 20-year-old girl could be a professional harpist, pianist and singer while also playing the violin and writing songs may be
mind-boggling to some, but to Loveland — who also is known for playing the piano and harp simultaneously while singing — it’s actually quite simple.
At the age of 5, Loveland started playing piano, studying under Pat Berlen in her native Maryland, and with several hours of practice every day, she quickly blossomed. By age 9, Loveland’s natural inquisitiveness led her to begin another very difficult instrument, the harp, and
eventually, a third, the violin.
After moving to Kentucky, Loveland started writing her own songs and singing when she was 14, winning top honors in national contests, including a teen writing competition judged by Simon Cowell in which she placed second out of 12,000.
Through high school, Loveland kept a busy schedule of about 130 performances a year with the help of her mom/booking agent. With a passion for music and a love for traveling, Deanna and her mom started
trekking to Nashville two or three times a month after she graduated in 2007, which led to her moving there in May 2008.
Loveland now is keeping a busy schedule of music performances across the region while working with the image/media coach Suzzane Skinner and vocal coach Kim Wood Sandusky, whose other clients include Beyonce. For legal and career guidance, Loveland has turned to veteran
Music Row entertainment attorney Philip Lyon. She has expanded her profile by signing with a talent agency and finds
work as an actress/model for music videos, commercials, musicals, and, most recently, a brand new comedy show. Loveland sees acting as a growth area for her career moving forward.
She also would like to use
her skills in clothing design and fashion once the music/acting career is
launched.
“I praise the Lord for all that He’s doing in and through my life and I just trust Him with my tomorrows.”
- "The Advocate Messanger" -Danville, KY
By Jeff Moreland
Music flows through her veins, and though she learned to play by ear, Deanna Loveland is now playing for a living.
Loveland has been living in Washington County since she was 12 years old. Her family moved here from Maryland, and when she arrived, she had already caught the music bug, playing the piano and the harp.
“I was five, and I had not had piano lessons, but I would just sit at the piano and start playing by ear when I heard something,” Loveland said. “Normally, teachers want to wait until a kid is about seven to start teaching them, but my parents found a teacher who decided to take me.”
The teacher took some convincing for the piano, but the harp took even more convincing for Loveland’s
parents. “I was about nine, and my parents said let’s hold off. The harp is not the cheapest instrument, and we’ve got a 9-year-old looking at a $4,000 instrument,” she recalled.
Determined to buy a harp, Loveland began to save money, and anything she earned while singing or playing piano at nursing homes and other venues went toward her harp.“When I was 11, I had saved up, and they saw I was serious, so they decided to get it,” she said.
Today, Loveland still plays the piano, and she still plays the harp. Her musical style ranges from Christian to classical, pop, and even some country. She now lives in Nashville, and she’s preparing to launch her
career to a new level. In addition to playing music, she’s also singing and doing some modeling and acting, as well as writing songs.
“Songwriting is kinda what started my career as a musician, and in Nashville, if you’re not a songwriter, you can only go so far,” she said.
When taking the stage, the crowds in front of which she performs have ranged from three people to more than 4,000. She said she sometimes gets nervous, but the more people in attendance, the less nervous
she gets.
“You know, I’m less nervous when it’s a larger crowd. I get more nervous in a smaller group because you can see faces and you wonder what people are thinking,” she said. “But I get an energy from that, and I
get really excited playing in front of a large crowd. I can go all day on that energy.”
Beyond her music career, Loveland has signed with a modeling agency, and she will be appearing in a video promotion with musician James Otto to promote Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) college football.
The taping was featured in Country Weekly Magazine in August, and will be aired on ESPN starting this month.
In addition to the ESPN promotion, she has appeared in other commercials, as well as working with former American Idol winner Ruben Studdard in a video. She said she likes working in various entertainment fields to get experience, and she hopes someday in her career to get the chance to even appear in a movie.
“It’s really cool to get those experiences,” she added.
Loveland said although she is finding success, she continues to focus on goals for her future.
“I’ve always had goals, and I’ve made a career timeline of where I want to be,” she said. “I have a 1-year-plan, a 5-year-plan and more. I’m at a place where I’m just finishing the artist development stage.
I’ve worked with vocal coaching, media coaching, image consulting and more. Now, ending that, I’m going to see record labels at the beginning of next year.”
Loveland said she has wanted to visit record labels before, but instead, has waited until she was fully prepared and ready to do everything at 110 percent.
Over the past week, Loveland has been performing in her home state of Maryland, but she returns to Kentucky this weekend, where she will begin to perform concerts at Mt. Pleasant Church in Harrodsburg
at 11 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 13, and again that evening at 6:30 p.m. at God’s Landmark Community Church in Bryantsville, Ky. On Sunday, Oct. 4, she will perform at 6 p.m. at Junction City Christian Church in Junction City, Ky.
For the latest news on Loveland’s career, as well as a chance to listen to some of her music and see photos and more, visit www.myspace.com/deannaloveland
- The Springfield Sun -Springfield, KY
Discography
"Mindful of Him" CD - original hymn arrangements on the harp - released 2004
"Unto Us" CD - Christmas arrangements on the harp - released 2004
"Moments" CD - popular wedding songs - released 2007
Photos
Bio
By Phil Sweetland
New York Times
music/radio contributor
NASHVILLE – If you were to combine the beauty and musical versatility of Barbara Mandrell with the faith-based focus of Pastor Rick Warren, you’d just begin to get a feel for the magic and the gifting of Christian/Pop artist, Deanna Loveland.
Like Mandrell, Deanna looks like a movie star, sings like an angel, and plays numerous instruments at a virtuoso level. Like Warren, she uses every second of every day to perform God’s work, which in her case is music.
“I have always been very focused…” she says in a conversation in April, 2009. “I’ve known what I wanted to do since I was a kid and have gone for it.”
At age 5, Deanna started playing piano. She studied under Pat Berlen in her native Maryland, and with several hours of practice each day she quickly blossomed. By age 9, Loveland’s natural inquisitiveness led her to begin another very difficult instrument – the harp, and eventually a third, the violin.
She sometimes sings and plays both piano and harp simultaneously on stage, creating a signature sound that is rapidly attracting the attention of music row and fans all across the region.
Several of her compositions have won top honors in National contests including a teen writing competition judged by Simon Cowell where she placed 2nd out of 12,000, and a Song of the Year contest winning Christian Song of the Year. Her favorite tunesmith? “Dolly Parton,” she says, without hesitation. “She’s always been a big inspiration to me. Many of her songs have become timeless classics.”
Small wonder that one her most beloved songs is the ancient Irish classic hymn “Be Thou My Vision,” which Deanna says “goes back to my focus and drive.” She is constantly amazed at how these beloved Christian songs endure over time. “This stuff has been around for centuries. It’s timeless.”
Her journey to Music City wasn’t always easy. She moved from Maryland to Kentucky at the age of 12, which was tough at first. She had just built a small base in Maryland with her music which made it more difficult and a bit discouraging to leave. But after moving Deanna’s mother started arranging live appearances at weddings and churches along with her usual ministry in nursing homes and hospitals and it wasn’t long before Deanna felt right at home in the Bluegrass State. With a rapidly growing fan base at 16 years old Deanna was doing 130 performances each year regionally and had her sights set on traveling internationally.
“I tend to jump ahead of myself like that, playing regionally and thinking, ‘I could be doing this in Italy right now!’” Deanna felt like the next step in that direction for her was to head to Music City (Nashville, TN) after graduation. “My heart was already in Nashville before I got here. When I finally moved, I felt like it was where I was supposed to be” she says. That move came in May 2008.
Even before she got to Music City, Deanna found inspiration in a third place: Mexico, where she twice went on mission trips to some of the most impoverished areas in the Western Hemisphere. “That really affected my songwriting,” she says. “I sang and played violin for people who live in a garbage dump with mattresses for walls. I’m so blessed, I live in music. I want to travel internationally, writing songs and helping people escape for a while from the harsh world they live in.”
In 2008 Deanna hit the ground running in Music City, assembling a powerhouse team of advisers and mentors to guide her through the complicated waters of music and radio. She began her own “artist development” studying with A-list songwriter’s such as Jason Blume, whose songs have sold over 50 million records and working with the famed image coach and casting director Suzzane Skinner, who has over 25 years of experience. For legal and career guidance, she turned to the veteran Music Row entertainment lawyer Philip Lyon and her vocal instructor is Kim Wood Sandusky, whose other clients include Beyonce.
Deanna has expanded her profile by landing parts in commercials, music videos, and films; she sees acting as a growth area for her career moving forward. “I definitely see myself eventually being in a movie as part of being an artist,” she says. “Acting really helped my confidence and my stage presence as well.” Fact is, she’s always been comfortable on stage. “I don’t usually get nervous when performing live, unless it’s a very small, intimate setting. I’m more comfortable with a lot of people” Loveland says. “I’ve always loved the energy of being in front of an audience, and connecting with a bunch of people at once.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, her favorite movie star of all time was the strong, silent type: Gary Cooper, who won Best Actor Oscars playing a reluctant Tennessee hero in Sergeant York (1941) and the soft-spoken sheriff in High Noon (1952). Barbara Mandrell, Pastor Rick Warren, Dolly Parton, and Gary Cooper are all excellent role models. Deanna Loveland com
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