Music
Press
http://www.mirror.co.uk/showbiz/yourlife/tm_headline=cancer-victims--anthem-of-hope&method=full&objectid=19289017&siteid=89520-name_page.ht - The Mirror (UK national paper)
To Read the Feature on-line:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/news/tm_headline=music-is-the-best-therapy&method=full&objectid=19282081&siteid=66633-name_page.html - The Daily Record (Scottish National)
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=66390819&blogID=277624320 - The Sunday Herald
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=66390819&blogID=277624320 - various national newspapers
(Indiana Gregg Official Website) - Indiana Gregg is something of a new sensation, a singer that manages to merge pop, soul and rock with side order of gospel and a dessert of infectious hooks. She originally made her name appearing on the recent Kool And The Gang album 'The Hit's Reloaded' after they discovered her gigging in the South Of France. She's a trilingual songwriter born in the US but raised in Europe; she first developed for music at the age of four when she took up the piano, since then she's accumulated more than 350 songs. She has already managed to win the Billboard Songwriting contest on no less than three times and a US National Dance championship.
On Something Like Me Indiana has joined forces with acclaimed songwriter/producer Ian Morrow (Wet Wet Wet, Seal, etc) as well as penning a number of her own songs and collaborating with a number of other acclaimed writers and musicians. But though she collaborated with a number of different people Something Like Me is all Indiana Gregg, she had the final say on everything on here.
The opening title track set's out the stall for Indiana a combination of piano, electronic beats, guitars and Indiana's gorgeous voice create an intoxicating soulful number full of poppy hooks and a huge contagious chorus. Love Is Blind begins with a simple piano refrain that's soon joined by subtle guitar, strings and an electronic rhythmic patter creating a gorgeous soulful and passionate number that grows into a sensational orchestral assisted chorus. How Many Tears opens with near acapella vocals that are joined by some sparse piano and guitar before a full orchestra joins the mix on the wonderfully heartfelt chorus, as the slow burning number moves onwards the gospel influence bubbles to the surface as Indiana's beautiful croon is ably backed by a sensational choir.
Groovy Kinda Wonderful is an upbeat guitar driven number complete with loads of nice vocal harmonies and a memorable sing a long chorus that's simply perfect for daytime radio. Lyric wise the album covers to pics that everyone can identify with such as love, loss and self discovery, take Coming Around Again for example, it basically offers up the simple advice of taking your chances when you get the opportunity, otherwise you may regret what you may have missed, now sure there's nothing new about that but Indiana delivers with such passion and conviction that you can't help but be moved even when she wraps the song up in a blanket of pop sensibilities.
Everything that Indiana offers on this album is distributed with such emotion that you can't help but be caught up in the moment. Something Like Me is a stunning release from start to finish, Indiana Gregg is destined to become a star so beat the rush and check her out now. (January 2007 release of "Sweet Things to come)
- top40-charts.com
Indiana Gregg Something Like Me
Every now and again we get an unexpected gem of an album dropping onto the LFM doormat, and thats exactly whay Indiana Gregg's debut album Something Like Me turnd out to be when we fired it up.
Its right up there with Dido's Life for Rent and Natalie Imbriglia's Left of the Middle as killer female artist must have albums.
Kicking off with the title track Something Like Me, the bar is set for the album, quality heartfelt pop tunes that flow smoothly to fill the room. Mixed by Paul Wright, producer of artists including George Michael and Seal, Wright simply sums up the album as "among the top three out of hundreds I've mixed".
If you like Dido and Natalie Imbruglia, you'll love Indiana Gregg, if not, you probably will anyway.
Indiana Gregg's debut album Something Like Me is out January 2007 on gr8pop ltd label. - http://www.liveformusic.co.uk/content/1986.asp
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/lo/features/7022270.html - Evening Times
http://www.garageradio.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1410 - Mi2n/Garage Radio magazine
Interview with Indiana Gregg
London, England: I'm meeting today with Indiana Gregg. VH1 voted Gregg's song, "Oh Me Oh My" number one last year. After years of hard work, Indiana's music is receiving international recognition from critics and fans. She's finally making the move to branch out into the U.S. market with her new cd. This is not your ordinary singer-songwriter. After reading this article you'll have a deeper appreciation Indiana and her music.
As she walks into the cafe for our meeting she's wearing a very trendy outfit, a fire-engine red dress, white go-go boots with her long blonde hair falling past her shoulders. She's lightly tanned and looks well rested.
KD: Bring us up to date as to where you've been!
IG: I lived in France in the Cote d'azur for nearly 13 years. We had an apartment there and at the beginning, we used it as a base. I traveled throughout Europe living in Finland, Germany, France, United Kingdom and brief stays in Switzerland and Austria.
In France, I played in a Jazz trio, a rock band, a progressive rock project and a couple of jazz/funk/soul groups. This last trip to France was to meet with some people surrounding the Film Festival and touch base with old friends. I've been living between the South of France and Glasgow,Scotland for the past few years.
KD: When you perform, are people just people, or are there differences between each country...
IG: Each country has it's national identity and language. However, I believe that there are two "universal" languages. music and love. So, in this sense, I don't see a huge difference between people all over the world. As a performer, you have the objective to "give" to your audience. In my case, we tend to get the audience involved in the show from the first second we take the stage. This is important to me because it creates an exchange between me, the performer, and the audience. This breaks any cultural or language barrier, as soon as you have people singing your songs, clapping and screaming out the answer to your questions, they become part of the show. There are surely differences from country to country, especially in the use of colloquial language. For example, a lot of French sayings use "food'metaphoricaly. For example, to say "It's none of your business" as one would say in the UK or USA, the French say "These are not your onions.." Ironically, the Germans say "This is not your beer".. Does that tell you something about Anglophones and "business"?
KD: I love your song and video for, "Sweet Things". How did this song and video come about?
IG: We were trying to put together the theme for the Sweet Things video and asked various directors to do a treatment for the song. Many of them came up with food for the "Sweet Things" theme. Somehow, this just didn't seem to do the trick.. So, one evening, I asked one of the guys to get me 1000 apples and I decided to go through the streets of Glasgow giving people apples and randomly involving people in the streets to be in the video. We were able to get a lot of spontaneous shots and it was a lot of fun. Really, "Sweet Things" is about enjoying the little things in life and not taking life too seriously. It's especially a reminder to look at all the "Sweet Things" in life. Sometimes I think that happiness is built from achieving a simple light-heartedness about life and taking a bit of time to smile. I must say, it was a laugh going through the streets of Glasgow with a shopping cart full of apples... I'm sure people thought "what a nutter", at least until they caught eye of the camera crew!
KD: I'm surprised this song wasn't nominated for VHI!
IG: I think it did get an honorable mention. It was nominated for Brit Trust Songwriting awards and has had honorable awards from Billboard Songwriting. I certainly think it's a fun song with a fun visual and really, that's what we want. As a performer and songwriter, we're not out to change the world and we're not even expecting everyone to love what we do, we're simply voicing our emotions and feelings. Really, on this path I've been traveling, at the end of the day, we just want to bring a smile, a good memory and as much love into it as we can. That's my personal objective. Whether or not a song is judged or awarded isn't what matters to me. It's an honor of course, but, really what we want to do is be heard and give people something to enjoy. "Oh Me Oh My" won an award with VH-1, and that was a great surprise.
KD: You grew up in the US and Europe and now reside in Europe?
IG: Yes. I've been in Europe for all of my adult life.
KD: I hear you are multi-lingual! What languages?
IG: I speak English, French and German.
KD: How does knowing different languages help in your songwriting?
IG: I don't think that knowing different languages helps or hinders song-writing other than I can co-write in other languages which is a great benefit. However, I do think th - Songwriter Pro
INDIANA GREGG: LIVE REVIEW
The cover of Indiana Gregg's debut album "Something like me" could misleadingly remind you of just another pretty face waiting to happen. However, striking as it is, it was certainly enough to make me look and listen. Pandora's box once opened, I'll have to admit, I was quickly sucked into her charms. By the time I got to the third track "Love is blind", I had fallen for her. The album begins with the title track "Something like me" which has an ironic twist in meaning just after the second chorus which reveals the depth and maturity Miss Gregg has to offer. The single, "Sweet Things" is a snap shot of pop with a good hook and some morality "The Sweet things... how come we don't see them all the time". "Kid Soldier" gives insight into the deep feelings of children who suffer from broken relationships. Her voice is so alluring and at times so sensitive and delicate, it seems as though she's in the room next to you especially on "For Life" and "How Many Tears" (the two tracks destined to be "classics.") The overall production is minted with brilliant sound. Then, there's the live side of Indiana Gregg. In today's music industry, many times a live performance is a let down. We almost expect the artist to not be able to "really sing"; however, Indiana Gregg was a very pleasant surprise. Not only can she deliver with charm, lure you into her little world and make you forget your a man, she can sing in tune and in time with a showering of blessed emotion that gives shivers. With a four piece stings section, acoustic guitar, electric piano accompanying her, it was an acoustic showcase made in heaven. The venu, Glasgow's trendy yet traditional Corinthian, was nearly as classy as Ms. Gregg. Indiana's ability to share her heart wrenching experiences, wind you around her finger and make you leave feeling uplifted and carefree is enough to launch this little star into the never-land of pop legends. - GOOGLE GROUPS: MUSIC WEEK
Discography
2004 Feature Artist "Kool & the Gang" The Hits Reloaded "Tonight" feat. Indiana Gregg,
debut Album "Woman At Work" 2007 single "Sweet Things" United Kingdom: June 2007
UK single "One of Us" November 2007
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Indiana Gregg is a Billboard and VH-1 Save the Music award winning songwriter. Songs from the 2007 release of her album "Woman At Work" have won critical aclaim in the Brit Trust "UK Songwriting competition" where "Sweet Things" and "For Life" achieved finalist awards. Indiana Gregg is a vocalist born in the United States, living in Glasgow, Scotland. Her music blends pop, soul and elements of folk into one mainstream sound. Currently, a single titled "One of US"[1] from the album is due for release November 5th, 2007 in the United Kingdom. The single "Sweet Things" is being released in Scandanavia and is on National Radio in Sweden at the moment (release date November 12th) The single is currently receiving airply on a number of regional stations in the United Kingdom and Scandanavia.
Early Years
As a child, Indiana's mother taught dance and her father worked in the aluminium industry. Her musical introductions stemmed from a rather rigid religious upbringing, because of this there are obvious gospel influences in her music today. Indiana suffered from a strong speech impediment in her youth. She underwent years of speech therapy where her therapist would ask her to write poems at home for her to practice singing to help overcome this condition. This is where her love of songwriting began and developed. Between the ages of 12-16, she wrote and recorded hundreds of songs on a Panasonic tape-deck with a friend. The Sunday Herald quotes Indiana saying, "I was five when I wrote my first song, about my cat, Herbert, who was hit by a train"(June 17th, 2007[2]
At university, Indiana studied music and physiotherapy. In 1991, she won an all-American title and NDA dance championship in Dallas, Texas.
Career Stages
The roots and beginings of Indiana's professional career began in 1994 when she moved to southern France and lived for 12 years (amongst other countries such as Germany, France, Finland and England). During her time in France, she worked in various bands exploring progressive rock, jazz, and dance music. She recorded several studio demos at Marilyn Studios, Cagnes-sur-Mer over a period of three years which eventually led to an artist development deal with a label based in southern France in 1999. However, no attempts to exploit her work to the public were ever made during this period. Subsequently, she recorded a series of demos on her own which ultimately landed her a record deal in 2002 with a UK based record label.
The deal led to the songwriter's deeper retreat into her music exploring jazz and soul music and penning a number of songs. In 2003, she joined a progressive rock band and the musical influences turned to a more aggressive tone mixed with both alternative and gospel influences. In 2004, she was invited to appear on the track "Tonight" from Kool and the Gang's album, "The Hits Reloaded." In 2005, she signed a deal with Gr8pop; a Scottish-based independent label. Ingenious VCT and Scottish Enterprise supported the project alongside Gr8pop investors. Her debut album, Woman at Work, was released to the UK in April 2007. The diversity of her music has been explained as an artistic well or "stew" . "It's like a stew that has been cooking for a long while: well blended and tasty. Ms. Gregg has achieved a rare feat in the world of music outside of jazz: she has created something organic. And it didn't happen overnight."-Music Dish Network:
Tours and "Home Concerts"
Indiana has received a host of media attention in early summer of 2007 surrounding her "home concert" competitions where fans entered from all over the world to win a chance at having her play in their home for their friends. Various news aritcles in the Evening Times, Daily Record, Daily Mirror and a multitude of regional newspapers in the UK have taken wide-spread interest in these events over the past months. Videos of her home gigs were viralled via 'word-of'mouth' out to millions of internet users world-wide via Youtube, Myspace, MSN and various other websites with a message about the free competition details. In April 2007, a video was viralled out primarily via myspace asking people to forward the video onward. Winners for the series were announced on Myspace and subsequently, UKgigs TV began filming the new series in May 2007 which drew even more attention to the project since the videos of the home gigs were streamed on the front pages of Bebo and over the UK gigs and theatre networks.
The Home concerts first appeared in the press when the Express (September 10, 2005) wrote about a surprise concert she performed for a fan's fiancee at their home in 2005 after he saw her live in Exeter supporting Wet Wet Wet (Romesey Advertiser September 10, 2005). Indiana Gregg announced home concerts in the fall of 2005 which took place primarily in October. In December 2005, she embarked on Starbucks coffee house tour in every major UK city playing intimate acoustic sets in the coffee houses throughout 2006 whilst recordi
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