Skirball

For this singer-songwriter, music was a refuge. Although born in Michigan, her childhood was spent on the move as the daughter of a preacher, living between Zimbabwe, South Africa and Australia, before her parents finally settled in Portland, Oregon. When she was in her early teens, Diane absorbed a unique and cosmopolitan perspective on life that shines through her music and makes a simple categorization of it impossible.

The result? The sounds of an old favorite, with all the sparkle and magic of a breakthrough talent. People Magazine says she sounds like a combination of early Carole King, Linda Ronstadt and Stevie Nicks, with a little Joss Stone and Cat Power mixed in. She mixes piano-playing virtuosity with easy-going soul, and can strike an uplifting groove on even the most melancholy tune. Though only in her mid-twenties, Birch likes to think of herself as an "old soul" and indeed there is a startling maturity in her singing and a veteran's self-assurance in her writing.

Hear What's Next in music when this sizzling young soul singer takes our stage.

Biography

Released in May of 2009, Diane Birch's debut album Bible Belt is the synthesis of her life experiences. This remarkable album was recorded in New York City and New Orleans with a formidable team of Grammy-winning producers: S-Curve Records founder Steve Greenberg, soul legend Betty Wright and Mike Mangini. Among the players accompanying Birch are guitarist Lenny Kaye of The Patti Smith Group, bassists Adam Blackstone from The Roots and George Porter of The Meters, acclaimed drummers Stanton Moore of Galactic and Cindy Blackman of Lenny Kravitz fame, saxophonist-about-town Lenny Pickett, and trombonist Tom "Bones" Malone, along with veteran singer Eugene Pitt, lead vocalist of fabled Brooklyn vocal group, the Jive Five.

Birch was already a world traveler by the time she reached her teen years, having traveled to Africa and Australia before returning home to the States. Compared to the average American teenager, Birch was truly exotic, both in terms of where she had resided and in how she had lived – within the confines of a strict religious community that had little interaction with its secular neighbors. She had to be resilient and adaptable, which at times meant seeking refuge in a rich fantasy life. Until she arrived in the States, she'd had scant exposure to the radio or television and little knowledge of popular culture; she'd only listened to classical music, opera and, of course, church hymns.

Birch initially cycled through a serious Goth phase, perfect for an "old soul" trying to define itself. She embraced Goth both musically and sartorially, as musical inspiration and teenage rebellion. Her musical education didn't stop there, though. She fell for songs from the twenties, jazz, the Beatles, psychedelic music, and Fleetwood Mac.

Since she was seven, Birch had been studying piano via the learn-by-ear Suzuki Method and had cultivated the ability to replicate a melody upon hearing it. As she explains, "Ever since I was a kid, I have been incredibly fortunate in that I could hear something and then just play it."

When she was old enough to live on her own, Birch moved to L.A., with the notion of becoming a film composer. To make ends meet, she quickly learned a standards repertoire and pursued work as pianist-for-hire, eventually landing regular gigs at the Beverly Hills Hotel and L'Orangerie. Prince once saw her play and invited her out to jam with him and his band at his home – an invitation she duly accepted. Up until this point, Birch had always seen herself as a pianist and hadn't tried to sing until a friend cajoled her into taking a class. In order to have something to perform there, Birch wrote an original song, which her new classmates immediately loved. So she wrote another for the next class, then another after that; thus she became a genuine singer-songwriter. A manager took notice of her songs on MySpace, which led to regular gigs and a major publishing deal in London, and ultimately to her signing with S Curve Records in New York, where she currently resides.

As for the album title, "The idea of Bible Belt has a layered kind of meaning for me," explains Diane. "Because my dad was a preacher, the very religious upbringing I had made a huge impact on my life, in a very restraining and constricting way. I'm constantly talking about heaven, angels, and forgiveness. I'm hugely inspired by church hymns -- their chord structures, their colors. It was a form of constraint for me as a child but now I see that it has fueled my creative fire."

Over the course of Bible Belt's thirteen songs Diane Birch has served up her own portrait of American music in all its breadth and majesty, touching down on Beale Street, Bourbon Street, Tin Pan Alley, Laurel Canyon, South Philly, Brooklyn street corners and many points in between. Hers is a tour-de-force debut album.

Photos by Melodie McDaniel