Peer Pressure

Halie Loren Speaks on Peer Pressure

Halie Loren, born in Seattle, Washington and moving to Alaska with family soon thereafter, Halie Loren developed a love of and appreciation for music by the time she could talk. She began her musical career at age 10 performing jazz at a fine arts camp located on an island in Southeast Alaska. In part, Loren attributes her ability to cross and mix genres into a cohesive sound to having grown up on that island, somewhat isolated from the rest of the world, where much of her diverse music exposure was garnered through listening to everything the one radio station available (public radio) had to offer and her parent’s vast eclectic music selections. Says Loren, ‘Since I didn’t know what was supposed to be ‘popular’ music at the time, I didn’t establish any musical boundaries. I know now how important a role this played as I was absorbing everything musical I could find.”

Once she moved to the “lower 48”, Loren was quickly discovered by Northwest music communities. By age 14, she had begun to write her own music, with three of her first original songs receiving regional & national awards. The accolades continued to come in through her teenage years as she won multiple songwriting awards in almost every music genre from well-respected sources including Billboard International and the John Lennon Songwriting Competition. By age 15, she had been scouted by a top manager from Nashville, courted by LA music industry people, and flown all over the country (including New York) to perform with well known artists from around the world."

Feeling that she wanted to broaden her musical horizons even more, at 17, Halie moved to Nashville to further pursue songwriting and industry experience. She spent the next 1-1/2 years there exploring Nashville’s extensive musical offerings while collaborating and working with many well-known, Grammy-winning writers and numerous other music industry veterans and performing in New York, Nashville, & Seattle.

She returned to the Northwest and completed her college education while performing extensively, fronting full bands, spicing up trios in intimate club settings, and performing solo with her trusty keyboard as her only companion. All the while, Halie continued writing, recording and collaborating on various projects with other music professionals around the country and in 2006 released, "Full Circle", her first solo release of original material to impressive reviews from industry professionals, music journalists, and fans alike. Her 2008 jazz release, 'They Oughta Write a Song', won ‘Best Vocal Jazz Album’ at the 2009 JPF Music awards, the largest independent music awards in the world, closely followed by an acclaimed live album, ‘Stages’, that proved she’s just as good in live performances as in the studio. In early 2010, she was signed by JVC/Victor Entertainment for distribution throughout Asia, where her albums have repeatedly reached the coveted #1 position on Amazon/Japan and HMV/ Japan and have been charting on both jazz and pop radio.

Loren’s touring expanded beyond the continental US in summer, 2010, including performances in British Columbia, Hawaii, and two fall tours in Japan as a featured headliner at the Ginza Jazz Festival and to launch her newest CD, ‘After Dark’, to critical praise. “She has both an exquisite musical sense and the talent for phrasing that makes a song come alive,” wrote Vivoscene. “Her new album reveals a major star in the wings, soon to take center stage … If this is your introduction to jazz, there can be no better.”

Loren already has a full calendar of performances scheduled across the United States in 2011. Accompanied by pianist/band leader Matt Treder and New York bassist Mary Ann McSweeny, Loren performed 4 shows in New York City in April, and will closely follow with several dates in Los Angeles and a string of Seattle-area club shows and festivals in May, Hawaii and Korea in June and Italy in July.

For more information about Halie Loren go to www.halieloren.com