Terra Naomi
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| Terra Naomi | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Terra Naomi | |
| Genre(s) | Rock, Alternative Rock | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Songwriter | |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, Piano | |
| Label(s) | Island Records | |
Terra Naomi is an independent Pop/Rock/Alternative/Indie artist, who rose to fame through a performance of her song, "Say It's Possible", on YouTube, a popular video sharing site. Originally from New York State, but currently based in the United Kingdom, she writes and performs her own songs, and plays the guitar and piano.
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[edit] Biography
Terra Naomi was born in Saratoga Springs, NY and raised on a farm for the first couple of years of her life. The family then moved to Cleveland, OH where they lived for six years before finally settling in Schenectady, NY, the hometown of Naomi's father, a plastic surgeon. Her mother is a social worker. Terra Naomi has two brothers.
[edit] Classical beginnings
Naomi studied classical piano and voice, attending Interlochen Performing Arts Camp in MI and Belvoir Terrace Fine & Performing Arts Camp for girls in Lenox, MA. Teachers convinced her to pursue a degree in opera from The University of Michigan. During this time, Naomi also participated in the Aspen Opera Theater Program.
[edit] Change in direction
Terra Naomi moved to NYC after college and began writing songs. During this time she also started playing guitar. She played at various clubs in Manhattan, including The Bitter End, The Sidewalk Cafe and The Living Room. Following a self-booked tour of the US in 2003 which started in NYC and ended at the Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle, Naomi moved to Los Angeles to work with producer Paul Fox (XTC, 10,000 Maniacs, Sixpence None the Richer, Edwin McCain, Phish, The Sugarcubes).
Terra Naomi has come to prominence in the international YouTube community [1] where she broadcast her own "virtual" summer tour during the summer of 2006. The program included live performances from her apartment in Hollywood and question-answer sessions entitled "Ask a Wanna-be Rockstar." Her song, "Say It's Possible" was featured on YouTube in June 2006, causing an instant explosion of interest. "Say It's Possible," has inspired adoring fans to post over a hundred personal "YouTube covers" in a wide range of styles. This includes versions from countries in South America, North America and Europe. Fans have also translated and performed the song into Spanish, Italian, and Mandarin Chinese and one used a sock puppet.
The video won 2006 YouTube Awards in the Best Music Video category[1].
Naomi undertook national tours in the United States in 2003, 2004, and 2005, which included dates at the Chicago House of Blues, NYC's Irving Plaza, The Trocadero in Philadelphia, The Abbey in Chicago and The Gypsy Tea Room in Dallas and has also performed shows in Canada and the United Kingdom [2]. Shows in the United Kingdom included an appearance at the In The City festival in Manchester [3]. She has also been featured on CNBC in a story on the growing success of online artists. Naomi has also been featured in articles for Reuters, The Los Angeles Times, The LA Weekly, The Washington Post, Salon.com [4], and The Sunday Times (UK) [5].
Naomi's song "Clean" is featured on the soundtrack [6] for the new movie Sherrybaby starring Maggie Gyllenhall. Her songs "Say It's Possible," "Flesh For Bones" and "Go Quietly" will be featured in NBC's new reality show, Junior Year Abroad.
In the fall of 2006, Terra Naomi was signed to a publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group. This was followed in December 2006 by the announcement that she had been also signed to the major record label, Island Records.
In March 2007, she received one of the inaugural YouTube Video Awards in the music video category.[7]
[edit] Discography
The following were independently released. As of November 2006, all releases have been sold out.
- Terra Naomi (CD - 2002) - produced by Terra Naomi and Chris Bertolotti
- Terra Naomi EP (CD - 2004) - produced by Paul Fox
- Live & Free (CD - 2004) - recorded June 23 2004 by John Koch @ Hotel Cafe in Hollywood
- 8-Track (Digital Only - 2005) - produced by Paul Fox
- Virtually (CD - 2006) - produced by Paul Fox
The Virtually CD is a collection of mainly acoustic recordings based on Terra Naomi's Virtual Summer Tour on YouTube. This was specially produced based on popular demand from subscribers and viewers. Several of the recordings were made specifically for this CD and differ considerably from other studio recordings, such as those which may be sampled on her MySpace page.
