Heather Pierson
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Heather Christie Pierson (born in Joplin, Missouri in the 1970s) is a composer, songwriter, pianist, instrumentalist and vocalist living in the Mount Washington Valley of Western Maine. She is the owner of new age record label Vessel Recordings [1], which has released four of Pierson's CDs to date.
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[edit] Early years
After moving with her parents at age 5, Pierson grew up in Hebron, Maine, and began her piano studies at age 6 with Helen Davidson. At age 12, she began playing acoustic guitar, under her father's direction. At age 14, Pierson began playing bass guitar, and at this time formed a rock band called Garajh Mahal; a few months after their formation, Pierson began to play keyboards in the group. This group gained some local notoriety for their unusual and intricate arrangements, and released two cassettes of their original material: Isn't the Same and Newton's Wrench under their own label, Geodesic Publishing.
At age 16, Pierson was asked to join country-rock group North Atlantic Band as a keyboardist and vocalist, and began touring the bottle club circuit of northern New England. In 1994, North Atlantic Band won the Downeast Country Music Association's award for "Best Modern Country" group; that same year, Pierson won the award for "Instrumentalist of the Year" for her rendition of Floyd Cramer's Last Date.
During the mid-90s, Pierson was also a member of a capella women's trio Lightsisters.
After North Atlantic Band disbanded in 1996, Pierson played in a trio called Soup Sandwich, performing folk rock, country and blues throughout northern New England.
In 1999, Pierson joined world-music ensemble Shambhala, incorporating her talents with keyboard, vocals, world percussion, Native American flute and acoustic guitar. In this same year, Pierson began working with singer/songwriter Kristen Short.
[edit] Solo career
In 1996, Pierson released her first solo work, a cassette, entitled Wrestling Angels.
In June 1998, Pierson formed her record label Vessel Recordings, which saw the release of her debut CD, Onward & Upward, a collection of all-original instrumental piano works, dedicated to the memory of her late father.
She released her sophomore Vessel album, Honor The Light, in July 2000 on which Pierson employed only her voice in a collection of a capella songs and chants.
Vessel Recordings released a third CD in June of 2001, We All Have A Song, an album heavily influenced by Native American- and African-style percussion-driven vocal chants. During this time, Pierson was the director of The Circle Voice Singers, an a capella vocal group which performed many of her original songs.
March 2003 saw the release of Vessel Recordings' first collaborative effort, Between Lives, featuring Pierson and world percussionist Alfred Lund.
Currently, Pierson is the pianist for the White Mountain Hotel in North Conway, New Hampshire. She is also the music director for the First Universalist Church of Norway, Maine.
[edit] Trivia
Pierson has made appearances with other notable musicians in her career: in 2000, with rock superstar Meatloaf during his VH1 Storytellers Tour; in 2005, with folk legend Jonathan Edwards; in 2006, with Koch Records artist Maia Sharp.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Garajh Mahal
1992 - Isn't The Same
1994 - Newton's Wrench
[edit] Solo albums
1996 - Wrestling Angels
1998 - Onward & Upward
2000 - Honor The Light
2001 - We All Have A Song
2003 - Between Lives
