Heather Greene

Heather Greene - Five Dollar Dress - 2006 - Wildflower Records

Heather’s slow and steady rise amongst the ranks of New York musicians is now gathering momentum like the slow and steady burn of the sun towards noon. With a bittersweet collection of original material that slowly envelopes the listener into her slo-mo world of layered soundscapes, she has charmed enough of her hometown over the past two years to sell out high-profile clubs in New York City such as Joe’s Pub, Tonic, Southpaw and the Living Room. Her tunes slowly slip into your consciousness, leaving you to feel like you’ve just driven down a lonely highway with a lover you’ve just met but never imagined you’d end up sleeping with night after night. WNYC proclaimed her “New York’s Best Kept Secret” and publications like Time Out New York, The New York Post, and The Village Voice all praise her music and continually recommend her performances to those wishing to hear live music. Rolling Stone France just gave her CD three stars and radio DJs at top stations are gently waking up to her lush compositions © http://www.bhm-music.de/bhm/en/artists.php?upc=090204899883&PHPSESSID=5022a73c588ca1b41bb57533408e9805&s_name=21&PHPSESSID=5022a73c588ca1b41bb57533408e9805

At once sexy and innocent, romantic yet a tiny bit sarcastic, bold yet dreamy, Heather’s songs contain a duality of opposites that capture moments in time otherwise lost by busy lives and hurried heads. “I want this music, like my own career, to grow and last.” Guitars, strings, upright Bass, drums and, other sounds are layered upon her piano-driven compositions by incredible colleagues like Bill Frisell and the Tosca String Quartet. Each musical part uncovers mini-stories unto themselves, revealed after many listenings. Her intimate cover of the Cars “Just What I Needed” indicates a sense of play and sexiness, and has prompted at least two reporters to call her “daring.” Like so many musicians who are coming out of the New York City scene, Heather’s songs teeter on a mix of Jazz, pop, folk and even a bit of country. © http://www.bhm-music.de/bhm/en/artists.php?upc=090204899883&PHPSESSID=5022a73c588ca1b41bb57533408e9805&s_name=21&PHPSESSID=5022a73c588ca1b41bb57533408e9805

An album that grows on you after a few listens. An attractive, intelligent and subtle blend of jazz, pop, country, electronica and folk. Buy Heather's "Sweet Otherwise" album

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. Just What I Needed - Ric Ocasek
2. Not Exactly - Heather Greene
3. I Wrote Your Name - Heather Greene
4. Hold Me Down - Heather Greene, Tony Salvatore
5. When You Drive - Heather Greene, Tony Salvatore
6. Daybreak - Heather Greene
7. 1000 Lights - Heather Greene
8. Saving Goodbye - Heather Greene
9. I Wanna Thank You - Heather Greene
10. Looking Glass - Heather Greene
11. Five Dollar Dress - Heather Greene

MUSICIANS

Heather Greene - Piano, Wurlitzer, Vocals
Bill Frisell, Tony Salvatore - Guitar
Jon Hyde - Pedal Steel Guitar
Keith Lowe - Bass
Ron Weinstein - Hammond B3
Eric Eagle - Drums
Tucker Martine - Percussion
Steve Moore - Celeste, Vibes, Pump Organ
Tosca String Quartet - Viola, Cello, Violin, Woodwind
Eyvand Kang - Viola

BIO

As one of the world’s only female Scotch whisky experts, Heather Greene has quite an intriguing life. Heather was already building her career as a singer/songwriter of international acclaim when she discovered her passion for what has since become her “day job”. After selling out venues in New York, Paris, London and Berlin with her beautiful and thoughtful record “Five Dollar Dress,” which she recorded with critically acclaimed guitarist Bill Frisell and for which she received a rave reviews in media outlets such Rolling Stone and the BBC, Heather moved to Scotland in 2006 for some space and quiet. It was there, during a break from the quickly changing music industry that Heather discovered a zeal for whisky. Noticing the similarities between these two forms of craftsmanship and the passions of those who create both whisky and music, she threw herself into the world of Scotch, and her voyage of discovery led her to the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in Edinburgh, where, as the first American woman to be invited to serve on the tasting panel. Heather has since joined William Grant and Sons as a Whisky Ambassador and Scotch specialist for Glenfiddich, the worlds most awarded and top-selling Single Malt Scotch. It was also while Heather was in Scotland crafting her second album, Sweet Otherwise, that an elderly man offered her a century-old piano – a relic that has became a constant companion and inspiration. Recorded when she returned to New York in 2008, Sweet Otherwise evokes lush, pastoral landscapes as potently as it captures the urban pulse of a vibrant city, weaving a kaleidoscopic array of musical elements – from classic 1960s-era folk to twangy country to textural electronica to upbeat, hooky 80s pop – into a distinctive sound. All Music Guide wrote that it was one of the “best records of 2009″ and NBC New York wrote that her music is a blend of “Dido, Elliot Smith and Massive Attack.” Drummer and longtime musical companion Mino Gori appears on several tracks. Guitarists Bernie Reilly and Brad Craig and keyboardist and producer Dennis Martin, also make cameos. Heather is equally comfortable in the worlds of whisky and music and often combines the two. From working on her new album, to performing in front of rooms filled with Scotch enthusiasts or music lovers, she has broken the mold by demonstrating these crafts to audiences around the world in a passionate, serious and thoughtful way. Heather was raised in both Detroit and rural Massachusetts. She moved to New York after college where she got her start singing jazz standards in clubs throughout the city. But she soon fell in with an experimental musical crowd that inspired her to write her own work. Her debut album, Five Dollar Dress, an ambitious exercise in country-kissed chamber pop, was released in 2005. Each of its elaborately crafted songs reveals hard-edged street smarts, an undercurrent of emotional vulnerability and a winking sense of irony, from the album’s only cover, a sultry rendition of the Cars’ “Just What I Needed” to the rootsy, rambling, Gothic-spiked “Not Exactly.” The album placed her firmly within the New York art music scene. It featured guitarist Bill Frisell, Steven Barber and the Tosca String Quartet and it was produced by Tucker Martine. Heather wrote most of the album while working at Tonic, the now shuttered downtown club that was a stomping ground for the creative music linchpins, like Laurie Anderson, Cecil Taylor, Yoko Ono and Bjork. As a bartender there for several years , she spent her night shifts hobnobbing with industry insiders and the daytime composing songs on the club’s piano. It was at Tonic that she formed the network that connected her with the distinguished musicians who would record with her on “Five Dollar Dress.” Heather’s songs are the product of an artist who’s well-traveled and has a profound understanding of people’s relationships with home, both as a comfort zone and a space that can alienate. Her musings on how people relate to others – and themselves – take shape in her lyrics, and she makes even deeply felt intangibles of the heart sound at once beguiling and refreshing. Heather is also co-producer, writer and singer, for a new Electronic Synth Pop project called “Argon40″ which released 4 double-A singles this year in the UK. The catchy electronic pop duo is well on its way to success – within two months of a growing online buzz, Tom Robbinsons , tastemaker on BBC6 called her single “When the Words Don’t Come” one of the best singles of 2009. Zinc magazine compared the project to MGMT meets Goldfrapp. There are plans to bring Argon 40 to the USA in 2010. © http://heathergreene.com/?page_id=2