Halie Loren
Encyclopedia
Halie Loren is an American singer and songwriter
. Her 2008 CD They Oughta Write a Song won the 2009 Just Plain Folks award for Best Vocal Jazz Album and subsequently received international distribution and acclaim.
, where she made her performing debut at the age of 10 at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp
. At 13 she moved with her family to Oregon
.
She won songwriting awards in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest
and Billboard World Song Contest, and also won the Female Rising Star and Alternative Entertainer awards while still in her teens. In 2000, Halie earned first place in the Austin Songwriters' Contest for three of her songs in the Country, Singer/Songwriter, and Jazz categories. At 17, Halie moved to Nashville
to further pursue songwriting and industry experience. She spent the next year and a half there writing, recording, and performing before returning to the Northwest to continue her education.
In 2005 and 2006, she won consecutive first place honors in the Pacific Songwriting Competition, first in the Country category for "What We're Fighting For," and the following year for "A Tree Falls" in the Spiritual/Inspirational category.
In 2008 she concurrently recorded and independently released two albums, They Oughta Write a Song and Many Times, Many Ways: A Holiday Collection. The former featured three original songs by Halie as well as ten other jazz and popular standards. Critical reception was generally positive. "They Oughta Write A Song hits all the right notes from start to finish," reported Wildy's World. "... Loren's silky alto slides through the songs here like a hot knife through butter." DailyOM found her "reminiscent of a Columbia-era Frank Sinatra, both in her beyond-her-years maturity, (seemingly) effortless musical charm, and sense of lived-in story telling." "With her bell-clear voice, careful but natural diction and a subtle sexiness in her delivery, she offers a new — and perhaps less drug-hazed — take on Procol Harem's "A Whiter Shade of Pale
," wrote Serena Markstrom in The Register-Guard
. A video of her live performance of the song has been viewed more than 17,000 times on YouTube
as of December 2011.
Many Times, Many Ways featured nine seasonal classics along with two original compositions by pianist/arranger Matt Treder
.
Stages, her first live CD, was recorded in 2009 at two concerts on the Oregon Coast
and released in March 2010. CD Baby
selected it as an Editor's Pick in October 2010, writing that "Her respect for the past is undeniable, while her finger on the pulse of modern music gives her songs a wide appeal that reaches far beyond jazz clubs." Wildy's World included Stages in its top 60 albums of 2010, calling it the "best live album of the year."
Her recordings are distributed by Burnside Distribution Corporation in the U.S. In Japan
and surrounding Asian markets, her recordings are licensed and distributed by JVC/Victor Entertainment
, which released a deluxe edition of They Oughta Write a Song featuring four bonus live tracks from Stages to the Japanese market in May 2010. More than 20,000 Loren CDs on the JVC/Victor label had been sold in Japan as of December 2010.
Halie's most recent album, After Dark, debuted in Japan on October 22, 2010, coinciding with the 6th annual Ginza Jazz Festival, at which she was a featured performer. It was released nationwide in the U.S. on Nov. 16, 2010, and was immediately selected as a Wildy’s World Certified Desert Island Disc: "With a masterful voice that’s part Etta James and part Sarah McLachlan, a subtle touch that allows her to blend vulnerability and sensuality unlike any other artist currently in jazz or pop music, and a talent for phrasing that’s uncanny, Halie Loren is the complete package. ... [T]here will be little doubt to those in the know that After Dark is one of the finest vocal jazz albums of 2010." Wildy's World also selected After Dark as one of its top three indie albums of the year, and Halie herself as Artist of the Year for 2010.
"Whether somber or seductive, sedated or energetic, Loren’s varied — and in all ways successful — efforts make you stop and take notice," wrote reviewer Brian Palmer for Stereo Subversion, giving the album 8.5 out of 10 points. "After Dark is a shimmering record for those who love female singers who can bring the playfulness, pizazz, vulnerability and sensuality to the songs they perform." Another reviewer praised her "strong but vulnerable, feminine but forceful, playful but serious[,] and sexy but reserved voice." In a review of the album, Vivoscene called her "one of the finest young jazz singers of her generation," noting that "[s]he has both an exquisite musical sense and the talent for phrasing that makes a song come alive."
Many Times, Many Ways: A Holiday Collection was re-released by JVC/Victor in Japan with a slightly reworded title — Many Times, Many Ways: A Christmas Collection — in November 2010.
"Thirsty", one of two Loren originals on After Dark, was nominated in January 2011 for the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards in the Best Jazz Song category, and in July 2011 won the listener-determined IMA Vox Pop poll for best jazz song.
In July 2011, "Sisters Song" from Full Circle was chosen by the nonprofit Until There's A Cure Foundation for their "Save Our Sisters" campaign dedicated to women affected by HIV/AIDS worldwide.
Her international touring schedule in 2011 included stops in Canada, Japan, South Korea, and Sicily, Italy.
Loren's forthcoming CD, Heart First, will be released in Japan December 14, 2011, with a U.S. release to follow in early 2012. As of Dec. 1, 2011, it is the No. 1 pre-ordered vocal jazz album from HMV Japan.
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
. Her 2008 CD They Oughta Write a Song won the 2009 Just Plain Folks award for Best Vocal Jazz Album and subsequently received international distribution and acclaim.
Early years
Much of her early life was spent in AlaskaAlaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, where she made her performing debut at the age of 10 at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp
Sitka Fine Arts Camp
Sitka Fine Arts Camp is a nationally recognized fine arts summer camp located in Sitka, Alaska.-History:Founded in 1973, Sitka Fine Arts Camp is a multi-disciplinary arts camp featuring the dramatic arts, music, literary arts, visual arts , and dance...
. At 13 she moved with her family to Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
.
She won songwriting awards in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest
John Lennon Songwriting Contest
The John Lennon Songwriting Contest, named for the former member of The Beatles, is a songwriting competition for songwriters, open to amateurs and professionals. The contest accepts instrumental pieces as well as songs with a vocal component. Though all entries must include a CD, cassette, or...
and Billboard World Song Contest, and also won the Female Rising Star and Alternative Entertainer awards while still in her teens. In 2000, Halie earned first place in the Austin Songwriters' Contest for three of her songs in the Country, Singer/Songwriter, and Jazz categories. At 17, Halie moved to Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
to further pursue songwriting and industry experience. She spent the next year and a half there writing, recording, and performing before returning to the Northwest to continue her education.
In 2005 and 2006, she won consecutive first place honors in the Pacific Songwriting Competition, first in the Country category for "What We're Fighting For," and the following year for "A Tree Falls" in the Spiritual/Inspirational category.
Career
Her first solo album, Full Circle, was released in summer 2006, featuring Halie's original songs on all but one track. Uniquely, the album features her piano playing as well as vocals throughout. The album's co-producer, James M. House of Squank Entertainment, also played much of the guitar and bass on the album.In 2008 she concurrently recorded and independently released two albums, They Oughta Write a Song and Many Times, Many Ways: A Holiday Collection. The former featured three original songs by Halie as well as ten other jazz and popular standards. Critical reception was generally positive. "They Oughta Write A Song hits all the right notes from start to finish," reported Wildy's World. "... Loren's silky alto slides through the songs here like a hot knife through butter." DailyOM found her "reminiscent of a Columbia-era Frank Sinatra, both in her beyond-her-years maturity, (seemingly) effortless musical charm, and sense of lived-in story telling." "With her bell-clear voice, careful but natural diction and a subtle sexiness in her delivery, she offers a new — and perhaps less drug-hazed — take on Procol Harem's "A Whiter Shade of Pale
A Whiter Shade of Pale
"A Whiter Shade of Pale" is the debut song by the British band Procol Harum, released 12 May 1967. The single reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 8 June 1967, and stayed there for six weeks. Without much promotion, it reached #5 on the US charts, as well...
," wrote Serena Markstrom in The Register-Guard
The Register-Guard
The Register-Guard is a daily newspaper published in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It was formed in a 1930 merger of two Eugene papers, the Eugene Daily Guard and the Morning Register. The paper serves the Eugene-Springfield area, as well as the Oregon Coast, Umpqua River Valley, and surrounding...
. A video of her live performance of the song has been viewed more than 17,000 times on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
as of December 2011.
Many Times, Many Ways featured nine seasonal classics along with two original compositions by pianist/arranger Matt Treder
Matt Treder
Matt Treder is a pianist, arranger and composer based in Eugene, Oregon, best known for his work with vocalist Halie Loren, with whom he has performed on, arranged, and co-produced four albums, including the 2009 Just Plain Folks winner for Best Vocal Jazz Album, They Oughta Write a Song.. He is on...
.
Stages, her first live CD, was recorded in 2009 at two concerts on the Oregon Coast
Oregon Coast
The Oregon Coast is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It runs generally north-south along the Pacific Ocean, forming the western border of the state; the region is bounded to the east by the Oregon Coast Range. The Oregon Coast stretches approximately from the Columbia River in the north to...
and released in March 2010. CD Baby
CD Baby
CD Baby is an online music store specializing in the sale of CDs and digital music downloads from independent musicians to consumers. The company is also a digital aggregator of independent music recordings, distributing content to several online digital music retailers.CD Baby has achieved recent...
selected it as an Editor's Pick in October 2010, writing that "Her respect for the past is undeniable, while her finger on the pulse of modern music gives her songs a wide appeal that reaches far beyond jazz clubs." Wildy's World included Stages in its top 60 albums of 2010, calling it the "best live album of the year."
Her recordings are distributed by Burnside Distribution Corporation in the U.S. In Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and surrounding Asian markets, her recordings are licensed and distributed by JVC/Victor Entertainment
Victor Entertainment
is a subsidiary of Japan Victor Company that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It was formerly known as...
, which released a deluxe edition of They Oughta Write a Song featuring four bonus live tracks from Stages to the Japanese market in May 2010. More than 20,000 Loren CDs on the JVC/Victor label had been sold in Japan as of December 2010.
Halie's most recent album, After Dark, debuted in Japan on October 22, 2010, coinciding with the 6th annual Ginza Jazz Festival, at which she was a featured performer. It was released nationwide in the U.S. on Nov. 16, 2010, and was immediately selected as a Wildy’s World Certified Desert Island Disc: "With a masterful voice that’s part Etta James and part Sarah McLachlan, a subtle touch that allows her to blend vulnerability and sensuality unlike any other artist currently in jazz or pop music, and a talent for phrasing that’s uncanny, Halie Loren is the complete package. ... [T]here will be little doubt to those in the know that After Dark is one of the finest vocal jazz albums of 2010." Wildy's World also selected After Dark as one of its top three indie albums of the year, and Halie herself as Artist of the Year for 2010.
"Whether somber or seductive, sedated or energetic, Loren’s varied — and in all ways successful — efforts make you stop and take notice," wrote reviewer Brian Palmer for Stereo Subversion, giving the album 8.5 out of 10 points. "After Dark is a shimmering record for those who love female singers who can bring the playfulness, pizazz, vulnerability and sensuality to the songs they perform." Another reviewer praised her "strong but vulnerable, feminine but forceful, playful but serious[,] and sexy but reserved voice." In a review of the album, Vivoscene called her "one of the finest young jazz singers of her generation," noting that "[s]he has both an exquisite musical sense and the talent for phrasing that makes a song come alive."
Many Times, Many Ways: A Holiday Collection was re-released by JVC/Victor in Japan with a slightly reworded title — Many Times, Many Ways: A Christmas Collection — in November 2010.
"Thirsty", one of two Loren originals on After Dark, was nominated in January 2011 for the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards in the Best Jazz Song category, and in July 2011 won the listener-determined IMA Vox Pop poll for best jazz song.
In July 2011, "Sisters Song" from Full Circle was chosen by the nonprofit Until There's A Cure Foundation for their "Save Our Sisters" campaign dedicated to women affected by HIV/AIDS worldwide.
Her international touring schedule in 2011 included stops in Canada, Japan, South Korea, and Sicily, Italy.
Loren's forthcoming CD, Heart First, will be released in Japan December 14, 2011, with a U.S. release to follow in early 2012. As of Dec. 1, 2011, it is the No. 1 pre-ordered vocal jazz album from HMV Japan.
Studio albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2004 | The SGC Project
|
| 2006 | Full Circle
|
| 2008 | They Oughta Write a Song
|
| 2008 | (with Matt Treder) Many Times, Many Ways: A Holiday Collection
|
| 2010 | After Dark
|
Live albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2009 | Stages
|