Whitney Wolanin born June 29, 1990 (New York), is a professional singer and songwriter, who also plays piano and drums. Her father, Vincent, started TopNotch® Entertainment Corp., which managed a number of the lead singers in legendary Rock Acts in the late 1980s. Whitney records for TopNotch® Records, a division which she and her sister Victoria, a pianist, ASCAP songwriter, producer and graduate of Cornell University now operate. Wolanin has graduated from Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

 August 1, 2011, with a BS in human organizational development.

Whitney Wolanin Live

Wolanin has performed at many historic venues including The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, TN Fenway Park, Staples Center, the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, as well as songwriter rounds in Nashville at The Barn. Wolanin has also opened for the Beach Boys, played alongside members of AC/DC

AC/DC

AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...

 and Survivor, and filled in for Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...

 performing with the legendary Bar Kays. Performing live is her true passion, and she looks forward to going on a full tour

Whitney Wolanin 1

Wolanin released "Whitney Wolanin 1" April 2011, a six-song EP, which she recorded throughout her full-time school years at Vanderbilt. These songs, all composed by Wolanin herself, mark the evolution of her songwriting. Her song "Far, Far Away" was featured in movie theaters across the nation before the Harry Potter

Harry Potter

Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...

 and the Deathly Hallows Part II film in July 2011. Wolanin will promote this EP beginning in Fall 2011, having graduated from Vanderbilt with honors in only three years.

Girl.

"Girl." is an EP released in 2009, comprising six songs that Wolanin wrote starting at age 13, both by herself and with her sister, Victoria. This EP includes "So Close", which rose to number 7 on the Top AC 40 chart. An acoustic version of "So Close" was also featured on the album "Majic Miracle Music Vol. 3", along with Matt Nathanson and Augustana, benefiting the Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. Whitney also earned an ASCAP Plus Songwriter Award after releasing this EP.

Loud and Clear

"Loud and Clear", a song Wolanin co-wrote with her big sister Victoria, was released as a single (including 3 remixes and an a cappella

A cappella

A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...

 track) on June 4, 2007 to dance and club radio. Four more singles are planned.
"Loud and Clear", was featured on an episode of the MTV series "the Hills"

Christmasology

In 2006, Wolanin released her second album, Christmasology, a collection of Christmas songs recorded the previous year. Christmasology featured 15 songs, including "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

Rockin' around the Christmas Tree

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" is a Christmas song written by Johnny Marks and recorded by Brenda Lee in 1958 on Decca 9-30776.-Background:...

”, "Frosty the Snowman

Frosty the Snowman

"Frosty the Snowman" is a popular song written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson, and first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950. It was written after the success of Autry's recording of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" the previous year; Rollins and Nelson shipped the...

”, "O Come All Ye Faithful

Adeste Fideles

"Adeste Fideles" is a hymn tune attributed to English hymnist John Francis Wade . The text itself has unclear beginnings, and may have been written in the 13th century by John of Reading, though it has been concluded that Wade was probably the author.The original four verses of the hymn were...

" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a song introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis. Frank Sinatra later recorded a version with modified lyrics, which has become more common than the original. The song was written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane...

", as well as "Christmas (The Warmest Time of the Year)". "Frosty” was the #1 Most Added Christmas Song at radio the week of November 5, 2006 and November 19, 2006. In December 2006, "Frosty" peaked at #11 on R&R

R&R

R&R may refer to:* R&R , a music trade magazine* R&R , acronym for Rest and Recuperation* "R&R" , an episode of the science fiction TV show*R&R , a fictional nightclub in EastEnders...

s Media Base Top 40 Radio Airplay Charts, and was played on over 800 radio stations.

Funkology

Growing up in Florida, Wolanin first told her father of her desire to record an album when she was 11. When she was 13, her father relented, and over her summer break she recorded an album with her father's personal friend, Bob Babbitt

Bob Babbitt

Bob Babbitt is an American bassist, most famous for his work as a member of Motown Records' studio band, the Funk Brothers, from 1966–1972, as well as his tenure as part of MFSB for Philadelphia International Records afterwards. Also in 1968-1970, with Mike Campbell, Ray Monette and Andrew Smith...

 (second-string bassist—after James Jamerson

James Jamerson

James Lee Jamerson was an American bass player. He was the uncredited bassist on most of Motown Records' hits in the 1960s and early 1970s , and he is now regarded as one of the most influential bass players in modern music history...

—for Motown's studio group, The Funk Brothers

The Funk Brothers

The Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...

), in Nashville. The album, Funkology XIII, released two years later in 2005, was made up of twelve R&B covers

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 (mostly of Motown origin) and one original.

A version of Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye

Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....

 and Kim Weston

Kim Weston

Kim Weston is an American soul singer, and Motown alumna. In the 1960s, Weston scored hits with the songs "Love Me All the Way" and "Take Me in Your Arms ".-Career:...

's "It Takes Two

It Takes Two (song)

"It Takes Two" was a hit single recorded in late 1965 by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston for Motown's Tamla label.Produced by Weston's then-husband, longtime Gaye collaborator William "Mickey" Stevenson, and co-written by Stevenson and Sylvia Moy, "It Takes Two" centered around a romantic lyric which...

", sung with Jimi Jamison

Jimi Jamison

Jimmy Wayne "Jimi" Jamison is a rock vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer for the band Survivor from 1984–1989 and 2000-2006.- Further biography :...

 of Survivor

Survivor (band)

Survivor is an American rock band formed in Chicago in 1978. The band achieved its greatest success in the 1980s with its AOR sound, which garnered many charting singles, especially in the United States. The band is best known for its double platinum-certified 1982 hit "Eye of the Tiger", the theme...

, reached #9 on radio trade publication Friday Morning Quarterbacks AC40 Chart, and was a #1 most added song, Wolanin's song “Good” (which she co-wrote with Babbitt and her father) peaked at #7.

In late 2005, Wolanin released "Christmas (The Warmest Time of the Year)"—another original she co-wrote with Babbitt and her father. The song made FMQBs Top 100 airplay chart at #87 in 2005.

Extracurricular activities

Wolanin is celebrity spokesperson for Youth Crime Watch of America, helping young people avoid problems on the internet. Her online safety tips are featured in various languages on the YCWA website. Wolanin has also participated for 5 years in the annual Rockin' Christmas Fund charity fundraiser event, the proceeds of which go to the Rockin’ Christmas Scholarship Fund. Her involvement includes visiting various Children's Hospitals with other celebrities, and providing personally signed CDs to children at the Shriners Hospitals nationwide at Christmas. At 6 feet tall, she's also an asset to her school's basketball team.
Wolanin has also been a singing- acting lead in several Off Broadway Musicals including "Nine" as Carla, and in "I Love You, You're Perfect Now Change". Additionally Whitney is a member of an Improv Troupe in Nashville.

Discography

• Funkology XIII (2005, TopNotch)
• "Christmas (The Warmest Time of the Year)" single (2005, TopNotch)
• Christmasology (2006, TopNotch)
• "Loud and Clear" single (2007, TopNotch)
• Girl* EP (2009, TopNotch)
• Whitney Wolanin 1 (2011, TopNotch)

External links

• Official website
• Whitney Wolanin on YouTube