Album Details
2009 debut album from the singer/songwriter. Though only in her mid-20s, Birch likes to think of herself as an 'old soul', and, indeed, there is a startling maturity in her singing and a veteran's self-assurance in her writing. Birch mixes piano-playing virtuosity with easy-going Soul, and she can strike an uplifting groove on even the most melancholy tune. Her work bears hints of Laura Nyro (when she was hanging out with LaBelle) and early '70s Karen Carpenter, while effortlessly incorporating New Orleans second-line rhythms, Gospel fervor, Doo Wop harmonies, Country-Blues guitar and classic AM radio-style melodies. Among the players accompanying Birch on the album are guitarist Lenny Kaye of The Patti Smith Group, bassists Adam Blackstone from The Roots, and George Porter of The Meters, acclaimed drummers Stanton Moore of Galactic and Cindy Blackman of Lenny Kravitz fame, saxophonist-about-town Lenny Pickett, and trombonist Tom Bones Malone, along with veteran singer Eugene Pitt, lead vocalist of fabled Brooklyn vocal group, the Jive Five.
Album Description
The daughter of a preacher, living between Zimbabwe, South Africa and Australia, before her parents finally settled in Portland, Oregon, Diane Birch absorbed a unique and very cosmopolitan perspective on life and rapidly cultivated a very individual style that defies categorization. The buzz is building as Music Week announced, "Diane has a voice and songwriting ability that will connect with truly global audiences."
