Nancy Kaye began her eclectic career as ‘Rosey,’ a rock n’ roll soul siren on Island/Def Jam. Her 2002 debut “Dirty Child,’ earned her the title “The Lovechild of Robert Plant and Rickie Lee Jones” by Entertainment Weekly, and Rolling Stone, Billboard and Blender Magazine praised her with four glowing stars.
Following instant national attention from her single “Love” in Bridget Jones’s Diary and a laundry list of other movie soundtracks to follow, the tunesmith toured with the lauded likes of Melissa Etheridge and Morcheeba. She kept the pen moving and the voice flowing with everything from teaming up as a co-writer with Kelis and Raphael Saadiq, to session singing and writing commercial jingles.
Next, Rosey revealed her smoky and sensual side with “Luckiest Girl,” a self-produced Jazz album on the Quango Music Group label. Rosey recalls, “After years of working in LA sessions as a pop writer, I needed to do something more creative and less contrived.” The album’s original collection of jazz songs tips its hat to her heroes of yesteryear (including Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James), wrapped around an undeniably contemporary appeal. “Making ‘Luckiest Girl’ really helped me to come to life as an artist and a woman and really be free to find my voice.”
She returned as singer/songwriter Nancy Kaye with “Lal Meri,” the acclaimed 2009 world-electronica album released by Six Degrees Records from her band of the same name. NPR “All Things Considered” compared it to the Beatles for it’s “clever crafting of good old-fashioned song writing.”
“Ever since my college DJ days (at WERS in Boston, hosting a world music radio show), I wanted to make trip-hop music with live instruments and sing in other languages. And it manifested right before my eyes.”
Opening the door to the club and dance world put her back in the Producer/DJ hot seat. With releases on Govinda’s “Universal On Switch,” Carmen Rizzo’s “Looking Through Leaves,” Beat Ventriloquist’s “Goodnight Memory” and Konishi Yasuharu’s latest “Pizzicato One” album on Sony Jazz Classics, she took back her Rosey moniker and wrote some of the sexiest songs of her career. “I love when people send me hot beats that I can sit at home and write in the dark to.”
After 10 years of jumping coasts from NYC to LA, it was one trip to the Georgia countryside that made her realize that to feel her true nature, she needed to be in nature. She packed her bags and kissed LA and the pop record she was making there goodbye to follow her passions and begin anew. It didn’t take long before she found a community of amazing musicians. “I found that down there (in Georgia), without all the distractions of the ‘music business,’ artists can actually focus on writing good songs from their hearts… which is such a relief!”
She started Creek Kin, a five-band collective including The Law, Trapper’s Cabin, The Trevor Turville Band, The Hill Band, and the one and only, Nancy Kaye. “We are like a family growing up along the same stream of fresh springs, budding with life and song.” She says, “It’s so much work being in five bands and being a farmer. But the music is totally inspiring and I have a new family now. The great love here makes the ground very fertile for growing all kinds of wonderful new songs.”
Currently this rosey girl is back to her rock n’roll blues roots and back to her real name. She explains: “I like having an alter-ego. Rosey can have her fun in Jazz clubs and all-night dance parties, while I hide out at home and make psychedelic records inspired by English rock gods of the 70s.” Nancy adds, “There are no limits to what we can do today as artists and people. So why bother with such silly things as limits, if we can seize the moment and live the life of our dreams.”
Her brand new album, “In The Light,” is her most inspired work to date. "This record is all about Love, the transformation that comes with it & the evolution that always follows when we are present in the moment." Nancy smiles, she's always smiling... "I feel like I've just begun to unlock all the doors that kept me lingering in the dark for so long. Now there is so much to see. So much to learn. What an exciting time to be alive. We're gonna live forever!"
Nancy Kaye and Creek Kin plan to take their acts on the road in the new year for the next leg of her musical journey. She says, “When you believe your path is blessed, everything has a way of working out right. But with intention there must be action! And I’ve never been more ready to fly.”
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Discography:
Vocals on Elwood, The Parlance of our Time (Palm Pictures) 2000
Rosey - Dirty Child (Island/Def Jam) 2002
Featured on Raphael Saadiq, Instant Vintage (Universal Motown) 2002
Featured on Reggie Watts, Simplified (Village Again Japan) 2003
Vocals on David Ryan Harris, Soulstice 2004
Vocals on Hilary Duff – Hilary Duff (Hollywood Records) 2004
Vocals on John Gold, the Eastside Shake 2004
Vocals on Kelis – Kelis was Here (LaFace Records) 2006
Rosey - Luckiest Girl (Quango Music Group) 2008
Lal Meri - Lal Meri (Six Degrees Records) 2009
Featured on Beat Ventriloquists – Goodnight Memory (Boomnote Music) 2010
Featured on Carmen Rizzo – Looking Through Leaves 2010
Featured on Govinda – Universal On Switch 2011
Featured on Konishi Yasuharu - Pizzicato One –
One And Ten Very Sad Songs (Universal International) 2011
Vocals on Bryony Atkinson – Do I Hear a Bidder in the Back 2011
Featured on Beat Ventriloquists – Sugar (Boomnote Music) 2012
Nancy Kaye – In The Light 2012
Soundtracks:
Shallow Hal "Afterlife" 2001
Bridget Jones’s Diary “Love” 2002
On Thin Ice “Love” 2003
Monster-in-Law "Love Koop Remix" 2005
Something New "Love", "Love" Koop Remix (Opening Titles) 2006
L Tunes: Music from and Inspired by "The L Word" 2007
My One & Only “You’re Mine” 2009
Just Wright "Be Somebody Blues" 2010
The Moth Diaries “The Safe” 2012
Television:
The Tonight Show “Afterlife” 2002
Dawson’s Creek “Love” 2002
Smallville “Love” 2003
American Dreams “Dream a Little Dream” 2003
Men In Trees “I Remember” 2007
The L Word “Living Proof” 2007
Screenz “Love” (Title Theme) 2007
Shark “Sweet Love” 2008
Eastwick “Love” 2009
Melrose Place "Love Bost & Bim Remix" 2008
Lipstick Jungle “I Remember” 2009
Samantha Who “Sweet Love” 2009
CSI “Bad Things” 2010
Brothers & Sisters “All You Need to Know” 2010
CSI: NY “Wreckage” 2011
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