Nancy Terzian
Violet
R&B: Sensuous, Soulful and Sweet; Blue-Eyed Soul from a Brown Eyed Girl
The names of cities like Detroit, Memphis, Chicago and New York bring to mind the famous birthplaces of the greatest soul music ever created-Motown, Stax, Chess Brothers, Atlantic. The deep affection for this music has been instilled in millions of people for decades; Nancy Terzian's music quickly brings these emotional memories back to life.
Nancy's current project, "Violet", captures the soul/pop/blues sound of her singing, songwriting, performance and passion. The album undoubtedly brings to mind Dusty Springfield's smoky sensuality as well as the vulnerable honesty of singers like Eva Cassidy and kd lang. Her partners in this creation are some of the greatest music sculptors of all time. Producer Bob Olhsson, an engineer at Motown in Detroit in its heyday, has gathered a team of star players for Nancy's solo debut. Guitarist Reggie Young is known for his work with everyone from Elvis Presley to Wilson Pickett, as well as having contributed to the classic country/soul record "Dusty in Memphis." Bassist Bob Babbitt, one of the famous Funk Brothers, has played on many of Motown's historic recordings from Marvin Gaye to Stevie Wonder. Drummer Ed Greene is known for his work with Steely Dan, Michael Jackson, Hall & Oates and countless others, and Jim "Turbo" Kirby toured as Roy Orbison's keyboardist for over a decade. With the help of producer/engineer Joe Hand, Nancy also gathered several
Nashville musical guests to round out the tracks, including one-time Reba McEntire sideman Joe McGlohon on sax, Ronnie Brown on keyboard-strings, The Believers, Jim Photoglo, Lauren Ellis and more.
Nancy has a voice that has been called "haunting and graceful" by San Francisco Bay Area Music Magazine. Sing Out magazine sighted her as "one of the better singers you've never heard of." She won the 2004 Nashville Song Search and has been a finalist in several national songwriting competitions including the highly-esteemed Kerrville Folk Festival.
"Violet" goes in a new direction for Nancy. Born and raised in upstate New York, she is known to many fans from her critically acclaimed San Francisco, CA-based group, The Westerleys. The Westerleys performed at many festivals, including the Kerrville Music Festival in Texas, the Strawberry Music Festival and the Napa Valley Music Festival in California, the Blissfest in Michigan and the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in New York. Through her work with the band, Terzian's songs have had airplay on radio stations throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. The Westerleys' 1998 CD, "a blessing and a curse," charted on the Americana charts, and featured beautifully blended tight harmonies that prompted no less than Guy Clark to say, "Y'all sound like a million bucks."
Urban/R&B: Brown-Eyed Soul