Terra Naomi

Infobox Musical artist


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Name = Terra Naomi
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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Terra Naomi
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Instrument = Guitar, Piano
Genre = Rock, Alternative rock
Occupation = Singer, Songwriter
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Label = Island Records
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Terra Naomi is an Alternative, rock, and pop artist, who rose to fame through a performance of her song "Say It's Possible" on the video sharing site YouTube. Originally from New York State, but currently based in Los Angeles, she writes and performs her own songs, and plays the guitar and piano.

Biography

Terra Naomi was born in Saratoga Springs, New York and raised on a farm for the first couple of years of her life. The family then moved to Cleveland, Ohio where they lived for six years before finally settling in upstate New York, from where her father, a plastic surgeon, originated. Her mother is a social worker. Terra Naomi has one older brother and one younger brother.

Classical beginnings

Naomi studied classical piano and voice, attending Interlochen Performing Arts Camp in Michigan and Belvoir Terrace Fine & Performing Arts Camp for girls in Lenox, Massachusetts. Teachers convinced her to pursue a degree in opera from The University of Michigan. During this time, Naomi also participated in the Aspen Opera Theater Program.

Change in direction

Terra Naomi moved to New York City after college and began writing songs. During this time she also started playing guitar. She played at various clubs in Manhattan, including The Bitter End, The Sidewalk Cafe and The Living Room. Following a self-booked tour of the US in 2003 which started in NYC and ended at the Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle, Naomi moved to Los Angeles to work with producer Paul Fox (XTC, 10,000 Maniacs, Sixpence None the Richer, Edwin McCain, Phish, The Sugarcubes).

Terra Naomi has come to prominence in the international YouTube community [http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060825/wr_nm/column_pluggedin_dc_3] where she broadcast her own "virtual" summer tour during the summer of 2006. The program included live performances from her apartment in Hollywood and question-answer sessions entitled "Ask a Wanna-be Rockstar." Her song, "Say It's Possible" video directed by Jonathan Bird was featured on YouTube in December 2006, causing an instant explosion of interest. "Say It's Possible," has inspired adoring fans to post over a hundred personal "YouTube covers" in a wide range of styles. This includes versions from countries in South America, North America and Europe. Fans have also translated and performed the song into Spanish, Italian, and Mandarin Chinese and one used a sock puppet. In March 2007, she received one of the inaugural YouTube Video Awards in the music video category for "Say It's Possible", garnering her appearances on NBC's The Today Show and CBS' The Early Show, as well as coverage on several international news programs. [http://youtube.com/ytawards]

Naomi undertook national tours in the United States in 2003, 2004, and 2005, which included dates at the Chicago House of Blues, NYC's Irving Plaza, The Trocadero in Philadelphia, The Abbey in Chicago, The Gypsy Tea Room in Dallas and The Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles and has also performed shows in Canada and the United Kingdom [http://www.terranaomi.com/tour.php?id=archive] . Shows in the United Kingdom included an appearance at the In The City festival in Manchester [http://www.inthecity.co.uk/] . She has also been featured on CNBC in a story on the growing success of online artists. Naomi has also been featured in articles for Reuters, The Los Angeles Times, The LA Weekly, The Washington Post, Salon.com [http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/misc/2006/06/26/singer/index.html] , and The Sunday Times (UK) [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2101-2453190,00.html] .

Naomi's song "Clean" is featured on the soundtrack [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000GW8PTU] for the new movie "Sherrybaby" starring Maggie Gyllenhaal. Her songs "Say It's Possible," "Flesh For Bones" and "Go Quietly" will be featured in NBC's new reality show, "Junior Year Abroad".

In the fall of 2006, Terra Naomi was signed to a publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group. This was followed in December 2006 by the announcement that she had been also signed to the major record label, Island Records.

On 7 July, 2007 Naomi performed "Say it's Possible" at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium in London.

On 11/15/2007, Naomi's song "Say It's Possible" was featured on Private Practice.

In December 2007, YouTube Russia was launched and Terra was invited to help launch it.

Discography

Albums

ee also

*Notable YouTube users

References

*cite news | last =Heawood | first =S| title =The unlikely life of Terra Naomi | publisher =The Times | date =2007-09-08 | url =http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article2386647.ece | accessdate =2007-09-08

Further reading

*cite news | last =Verrico| first =L| title =Terra Naomi | work=Live reviews |publisher =The Times | date =2007-09-25 | url =http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article2522889.ece | accessdate =2007-09-24

External links

* [http://www.terranaomi.com/ Official Website of Terra Naomi]
* [http://www.myspace.com/terranaomi Terra Naomi's MySpace]
* [http://terranaomi.blogs.com/ Official Blog of Terra Naomi]
* [http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=terranaomi Terra Naomi's YouTube Profile]
* [http://www.ilikemusic.com/interviews/Terra_Naomi_interview_2007-3765 I Like Music interview with Terra Naomi 2007 - ilikemusic.com]
* [http://www.hollywoodsquared.com/videos/terra_naomi_unplugged/ Terra Naomi winning an online video award]
* [http://www.terra-naomi.fr/ Non-Official French Website of Terra Naomi]
* [http://www.terra-naomi.com/ English Language Fan Site]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/TerraNaomi Terra Naomi collection] at the Internet Archive's live music archive
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2101-2453190,00.html Sunday Times Article]
* [http://www.dutchterra.tk/ Non-Official dutch fansite (in English)]