Claiming that she started to sing about the same time she began to talk, Gretchen began taking formal voice and piano lessons around the age of nine. When asked about how her early passion for jazz evolved into becoming a singer/songwriter, she replied,
I've always loved singing and would apparently accost people on the street as a child and force them to listen to me sing various show tunes! I really got into singing jazz in high school. I went to Berkeley High, which at the time had a really first-rate jazz department, Joshua Redman, a famous sax player, came out of that program a few years before my time. . .But I didn't actually begin writing songs until college, when I started a funk/disco band called Supersauce with friends. . .As that band became more popular, I started writing material on the side that eventually became my songs for my first solo album.
The late 90s is when that album, Three AM, was released. It was produced by Greg Poree, who has worked with such artists as Stevie Wonder and Cassandra Wilson. MP3.com was instrumental in helping bringing the debut album out of the shadows and into the light. Millions downloaded the singles "3 AM" and "Angel Eyes" from the site and it was regularly at the top of the sites jazz, acid jazz, and soul categories.
Riding on the success of Three AM, Leiberum caught the eye of Lakeshore Records (a division of Warner Bros.) and released her second album, Brand New Morning on that label. Singles from this album sailed to the top of the charts on Rhapsody.com right alongside of Coldplay and Eminem demonstrating just how widespread her appeal had become. Many of the songs from Brand New Morning made their way on to television, including the WB show Felicity. It was the song "Angel on My Shoulder" that she co-wrote and performed for the movie Mean Creek. The movie, which won awards at the Sundance Movie Festival, was the creation of Gretchen's husband, Jacob Estes.
Article comments
1 - Eric Berlin
Fantastical -- looks and reads like a dream, can't wait for more !
2 - Baby Man
Great story. Click on the URL under my name and see what other people have written on CDbaby.
3 - Adebayo Onabule
Earnest and dedicated Gretchen Fan here, ever since the old mp3.com days...I'm overjoyed to finally read her getting the exact kinds of attention she's deserved all along. Siren Songs despite it's late entry at the end of the year, was still my number 1 album of the year, and that's really saying something.
Congrats to Gretchen and Jacob on the birth of their little girl, and I also look forward to seeing how the new arrival influences future tunes by gretchen.
top notch article...look forward to the rest throughout the month.
peace
4 - Connie Phillips
Thank you, Eric, that's a high compliment coming from you - and I appreciate it!
5 - Connie Phillips
Thank you, Baby man and Adebayo Onabule - I have enjoyed working on this project and I'm very excited about what we have coming up in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
6 - justice
Connie - awesome story. I love this music.
Silly thing, typo reads:
Gretchen's Websiter
and I think Greg Porcee is Greg Poree?
7 - Phillip Winn
Correct on both counts; thanks, Justice.
8 - Connie Phillips
Justice -
Thanks for the compliment, and for pointing out my errors, all corrected, thanks to you.
9 - Eric Berlin
This story has been chosen as an Editors' Pick of the Week. You now have the grave yet giddy honor of selecting a story for next week's best of column if you like (time frame 2/1 " 2/7). Simply leave the title, URL, and a brief description of why you dig it on this week's post (link above).
Congrats!!
10 - Teutates
dang...she pretty!
11 - Jacob
Bonnie - Gretchen has a new video on her website, check it out
-Jacob
12 - Jacob
Sorry, did I say Bonnie, I meant Connie!