Justin Levinson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | September 9, 1985 Vergennes, Vermont, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, piano, guitar, trumpet, trombone |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Website | www |
Justin Levinson is an American singer-songwriter from Vermont.
The son of singer-songwriter Bob Levinson, Justin Levinson grew up in Vergennes. [1] [2] In high school, he was introduced to Lester Bowie and Fontella Bass, who were traveling on a grant to bring jazz to rural areas. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, accepted in part due to a letter of recommendation from Bowie. [3] [4] He started out studying jazz trumpet, before switching to and getting his degree in songwriting. [5]
On his earlier releases, Levinson's sound has drawn many comparisons to Ben Folds. [6] [7]
Levinson released his first album, 1175 Boylston, in 2006, while a student at Berklee. [2] On the album (which was named after Levinson's address at the time), he supplied the vocals and played piano, trumpet and trombone while his father played guitar, bass and drums on some tracks, with fellow Berklee student Adam Popick supplying the remaining instruments. [8] The single "City With Two Streetlights" spent eight weeks on the CMJ Top 25 charts. [9] Faculty members of the Berklee songwriting department also voted the album's opening track “Sunny Day” the best song of the year. [10] Following the album's release, Levinson played the 2006 International Pop Overthrow Festival, and was named Best Male Artist at The 4th Annual IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards). [11] [12]
In 2007, Levinson, by then a graduate of Berklee, released his second album, Bury Your Love. [2] Many reviews of this record noted the influence of Elton John. [13] [14] The same year, he won the ASCAPLUS award and was a finalist in the USA Songwriting Competition. [15] [16]
Levinson's 2009 release, Predetermined Fate, had a more country-influenced style. [17] [18] One single on the album, "Waiting For Someone To Love Me", was played heavily on Sirius, and he was nominated for the Sirius singer-songwriter discovery of the year. [19] [20] Another track, “Losing You To Tennessee”, was featured on Virgin Airlines flights. [21]
In 2012, Levinson released This Side of Me, This Side of You, his first album with his band, The Valcours. [22] The band is made up of Sean Witters on guitar, Seth Barbiero on bass, Josh Glass on organ and synthesizer, and Simon Plumpton on drums and sampler, with Levinson writing the songs, and the group writing the arrangements. [23] Levinson plays piano and provides vocals. [24] The album included a number of guest contributions as well. [25] Boston-based recording artist Will Dailey appeared on the track "Let You Go", Burlington singer/songwriter Gregory Douglass contributed to "Love You Goodbye", and Liz Longley was on "I Was So Wrong." [26] [27] [28]
In 2013, Levinson released the three-song EP Take My Time. [29] Noted in reviews as a slight departure from his work with the Valcours, the EP took a more country-influenced turn on the third and final track, “Bid The Rest Goodbye”, which employs steel guitars and fiddles. [30] [31]
Early 2017, Justin Levinson released his fifth studio album Yes Man. The album was produced by Adam Popick. After touring California, he was invited by Songs & Whispers, a European booking agency, to tour Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. [32] [33] [34]
During 2018, Justin Levinson collaborated with Anna Nalick on a new single titled A Part of Me. [35]
Levinson has played live in support of Apollo Sunshine, Serena Ryder, The Verve Pipe, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Matt Wertz, Chris Barron of the Spin Doctors, Grand Archives and Zox. [36] [37] He toured with One Tree Hill star and singer-songwriter Tyler Hilton. [38] [39] He has toured with Aaron Carter, opening on select dates of the After Party Tour, as well as with Teddy Geiger and Howie Day. [40] [41] He has appeared at NXNE and the Boston International Pop Overthrow. [42] [43] He has also made television performances, including on Bangor's WLBZ, Connecticut's WTNH, Backstage With Barry Nolan (Comcast), The 10 Show! (NBC Philadelphia), NECN Morning News, Fox 44 Boston, Plum TV on Martha’s Vineyard and Late Night Saturday WCAX Burlington, Vermont. [44] [45] [46]
Levinson wrote and performed a song for the 2013 film The Den , entitled "Love You Goodbye". [47]
Levinson works for Champlain Community Services, an organization dedicated to help provide services and self-advocacy to developmentally disabled adults. [48] He facilitates a show called The Advocacy Team, which airs on Vermont Community Access Media. [49] The show features clients of Champlain Community Services interviewing local celebrities. [50]
| Artist | Title | Format | Label | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Levinson | 1175 Boylston | CD | OutTake Records | 2006 |
| Justin Levinson | Bury Your Love | CD | OutTake Records | 2007 |
| Justin Levinson | Predetermined Fate | CD | None | 2009 |
| Justin Levinson & The Valcours | This Side of Me, This Side of You | CD | Justin Levinson & The Valcours | 2012 |
| Justin Levinson | Take My Time | CD EP | Justin Levinson | 2013 |
| Justin Levinson | Yes Man | CD | Justin Levinson | 2017 |
The Neptunes are an American record production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provides additional vocals on records and appears in the duo's music videos, while Hugo tends to stay behind the scenes.
The Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including rock, hip hop, reggae, salsa, heavy metal and bluegrass.
Paula Dorothy Cole is an American singer-songwriter and producer. After gaining attention for her performances as a vocalist on Peter Gabriel's 1993–1994 Secret World Tour, she released her first album, Harbinger, which suffered from a lack of promotion when the label, Imago Records, folded shortly after its release. Her second album, This Fire (1996), brought her worldwide acclaim, peaking at number 20 on the Billboard 200 album chart and producing two hit singles, the triple-Grammy nominated "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?", which reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1997, and "I Don't Want to Wait", which was used as the theme song of the television show Dawson's Creek. Cole was a featured performer in the 1996 prototype mini-tour for Lilith Fair, and also was a headliner for Lilith Fair in 1997 and 1998. She won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1998, and also became the first woman ever to be nominated for "Producer of the Year" in her own right in that same year.
James Ridout "Jesse" Winchester Jr. was an American-Canadian musician and songwriter. He was born and raised in the southern United States. Opposed to the Vietnam War, he moved to Canada in 1967 to avoid being drafted into the US military while the US engaged in the Vietnam War and began his career as a solo artist. His highest-charting recordings were of his own songs, "Yankee Lady" in 1970 and "Say What" in 1981. He became a Canadian citizen in 1973, gained amnesty in the U.S. in 1977 and resettled in Memphis, Tennessee in 2002.
Rob Mathes is an American record producer, music arranger, composer, songwriter, and performer. He also writes bluesy spiritual-pop music.
Jonah Smith is an American musician, singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles. He began his career as a solo artist in 2000 in Brooklyn, New York. He has recorded several records and was a semi-finalist on Season 9 of America's Got Talent. He was born in Syracuse, New York.
Tony Maserati is an American record producer and audio engineer specializing in mixing. He was involved in the development of the New York R&B and hip-hop scene in the 1990s, working with Mary J. Blige, Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, and Queen Latifah. Since then he has worked on Grammy nominated projects with The Black Eyed Peas, Beyoncé, Jason Mraz, Robin Thicke, and Usher. Maserati won a Latin Grammy in 2006 for his work on Sérgio Mendes’s Timeless. He has been nominated for a total of 10 Grammys, with four for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.
Esperanza Emily Spalding is an American bassist, singer, songwriter, and composer. Her accolades include five Grammy Awards, a Boston Music Award, a Soul Train Music Award, and two honorary doctorates: one from her alma mater Berklee College of Music and one from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).
Justin Drew Tranter is an American songwriter, singer, and activist. Frequently co-writing with Julia Michaels, Tranter has written songs for artists such as Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Linkin Park, Kelly Clarkson, Sara Bareilles, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, DNCE, Citizen Queen, Kesha, Imagine Dragons, The Knocks, Fifth Harmony, 5 Seconds of Summer, Chappell Roan, Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, Raye, Bea Miller, Demi Lovato, Dua Lipa, Måneskin, and Fall Out Boy. From 2004 to 2014, Tranter was the lead singer of Semi Precious Weapons, a rock band based in New York. Since February 2017, they have been a board member of GLAAD, an organization that promotes LGBT acceptance in the entertainment and news industries. Tranter's songs have garnered over 50 million single sales and 40 billion streams on Spotify and YouTube as of May 2021.
Via Audio is an American indie pop band from Brooklyn, New York. Their first full-length album Say Something, was released in 2007 by Sidecho Records, to positive reviews from prominent independent music publications such as Pitchfork Media, Alternative Press, Spin Magazine, & Tiny Mix Tapes. The band met while attending college at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, later moving to Brooklyn, New York. They released their second full-length album titled Animalore on Undertow Music on March 9, 2010; it was produced by Spoon's Jim Eno. Their third full-length album titled "Natural Language" was self-released on March 25, 2014. It was produced and recorded by Dan Molad in Brooklyn, NY.
Jeffrey Nath Bhasker is an American record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles. He won the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year in 2016 and was nominated for the award in 2013.
Elizabeth & the Catapult is a Brooklyn–based project by the American singer-songwriter Elizabeth Ziman. They have released five studio albums.
Sierra Dawn Hull is an American bluegrass singer-songwriter, mandolinist, and guitarist.
Heather Dawn Bright, also known by her stage name Bright Lights, is an American singer, songwriter, DJ and record producer.
"Strawberry Bubblegum" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake for his third studio album, The 20/20 Experience (2013). It was written and produced by Timberlake, Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, with additional writing from James Fauntleroy. "Strawberry Bubblegum" is a mid-tempo pop, R&B and soul song with elements of EDM and ambient. Its music structure received comparison to the works of musicians such as Barry White, Prince and Stevie Wonder.
Kristina Stykos is an American record producer, audio engineer, songwriter and performer based in Vermont. Her recording studio, Pepperbox Studio, is solar, wind and generator powered and fully off-the-grid.
Andrew Joslyn is an American composer, orchestrator, film scorer, and violinist in various genres.
William Christopher Champlin is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his appearance on Season 5 of the NBC singing competition The Voice as part of Adam Levine's team. He finished in third place behind Jacquie Lee, the runner-up, and Tessanne Chin, the winner of the season.
Bow Thayer is an American songwriter, guitarist, and banjoist and the founder of the Tweed River Music Festival.
Paul Boutin is a French-born American music mixer, audio engineer and a long-time collaborator with producer/songwriter/artist Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.
Lester Bowie and Motown legend Fontella Bass. They were both on a grant to bring jazz to rural areas and they happened to come to Vergennes, VT, where I was in school
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)