Terra Naomi | |
|---|---|
 Naomi in 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Instrument(s) |
|
| Labels | |
| Website | terranaomi |
Terra Naomi is an American indie folk singer-songwriter, who rose to fame through a performance of her song "Say It's Possible" on the video sharing site YouTube. [1] Originally from New York State, but currently based in Los Angeles, she writes and performs her own songs, and plays the guitar and piano.
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. Naomi has one older brother and one younger brother.
Naomi studied classical piano and voice, attending Interlochen Performing Arts Camp in Michigan and Belvoir Terrace Summer Camp in Lenox, Massachusetts. Teachers convinced her to pursue a degree in opera from The University of Michigan. [2] During this time, Naomi also participated in the Aspen Opera Theater Program.
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 tour of the US in 2003, which started in New York and ended at the Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle, she moved to Los Angeles to work with the producer Paul Fox (XTC, 10,000 Maniacs, Sixpence None the Richer, Edwin McCain, Phish, The Sugarcubes). [2]
Naomi has come to prominence in the international YouTube community where she broadcast her own "virtual" summer tour during 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", filmed in Terra's Hollywood apartment, recorded on a Sony Handycam, appeared on YouTube in June 2006, causing an instant explosion of interest. [1] "Say It's Possible" has inspired adoring fans to post hundreds of personal "YouTube covers" in a wide range of styles. [3] 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", earning her appearances on NBC's The Today Show and CBS' The Early Show , as well as coverage on several international news programs. [4]
Naomi has also been featured in articles for CNBC, Reuters, The Los Angeles Times , The LA Weekly, The Washington Post , Salon.com, [5] and The Sunday Times (UK). [6]
In fall 2006, Naomi was signed to a publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group. This was followed in January 2007 by the announcement that she had been also signed to the major record label, Island Records. [7]
After releasing Under the Influence, Naomi left Island Records. She released her new album, To Know I'm Ok, independently in June 2011. It was funded through fans via Pledgemusic, an "international Direct-to-Fan platform for raising funds". [8]
Naomi headlined 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. [9] Shows in the United Kingdom included an appearance at the In The City festival in Manchester . She has also opened for Tyler Hilton, [10] Michael Bolton, [11] Jay Brannan, [12] The Fray, [13] Martha Wainwright [13] and Natasha Bedingfield. [14]
In 2007, after being invited by Al Gore, Naomi performed "Say It's Possible" at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium in London. [13] Later that year, YouTube Russia was launched and Naomi was invited to perform and help launch it. [15]
In November 2009, Naomi began a two-week tour of India playing shows in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi culminating with a headlining performance at the Mercy Corps Say It's Possible Climate Change Concert in Srinagar, Kashmir. This tour was sponsored by American Center, Levi Strauss & Co. India, Fabindia and Mercy Corps. Naomi's Indian tour was followed by two weeks in Italy playing shows in Fabriano, Perugia, Rome, Imola, Bologna, Rimini, Monte Castello Di Vibio and Montesilvano. [16] During her stay in Italy she also recorded a duet with Italian singer Elisa.
In early July 2010, Naomi performed at Lilith Fair's San Francisco show after winning a competition sponsored by OurStage.com. [17] In August, she toured Italy again, playing in Rimini, Milano, Padova, Montepulciano and Castiglione del Lago.
In June 2011, Naomi performed the inaugural show for the Haus of Hipstamatic Unplugged Summer Sessions in San Francisco. [18] The event was the first in a series of unplugged sessions featuring other singer-songwriters such as Michelle Branch and was hosted by Hipstamatic at their office space in SoMa. The music video for "You For Me" also debuted at the event, which is archived on Ustream Archived August 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine . A video for "I'll Be Waiting" was also shot.
In January, February and March 2012, she toured Europe, doing more than 30 concerts. The European countries she toured include UK, Italy, France, Germany and Switzerland.
Naomi published an essay in 2015 called "How Signing A Major Record Deal Nearly Destroyed My Music Career" [19] in Digital Music News. The article told the detailed story of Naomi's experience at Universal Island Records.
In 2016, Naomi announced an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds for her first album since 2012. [20] The campaign exceeded its goal of $35,000, ultimately raising $51,000 from 600 people.
Naomi released "Machine Age," the first single from the album, via Bandcamp on January 19, 2018. It was described as both a "protest song" by INTO magazine [21] and a "peaceful plea" by Broadway World. [22] Billboard called the song "A poignant reflection on Trump's first year in office", [23] Jubilant wrote "'Machine Age,' by singer-songwriter Terra Naomi may be the first truly great song to come at the expense of the world's collective sanity", [24] Women In Rock wrote "Terra Naomi is the voice that all women need right now". [25]
Naomi released "Nothing To Hide" the first single from the album, via Bandcamp on March 9, 2018. [26] The song premiered on Popdust. [27]
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Notes | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Airplay | UK Sales | ||||
| 2007 | "Say It's Possible" | - | - |
| Under the Influence |
| "Not Sorry" [33] | 53 | 184 |
| ||
| "Up Here" | - | - |
| ||
These songs have been released on albums that were not a studio album released by Naomi.
| Year | Song | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | "Ghosts of Happy Endings" | Interlude Magazine: Compilation 1.0 |
| 2006 | "Flesh for Bones" | Coffee House Music 2006 Female Artists |
| "Clean" | Sherrybaby OST | |
| 2007 | "The Moment" | Because I Said So OST |
| "Flesh for Bones" [34] | The Word: Now Hear This! (July 2007) | |
| 2010 | "Billie Jean" [35] | MJ Acoustic Covers – Tribute to Michael |
| 2011 | "Nobody Knows You Anymore" | Super OST |
| Year | Title | Type | Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | American Idol | TV series episode: "Chicago Auditions" | "Up Here" [36] [37] |
| Junior Year Abroad | Web series | "Flesh for Bones" [38] | |
| "Go Quietly" [38] | |||
| "Say It's Possible" [38] [39] | |||
| Sherrybaby | Film | "Clean" | |
| Because I Said So | Film | "The Moment" | |
| 2007 | Diamonds in the Rough | Film documentary | "Babuzze Lwaki?" (with Bataka Squad) [40] [41] |
| "Diamonds in the Rough"(with Saba Saba & Okai) [42] | |||
| Private Practice | TV series episode: "In Which Sam Gets Taken for a Ride" | "Say It's Possible" [43] | |
| 2009 | PG Porn | Web series episode: "Squeal Happy Whores" | "Song for a Squeal Happy Whore" [44] |
| 2011 | Life in a Day | Film promos | "Close To Your Head" [45] |
| Super | Film | "Nobody Knows You Anymore" [46] | |
| 2012 | Coldwater Creek Mother's Day | Commercial | "You For Me" |
| 2018 | So You Think You Can Dance | TV series episode | "Less Talk More Art" |
| Year | Award | Nominated Work | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | YouTube Awards | "Say It's Possible" | Music Video of the Year | Won [47] |
| 2010 | Lilith Local Talent Search | Terra Naomi | San Francisco | Won [48] |
| 2011 | Billboard Song Contest | "I'll Be Waiting" | Best Pop Song | Won [49] |
Sarah Ann McLachlan OC OBC is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four Juno Awards. In addition to her personal artistic efforts, she founded the Lilith Fair tour, which showcased female musicians.
Deborah Ann Gibson is an American singer, songwriter, and actress.
Martina Mariea McBride is an American country music singer-songwriter. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material.
Carrie Marie Underwood is an American singer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. Underwood's single "Inside Your Heaven" made her the first country artist to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the only solo country artist in the 2000s to have a number-one song on the Hot 100. Her debut album, Some Hearts (2005), was bolstered by the successful crossover singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats", becoming the best-selling solo female debut album in country music history. She won three Grammy Awards for the album, including Best New Artist. The next studio album, Carnival Ride (2007) had one of the biggest opening weeks of all time by a female artist and won two Grammy Awards. Her third studio album, Play On (2009), produced the single "Cowboy Casanova", which had one of the biggest single-week upward movements on the Hot 100.
Cascada is a German dance music act founded in 2004 by singer Natalie Horler and DJs/producers DJ Manian and DJ Yanou. It is best known for the hit singles "Everytime We Touch", "What Hurts the Most", "Evacuate the Dancefloor", and "Miracle". Cascada represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden with "Glorious". While being one of the most successful acts of the dance music genre itself, Cascada was named as the 3rd most successful German act of the 21st century.
Dayna Manning is a Canadian folk and pop singer-songwriter, as well as a producer and sound engineer. As a teenager she released her first album, Volume 1, on EMI and Nettwerk, with featured musicians including Sean Lennon and Melanie Doane. A single from the album reached No. 15 on the MuchMusic top hits chart in Canada, and she was nominated for the 1998 Juno Award for Best New Artist.
Miranda Leigh Lambert is an American country singer, songwriter and guitarist. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place on the television program Nashville Star, a singing competition which aired on the USA Network. Outside her solo career, she is a member of the Pistol Annies, a group she formed in 2011 alongside Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley. Lambert has been honored by the Grammy Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Country Music Association Awards. Lambert has been honored with more Academy of Country Music Awards than any artist in history and was named by the Chicago Tribune as the "greatest country music artist of all time" in 2019.
"Have You Ever?" is a song by American recording artist Brandy Norwood for her second studio album, Never Say Never (1998). The song was written by Diane Warren, while production was handled by David Foster. It was released as the album's third single by Atlantic Records in October 1998. The song became Norwood's second song to reach the top position on the US Billboard Hot 100, following the worldwide chart-topping of "The Boy Is Mine". The former further reached number one in New Zealand, number two in Iceland, number eight in Australia, and the top 30 in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
Jennifer Odessa Nettles is an American singer, songwriter, actress and record producer.
Sara Beth Bareilles is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She has sold over three million albums and over 15 million singles in the United States. Bareilles has earned various accolades, including two Grammy Awards, as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and three Tony Awards. In 2012, VH1 named her one of the Top 100 Greatest Women in Music.
"Say It's Possible" is Terra Naomi's first single and first solo release on a major label. The song originated on YouTube, and due to its origins the song has been covered on the website in a variety of different styles and languages. In March 2007, it won the first YouTube Video Award in the category Best Music.
Marié Christina Digby is an American singer-songwriter best known for her acoustic cover version of Rihanna's "Umbrella", which was posted on YouTube in 2007. The song was subsequently played on the radio station STAR 98.7, was featured on the highly rated third season opening episode of the MTV show The Hills, and peaked at #10 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. Digby performed the song on the late-night talk show Last Call with Carson Daly on August 2, 2007. Since then, Digby has released several studio albums, EPs and singles, including one Japanese cover album. Her fifth studio album Winter Fields was released in October 2013. In August 2014, Marié released Chimera, a three-track EP.
Kina Kasuya Grannis is an American guitarist, singer and YouTuber. Grannis was the winner of the 2008 Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest, earning a recording contract with Interscope Records and having her music video played during the commercials of Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008.
Florence and the Machine are an English indie rock band that formed in London in 2007, consisting of lead vocalist Florence Welch, keyboardist Isabella Summers, guitarist Rob Ackroyd, harpist Tom Monger, and a collaboration of other musicians. The band's music has received acclaim across the media, especially from the BBC, which played a large part in their rise to prominence by promoting Florence and the Machine as part of BBC Music Introducing. At the 2009 Brit Awards they received the Brit Awards "Critics' Choice" award. The band's music is renowned for its dramatic, eccentric production and Welch's powerful vocals.
Girlicious was an American girl group originally formed by Robin Antin, creator of the Pussycat Dolls, from The CW reality TV show Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious. The group was originally signed to Geffen Records and composed of members Nichole Cordova, Tiffanie Anderson, Chrystina Sayers and Natalie Mejia. Their self-titled debut album was released in Canada in August 2008 and reached number two on the Canadian Albums Chart. After Anderson left the group in June 2009, Girlicious signed with Universal Music Canada and released their second studio album, Rebuilt, in November 2010. Mejia and Sayers departed the group in February 2011. Nichole Cordova later announced the end of Girlicious, and her joining a new girl group called Girls United.
Kimbra Lee Johnson, known mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. Known for mixing pop with R&B, jazz and rock musical elements, her accolades include four ARIA Music Awards, two Grammy Awards and seven New Zealand Music Awards.
Naomi Scott is an English actress and singer. Born in Hounslow, London, Scott began her career with a starring role on the Disney Channel series Life Bites (2008–2009) and gained wider recognition for starring in the television musical film Lemonade Mouth (2011), for which she performed on the chart-topping eponymous soundtrack. Following this breakthrough, she starred in the science fiction series Terra Nova (2011) and the superhero film Power Rangers (2017).
Janet Maureen Aoife Devlin is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter who competed in the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011, where she finished in fifth place. Her debut album Hide & Seek was released in 2013. After a string of EPs and singles, her second studio album Confessional was released in 2020.
Claudia Alexandra Madriz Meza, known professionally as Snow Tha Product, is a Mexican American rapper and singer from San Jose, California. Her debut studio album, Unorthodox (2011) was met with positive critical reception and led her to sign with Atlantic Records the following year. Her commercial mixtape, Half Way There... Pt. 1 (2016) entered the Top Rap Albums chart at number 15. Her other releases failed to chart, leading her to part ways with the label in November 2018.
Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson, known professionally as H.E.R., is an American R&B singer, songwriter and guitarist. She has won an Academy Award, a Children's and Family Emmy Award, and five Grammy Awards, along with nominations for a Golden Globe Award, three American Music Awards, and four Billboard Music Awards.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
