OLD SOUL

For Diane Birch, inspiration has a way of striking when she least expects it. "I'll be just about to enter the shower, and then I'll freak out and I'll have a song idea. It's like someone has a string attached to me, and I just follow it," says the 26-year-old singer-songwriter, who looks plucked straight from Godard heroine central casting. Birch, whose father was a travelling preacher, spent her early years in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Australia before settling in Portland, Oregon. A trained pianist, she moved to Los Angeles after high school with the hopes of scoring music for films. "The idea of becoming a singer or getting a record deal, those things were never on my radar," Birch says. "I just knew there was something greater out there that would find me -- and it did."

It was only after taking a vocal class ("my friend was like, 'it's great: there's a piano, and you get in touch with your feelings'") that Birch realized she could sing. She soon found herself in London, where she landed a manager and spent a year writing songs. "I have an old soul, for sure," she says. "And I think being in such an old place, with all that history, was really inspiring for me." Indeed, her debut album, Bible Belt, seems almost like an American response to the neo-soul stylings of Amy, Lily, Adele, et al. -- old-timey and soulful with a dose of homegrown, Stevie Nicks-esque twang.





The result? Diane Birch sounds like an old favorite, with all the sparkle and magic of a breakthrough talent. People says she sounds like a combination of early Carole King, Linda Ronstadt and Stevie Nicks, with a little Joss Stone and Cat Power mixed in. Bible Belt is only her first record, but it’s one of the most accomplished albums you’ll hear all year. From the opening track “Fire Escape” to the closing “Magic View,” Diane’s stunning voice is mesmerizing.

Written entirely by Diane, Bible Belt was recorded in New York City and New Orleans with an impressive team of Grammy-winning producers: S-Curve Records founder Steve Greenberg, soul legend Betty Wright and Mike Mangini, in their first project together since producing Joss Stone’s first albums.

MP3 link to "Fire Escape": http://www.rcrdlbl.com/artists/Diane_Birch/track/Fire_Escape

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/dianebirch