It may border on the cliché for her, but to call young singer-songwriter Diane Birch "well-traveled" may be understating it. The talented vocalist, whose debut album Bible Belt was released in May, has lived in Michigan, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Portland, Oregon in her short life--and there are many more miles to travel.
Birch's music--which has all the elements of classic pop and R&B--is documented splendidly on her debut album, and largely aided by an all-star musical cast including George Porter of the Meters, Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Group, Adam Blackstone from the Roots, drummer Stanton Moore, and Eugene Pitt of the classic vocal group the Jive Five. No less impressive is its trio of producers including Steve Greenberg (founder of her label, S-Curve Records), soul legend Betty Wright and Mike Mangini.
Birch, whose life as a world traveler was largely the result her family life--her father was a pastor who moved quite frequently--led a pop-free existence as a youth, listening mostly to classical and religious music until she arrived stateside. From there came a rapid immersion into the world of Goth Rock and, it would appear, almost everything else.
The Yahoo! Music crew was recently pleased to witness an informal performance by Birch and her band in a semi-acoustic mode. Here for your viewing pleasure--shot on a hand-camera in Y! Music's top-secret music room but groovy in its very informality--are two performances of tracks from Bible Belt. Check them out, check out Bible Belt, and prepare yourself for a good time!