India Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975), professionally known as India.Arie, is an American soul, R&B, and neo soul singer, songwriter, record producer, guitarist, and flautist.
Arie was born in Denver, Colorado. She absorbed musical skills early in life as she was encouraged by both parents. Her mother Joyce is a former singer (she was signed to Motown as a teenager and opened for Stevie Wonder and Al Green) and is now her stylist. Her father is former ABA and NBA basketball player Ralph Simpson. She has an older brother named J'On. After her parents divorced, Arie's mother moved the family to Georgia. Arie had taken up a succession of musical instruments throughout her schooling in Denver, but her interest in the guitar while attending the Savannah College of Art and Design, in Savannah, led to a personal revelation about songwriting and performing. "When I started tapping into my own sensitivity, I started to understand people better. It was a direct result of writing songs", she said at the press release of her debut album, Acoustic Soul.
Co-founding the Atlanta-based independent music collective GroovmentEarthseed (Groovement was the collective artists' name and Earthseed was their independent label name), her one-song turn on a locally-released compilation led to a second-stage gig at the Lilith Fair. In 1999, a Universal/Motown music scout spotted her and made an introduction to former Motown CEO Kedar Massenberg.
India Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975), professionally known as India.Arie, is an American soul, R&B, and neo soul singer, songwriter, record producer, guitarist, and flautist.
ReplyDeleteArie was born in Denver, Colorado. She absorbed musical skills early in life as she was encouraged by both parents. Her mother Joyce is a former singer (she was signed to Motown as a teenager and opened for Stevie Wonder and Al Green) and is now her stylist. Her father is former ABA and NBA basketball player Ralph Simpson. She has an older brother named J'On. After her parents divorced, Arie's mother moved the family to Georgia. Arie had taken up a succession of musical instruments throughout her schooling in Denver, but her interest in the guitar while attending the Savannah College of Art and Design, in Savannah, led to a personal revelation about songwriting and performing. "When I started tapping into my own sensitivity, I started to understand people better. It was a direct result of writing songs", she said at the press release of her debut album, Acoustic Soul.
Co-founding the Atlanta-based independent music collective GroovmentEarthseed (Groovement was the collective artists' name and Earthseed was their independent label name), her one-song turn on a locally-released compilation led to a second-stage gig at the Lilith Fair. In 1999, a Universal/Motown music scout spotted her and made an introduction to former Motown CEO Kedar Massenberg.
Very Kewl
Thanks, I love her voice!
ReplyDeleteBAC