Anaïs, full name Anaïs Croze, is a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 singer. She was born in Grenoble

Grenoble

Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...

, Isère

Isère

Isère is a department in the Rhône-Alpes region in the east of France named after the river Isère.- History :Isère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Dauphiné...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 on August 20, 1976. Her first album, called The Cheap Show, was recorded live in January 2004 and released in 2005. The Cheap Show, a pun on "peep-show", is titled such as she is the only musician on stage and makes extensive use of her JamMan pedal.

Biography

Anaïs, who grew up in Marseille

Marseille

Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

, Bouches-du-Rhône

Bouches-du-Rhône

Bouches-du-Rhône is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.-History of the department:...

 and studied English in Aix-en-Provence

Aix-en-Provence

Aix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city-commune in southern France, some north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône, of which it is a subprefecture. The population of Aix is...

, was the lead singer, composer and lyricist in Opossum from 1999 to late 2002 when the renowned band split after about 200 gigs in France, Switzerland and even Germany, and a seven-track CD called Excuse-moi, j'voulais te d'mander (Sorry, I Wanted To Ask You). Anaïs then went on a successful solo tour (March 2003) with personal songs and characters full of wit and energy. Her show (the Cheap Show) was based on raw rock energy, minimalism and stand-up, a guitar and a loop pedal she used for voice only.

She is also famous for her elastic voice, imitating or simply paying live tributes to well-known and established Francophone

Francophone

The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....

 singers like Francis Cabrel

Francis Cabrel

Francis Cabrel is a well-known French singer-songwriter and guitarist. Inspired heavily by Bob Dylan, he has released a number of albums falling mostly within the realm of folk, with occasional forays into blues or country. Several of his songs, such as "L'encre de tes yeux" and "Petite Marie"...

, Eddy Mitchell

Eddy Mitchell

Eddy Mitchell is a French singer and actor. He began his career in the late 1950s, with the group Les Chaussettes Noires , taking his name from the American expatriate tough-guy actor Eddie Constantine...

, Latin (Shakira), American (N.E.R.D, Kelis), Italian-born Carla Bruni

Carla Bruni

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is an Italian-French songwriter, singer, actress, and former model...

 or French Canadian Lynda Lemay

Lynda Lemay

Lynda Lemay is a Canadian francophone singer-songwriter. Through her mother she is a descendant of Zacharie Cloutier....

, and poking fun, among others, at teenage flirts (Mon cœur, mon amour), Scottish or New Orleans folklore, and various accents ranging from typical Scots to Québécois. Anaïs, who started singing as a child in a choir and has always wanted to be an actress and more recently a film director, could be described as a modern trobairitz

Trobairitz

The trobairitz were Occitan female troubadours of the 12th and 13th centuries, active from around 1170 to approximately 1260. The word trobairitz was first used in the 13th-century romance Flamenca. It comes from the Provençal word trobar, the literal meaning of which is "to find", and the...

 inasmuch as she not only sings about herself and the world around her but also acts and plays the parts of caricatured stereotypes of our times. Although her main concerns seem to be love (Christina), she also tackles more serious problems, but on a light and funny note as ever, like racism (Elle sort qu'avec des blacks), depression and solitude (La vie est dure). Her musical style is a happy mixture of folk, pop blues, chanson

Chanson

A chanson is in general any lyric-driven French song, usually polyphonic and secular. A singer specialising in chansons is known as a "chanteur" or "chanteuse" ; a collection of chansons, especially from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, is also known as a chansonnier.-Chanson de geste:The...

, rap and even raggamuffin and heavy metal.

Her self-acknowledged influences are quite eclectic: Judy Garland and Bette Midler for their music hall

Music hall

Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...

 artistry; Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...

 for his rough or/and country music side; Brenda Kahn

Brenda Kahn

Brenda Kahn is a NYC-based singer-songwriter known for her poetic lyrics. Her career began in 1990, when her first album, Goldfish Don't Talk Back, was released to critical acclaim. Her punk-tinged folk music led to a major label deal with the Chaos label at Columbia Records, and in 1992, Kahn...

 for derision; Canadian Peaches for minimalism; Chris Isaak

Chris Isaak

Christopher Joseph "Chris" Isaak is an American rock musician and occasional actor.-Early life:Isaak was born in Stockton, California, the son of Dorothy , a potato chip factory worker, and Joe Isaak, a forklift driver. Isaak's mother is Italian American, originating from Genoa...

 and others like Etta James

Etta James

Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...

; the Beach Boys

The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...

; Marie Dubas

Marie Dubas

Marie Dubas was a music-hall singer, diseuse and comedienne.Born in Paris, France, Marie Dubas began her career as a stage actress but became famous as a singer. Using the great Yvette Guilbert as her model, Dubas started singing in the small cabarets of Montmartre mixing comedy into her routine...

, a French interwar cabaret entertainer whom she quite resembles and describes as "a true hurricane of a woman"; and the White Stripes

The White Stripes

The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...

 because "they understood everything about blues and rock". Although Anaïs did learn musical theory and the violin as a little girl, and later the clarinet, she now confesses she can only play the guitar for her own songs and does not even know the names of chords and tunings! This relative innocence is undeniably part of her charm and talent, and only adds to the magic of her songs. Her irresistible sense of humour and interactive stage performances make Anaïs a promising and original chanteuse, whose self-produced album and refreshing TV appearances have been praised by the public and professionals alike.

Her band Opossum was a Découverte (nominee as a newcomer band) of the 2003 Printemps de Bourges

Printemps de Bourges

Le Printemps de Bourges is an annual music festival that is held in Bourges, France, during five days. It is now a major event in France and Europe....

, to which Anaïs returned two years later to be awarded two trophies this time, the Attention Talent Disque for best new album and the Attention Talent Scène for best new stage artist, which made her a most remarkable winner in this festival.

The Cheap Show, live in Marseille, her first album, the auto produced recording of her show ended up selling 500 000, after first starting with word of mouth its only publicity. Anaïs released a studio version of her first single on February 27, The new edition of "the cheap show" featuring five new tracks, three of which were recorded during Lenoir's Black Session on French radio station France Inter

France Inter

France Inter is a major French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is a "generalist" station, aiming to provide a wide national audience with a full service of news and intelligent spoken-word programming, both serious and entertaining, liberally punctuated with an eclectic mix of...

. The Cheap Show is an exception in the French music industry since it was the first time an artist achieved success with a live album as a first album. She was Alain Souchon

Alain Souchon

Alain Souchon is a French singer, songwriter and actor. He has released 15 albums and has played roles in seven films.-Profile:...

's supporting artist at the Olympia

Paris Olympia

The Olympia is a music hall in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Located at No. 28, Boulevard des Capucines, its closest métro/RER stations are Madeleine, Opéra, Havre – Caumartin and Auber....

 in Paris in the early days of March 2006.
Though she was shortlisted for the 2005 Prix Constantin

Prix Constantin

The Prix Constantin is an annual French music prize awarded to the best album of an artist who has come to prominence during the course of the past year. It was inaugurated in 2002, following the example of the Mercury Music Prize, as an attempt to bring to light artists who have not had major...

 and more recently the 2006 edition of Victoires de la musique

Victoires de la Musique

Victoires de la musique , is an annual French award ceremony that recognizes the best musical artists of the year.- Male artist of the year :*1985 : Michel Jonasz*1986 : Jean-Jacques Goldman*1987 : Johnny Hallyday...

 as Révélation scène de l’année (best new stage artist of the year), she failed to win either of the much-coveted accolades this time around, nevertheless, her fresh performance on TV at the Victoires de la Musique put her album on top of the French charts.

In 2007 she worked with L-A band the Blood Arm for a duet version of their song "do i have your attention". She wrote a song for French actress Karin Viard in Maïwenn musical film, "le bal des actrices". She appeared lately in the French channel canal + short TV series "Rien dans les Poches" by Marion Vernoux with Emma De Caunes.
She wrote a whole pop show for indie festival lfsm in 2007 called "the Amber story" in which she played and sang all characters

Her 2nd album The Love Album, her first studio album released on November 3, 2008, is produced by Hip hop masterDan the Automator

Dan the Automator

Daniel M. Nakamura , better known by the stage name Dan the Automator, is a Japanese-American hip hop producer. He founded the record label 75 Ark, which was distributed by Tommy Boy Records during its short existence....

 to whom she confessed having a crush on his Lovage album with Mike Patton and Jennifer Charles), his "organic" groovy sound, and sense of humour.

Albums