Toni Price
Encyclopedia
Toni Price is a country-blues singer from Austin, Texas
.
. Her adoptive parents, the Prices, named her Luiese Esther after her grandmothers. Her first exposure to blues was through second-generation blueswoman Bonnie Raitt
. Luiese later began to study the recordings of women blues singers such as Sippie Wallace
and Victoria Spivey
, from whose music Raitt herself had learned.
Luiese moved to New Jersey
, where she started schooling and began singing, then moved to Nashville, Tennessee
, where a summer parks program featured a talent contest in her 10th year, which she entered as Toni Price. This was her first recorded appearance on a Nashville stage, belting out "One Tin Soldier
". Price's conservative family wasn't particularly musical: "Since I was adopted, they didn't know what to expect of me, and I believe you're born to do whatever it is you do - that maybe my [birth] parents were musical. Maybe not. But I knew as a little bitty child I was going to be a singer. I didn't know how you did it or know any musicians, but I knew I would get there."
Price musically grew in Nashville, where she recorded a few country and western
singles. However, she felt frustrated by the 'rigid' Nashville music industry. She accepted an invitation to play the South by Southwest
music festival in Austin in 1989. The town's music fans "just responded so lovingly that I said that's it. I know where I belong." Here she met and learned from the locals, who included Clifford Antone
, owner of Antone's blues nightclub, and Austin-area guitarists such as Derek O'Brien, who produced her second album, "Hey". Shortly after she began singing in country bars in Nashville, she met songwriter Gwil Owen
, who wrote eight (one co-written) of the 15 songs on her debut, Swim Away (1993). Price cites vocalists Aretha Franklin
, Emmylou Harris
, Linda Ronstadt
, Patsy Cline
, and Ray Charles
as her major influences.
Swim Away and Price's second album, Hey (1995), received praise from both fans and critics. She has been often compared with Patsy Cline ("Patsy Cline on a Harley") and Bonnie Raitt. Price has won numerous awards, including Female Vocalist of the Year (1994–97), Album of the Year (Hey), Song of the Year ("Tumbleweed"), and Blues Artist of the Year. Her third album, Sol Power, was recorded at a club in Texas's remote town of Alpine. Sol Power (1999) is an acoustic live set from the Railroad Blues Club - in a tiny town in the picturesque southwestern desert lands of Texas. The landscape there inspired the band to, in Toni's words, "take it to the limit." Low Down and Up (1999) followed, and then came Midnight Pumpkin, (2001), Born to Be Blue (2003) and Talk Memphis (2007).
Except for infrequent appearances in Houston, Dallas, or an occasional music festival elsewhere, Price stays close to home and her daughter. "I have a sweet situation here," Price told John Burnett
of NPR
. "I don't have to go anywhere. People come and see me and I'm so, so lucky." Price performed at the wedding of Julia Roberts
and Daniel Moder in Taos, New Mexico
, on July 4, 2002.
Price has always performed music on her own terms; she refuses to go out and regularly did not even stand up while performing every Tuesday night for 15 years until June 2007 at the Continental Club in Austin, where music lovers feel that Toni Price has the same star potential as other musical talents such as Jimmie Vaughan
, Stevie Ray Vaughan
, Lyle Lovett
, and Nanci Griffith
that the town produced.
Price relocated to San Diego in June 2007, but two years later, in June 2009, she moved back to Austin.
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
.
Life and career
Price was born in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. Her adoptive parents, the Prices, named her Luiese Esther after her grandmothers. Her first exposure to blues was through second-generation blueswoman Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
. Luiese later began to study the recordings of women blues singers such as Sippie Wallace
Sippie Wallace
Sippie Wallace was an American singer-songwriter. Her early career in local tent shows gained her the billing "The Texas Nightingale". Between 1923 and 1927, she recorded over 40 songs for Okeh Records, many written by herself or her brothers, George and Hersal Thomas...
and Victoria Spivey
Victoria Spivey
Victoria Spivey was an American blues singer and songwriter. She is best known for her recordings of "Dope Head Blues" and "Organ Grinder Blues", and Spivey variously worked with her sister, Addie "Sweet Pease" Spivey, and with Bob Dylan, Lonnie Johnson, Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Clarence...
, from whose music Raitt herself had learned.
Luiese moved to New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, where she started schooling and began singing, then moved to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, where a summer parks program featured a talent contest in her 10th year, which she entered as Toni Price. This was her first recorded appearance on a Nashville stage, belting out "One Tin Soldier
One Tin Soldier
"One Tin Soldier" is a 1960s era anti-war song written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter. The Canadian pop group Original Caste first recorded the song in 1969. The track went to No. 6 on the RPM Magazine charts and hit the No.1 position on Canada's most influential radio chain, CHUM-AM, in Canada...
". Price's conservative family wasn't particularly musical: "Since I was adopted, they didn't know what to expect of me, and I believe you're born to do whatever it is you do - that maybe my [birth] parents were musical. Maybe not. But I knew as a little bitty child I was going to be a singer. I didn't know how you did it or know any musicians, but I knew I would get there."
Price musically grew in Nashville, where she recorded a few country and western
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singles. However, she felt frustrated by the 'rigid' Nashville music industry. She accepted an invitation to play the South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
music festival in Austin in 1989. The town's music fans "just responded so lovingly that I said that's it. I know where I belong." Here she met and learned from the locals, who included Clifford Antone
Clifford Antone
Clifford Antone was the founder of a well-known Austin blues club, record label, and a mentor to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan and numerous other musicians....
, owner of Antone's blues nightclub, and Austin-area guitarists such as Derek O'Brien, who produced her second album, "Hey". Shortly after she began singing in country bars in Nashville, she met songwriter Gwil Owen
Gwil Owen
Gwil Owen may refer to:*Gwilym Ellis Lane Owen, philosopher*Gwilym Emyr Owen III, songwriter...
, who wrote eight (one co-written) of the 15 songs on her debut, Swim Away (1993). Price cites vocalists Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
, Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
, Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
, and Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
as her major influences.
Swim Away and Price's second album, Hey (1995), received praise from both fans and critics. She has been often compared with Patsy Cline ("Patsy Cline on a Harley") and Bonnie Raitt. Price has won numerous awards, including Female Vocalist of the Year (1994–97), Album of the Year (Hey), Song of the Year ("Tumbleweed"), and Blues Artist of the Year. Her third album, Sol Power, was recorded at a club in Texas's remote town of Alpine. Sol Power (1999) is an acoustic live set from the Railroad Blues Club - in a tiny town in the picturesque southwestern desert lands of Texas. The landscape there inspired the band to, in Toni's words, "take it to the limit." Low Down and Up (1999) followed, and then came Midnight Pumpkin, (2001), Born to Be Blue (2003) and Talk Memphis (2007).
Except for infrequent appearances in Houston, Dallas, or an occasional music festival elsewhere, Price stays close to home and her daughter. "I have a sweet situation here," Price told John Burnett
John Burnett
John Burnett may refer to:* John Burnett , American judge on the Oregon Supreme Court*John Burnett , Aberdeen merchant*John Burnett , Scottish advocate and judge...
of NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
. "I don't have to go anywhere. People come and see me and I'm so, so lucky." Price performed at the wedding of Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
and Daniel Moder in Taos, New Mexico
Taos, New Mexico
Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...
, on July 4, 2002.
Price has always performed music on her own terms; she refuses to go out and regularly did not even stand up while performing every Tuesday night for 15 years until June 2007 at the Continental Club in Austin, where music lovers feel that Toni Price has the same star potential as other musical talents such as Jimmie Vaughan
Jimmie Vaughan
James Lawrence "Jimmie" Vaughan is an American blues rock guitarist and singer from Dallas, Texas, United States. He is the older brother of the late Stevie Ray Vaughan....
, Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan and frontman for Double Trouble, a band that included bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Born in Dallas, Vaughan moved to Austin at the age of 17 and...
, Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett
Lyle Pearce Lovett is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded thirteen albums and released 21 singles to date, including his highest entry, the number 10 chart hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, "Cowboy Man"...
, and Nanci Griffith
Nanci Griffith
Nanci Griffith, is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas.-Biography:...
that the town produced.
"My favorite thing someone says to one of my friends is, 'Why isn't she famous?' I love when they say that because that means they think maybe I'm good enough to be famous. To me, famous looks like a lot of work."
Price relocated to San Diego in June 2007, but two years later, in June 2009, she moved back to Austin.
Discography
- Swim Away (1993)
- Hey (1995)
- Sol Power (1999)
- Low Down and Up (1999)
- Midnight Pumpkin (2001)
- Born to Be Blue (2003)
- Talk Memphis (2007)