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All Music Guide:
Blessed with a voice that suggests the high lonesome purity of Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris with an undertow of smoky sophistication, Lindi Ortega is a Canadian singer and songwriter who has become a rising star on the North American alt-country scene. Ortega was born and raised in the suburbs of Ontario; her mother was of Irish heritage, while her father's family came from Mexico. Her father was a musician who played bass in a Latino band, and Lindi has cited growing up in a house filled with music and seeing her dad work with gifted Latina vocalists as a key formative experience. When she was sixteen, she borrowed a guitar from her parents and began teaching herself to play, and once she mastered three chords, she started writing songs. Ortega absorbed a broad range of influences -- iconic singer/songwriters such as Leonard Cohen and Van Morrison, country legends like Loretta Lynn and Johnny Cash, and contemporary acts such as Jeff Buckley and Cat Power -- and by the time she graduated from high school, she'd began performing at local clubs. In 2001, Ortega released her first album, The Taste of Forbidden Fruit, which she released herself, selling most of the copies from the stage at her shows, and a second LP, Fall from Grace, appeared in 2007. Ortega's next project was a self-titled EP issued in 2008 in which she teamed up with producer Ron Lopata, who had heard her material via her MySpace page and was impressed with her voice. The Canadian label Cherrytree Records signed Ortega, and she released an EP, 2008's The Drifter, also produced by Lopata, which brought her to the attention of a wider audience. She began touring extensively, both as a headliner and opening for acts such as Ray Davies, Noah and the Whale, Keane, and Kevin Costner & Modern West. In 2010, Ortega went on the road with Brandon Flowers of the Killers, singing backup on his solo tour. In 2010, she parted ways with Cherrytree Records and signed a new deal with Last Gang Records, who released her album Little Red Boots in the summer of 2011.
Wikipedia:
Lindi Ortega (born May 28) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Toronto, Ontario. Now living in Tennessee, her voice has been described as a blend of Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, and Emmylou Harris. She spent nearly a decade as an independent artist in the Toronto music scene, releasing two albums and an EP in that time. She has been described as "Toronto's best kept secret" and nicknamed "Indie Lindi". Ortega is currently signed to Last Gang Records where she has released two albums, most recently "Cigarettes & Truckstops" in October 2012.
At the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011, Ortega toured extensively as a backup singer for Brandon Flowers, the lead singer of The Killers, in support of his solo album, Flamingo. This tour included dates in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Mexico, as well as televised live performances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Later... with Jools Holland and at Abbey Road Studios. There were also a number of festival dates in the United States and Europe, including Coachella, T in the Park and Oxegen.
On February 7, 2012, Ortega was nominated for two Juno Awards - New Artist of the Year and Roots & Traditional Album: Solo.
On June 14, 2012, Ortega was named as a long listed nominee for the 2012 Polaris Music Prize.
Family [edit]
Her mother is of Irish descent and her father is of Mexican descent. Her father often could be found at her early shows supporting his daughter, well-known to and interacting with fans.
Charity work [edit]
A self-described bird lover, Ortega organised and was the featured performer at a benefit concert for the World Parrot Refuge in Coombs, British Columbia on 3 March 2010. The concert was held at The Supermarket in Toronto and featured a collection of local musicians that included Sara Kamin, Mandippal Jandu, The Framework, Emma-Lee, The DoneFors, and Dylan Murray.
Career [edit]
The Taste of Forbidden Fruit [edit]
Ortega's debut album, The Taste of Forbidden Fruit, was released in 2001. In her review of the album, Coreen Wolanski of Exclaim! described Ortega's voice as "the closest thing to vocal perfection" she had heard in a long time. CBC Radio 3 described the album as follows:
Lindi seasons her musical scores like a deranged chef whipping up a culinary creation. A dash of country, a pinch of folk, a sprinkle of rock, and a smidgeon of jazz! Last but not least, to add a little spice, how about some vaudeville cabaret? No, this is not a textbook recipe, but rather a mystical scribbling from an ancient scroll. Lindi is enigmatic and enchanting with a voice that can be cheeky and brassy or haunting and ghostly. Her music derives from the metaphysical in a sphere that warps time and defies orthodoxy. This madness is a pure passion that has never met the technicalities of music theory.The song Nothing At All from this album was used in the online campaign for the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.
Fall from Grace [edit]
In late 2005 Ortega began advertising her new album as coming in the autumn of 2006 having declared, "People kept pushing and prodding and finally I saw the light". Fall From Grace was released on 6 February 2007. In reviewing the album Oxyfication.com described Fall From Grace as "the quintessential album of the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of life as an indie singer."
The EPs [edit]
In 2007 Ortega collaborated with Juno Award winning producer Ron Lopata on "I Need", a song for the compilation album Year of the Monkey - 68. Lopata has since produced Ortega's two EPs and occasionally tours with her as her keyboardist. Ortega's eponymous EP was initially sold at concerts and on 5 March 2008 was made available online from independent music retailer killthe8.com. When the initial run sold out the EP was discontinued. After being signed to Cherrytree Records / Interscope Records in August 2008 Ortega released her second EP, The Drifter E.P., to critical success. Ortega then began an extensive touring schedule which included touring with Noah & the Whale in the autumn of 2008, performing at the 2009 SXSW festival in Austin, TX in March, and opening for Kevin Costner & The Modern West's tour in July. In September 2009 Ortega performed on a cross-Canada tour as opening act for Keane's North American tour. After the success of labelmate Lady Gaga, Cherrytree decided they would focus on dance / pop acts and Ortega signed with Last Gang Records.
Little Red Boots [edit]
Ortega announced on her blog that a new full length album would be released on 7 June 2011 on Last Gang. A release party was held at The Dakota Tavern in Toronto on 6 June 2011. The album and song, Little Red Boots, are named after her signature red boots that she got while on tour with Kevin Costner. The album received critical acclaim and was nominated for two Juno Awards as well as a place on the Polaris Music Prize Long List.
Cigarettes & Truckstops [edit]
In December, 2011, Ortega moved to Nashville, TN where she began working with producer Colin Linden to record her album Cigarettes & Truckstops. The album was released on Last Gang Records on October 2, 2012. She is currently on tour opening for Southern California punk legends Social Distortion.
