Marié Digby

All Music Guide:

Singer/songwriter Marié Digby is perhaps best known for posting a clip of herself performing an acoustic version of Rihanna's "Umbrella" on YouTube. The clip received thousands of views, was used on the MTV reality show The Hills, and even garnered her an appearance on the late-night talk show Last Call with Carson Daly. A native of Los Angeles, CA, Digby grew up in a multicultural family with an Irish-American father and Japanese mother. Interested in music from a young age, Digby began taking piano lessons while still a toddler. By the time she had reached high school, Digby was also playing guitar and performing her own music. After high school, she enrolled as a philosophy major at the University of California, Berkeley, before leaving to pursue music full-time.

In 2004, her song "Miss Invisible" took first prize in the Pantene Pro-Voice Music Competition and landed her some high-profile performances on MTV and VH1. Soon after, Digby -- then 21 years old -- signed with Hollywood Records. In 2007, it was mistakenly reported that Digby had been "discovered" and signed to Hollywood after her YouTube version of "Umbrella" became an Internet sensation. In subsequent interviews, Digby denied that there was ever an attempt to fool the public. Around the same time, she released a four-song EP featuring a version of "Umbrella." Her full-length debut, Unfold, followed in 2008, unveiling her summery pop music to a national audience, while 2009's Breathing Underwater focused more heavily on R&B songwriting and heavy production.

Wikipedia:

Marié Christina Digby (pron.: /ɑrˈeɪ ˈɪɡ/ mar-ee-AY DIG-bee; born April 16, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist and actress. She is known for her acoustic cover version of Rihanna's "Umbrella", which attracted attention on YouTube in 2007. The song was subsequently played on the radio station STAR 98.7, was featured on the highly rated third season opening episode of the MTV show The Hills, and peaked at #10 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. Digby performed the song on the late night talk show Last Call with Carson Daly on August 2, 2007. Since then, Digby has released three studio albums, including one Japanese cover album. These albums have spawned three singles overall.

Digby has released a 17-episode web mini-series called Breathing Underwater, the same name as her 3rd album.

Life and career [edit]

1983–2004: Early life [edit]

Digby, who is Irish–Japanese, is the oldest of three siblings. Her two sisters are Naomi (born December 12, 1985) and Erina (born August 8, 1987). She began writing songs during high school in Los Angeles, California. After her freshman year at the University of California, Berkeley, she won the 2004 Pantene Pro-Voice competition with her song "Miss Invisible". The grand prize for the concert included working with a professional producer on an album, $5,000 and performing on stage with other top performers.

2004–2008: Career beginnings and Unfold era [edit]

After performing at night clubs, Digby signed a publishing deal with Rondor Music, a subsidiary of Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group in early 2005. By the end of 2005, Digby had signed with Disney's Hollywood Records and her first album of original songs was completed by the end of 2006. Also in 2006, her song "Fool" was included on the Disney compilation album Girl Next. In early 2007, she began to post simple videos of herself singing cover songs of other artists on YouTube in order to gain visibility. Hollywood Records then released a studio recording of her rendition of "Umbrella" to iTunes and radio stations. She often performs with a Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitar.

Digby's first official single, "Say It Again", was released to radio stations on January 18, 2008. Her debut album, Unfold, which was completed over a year before, was released on April 8, 2008. The design of the cover for the album was mostly based on the sketches she drew during her downtime while recording the album. She worked with some of Hollywood's best including Tom Rothrock (Producer), Charlie Paxson (drums) and Matt Chait (guitar). Many different editions of the album exist, including a Japanese edition with different cover artwork and an alternate tracklisting.

2009–2010: Second Home and Breathing Underwater [edit]

Digby released a collection of Japanese cover songs on March 4, 2009. The album, titled Second Home, was recorded completely in Japanese and received a limited release only in Japan.

Digby's second English release was originally slated for release in May 2009, but she was not very nice and asked the label to push the release date back until she found a manager at Hollywood Records. According to Amazon.com, Breathing Underwater was now to be released on September 8, 2009. The album was leaked to the Internet on April 8, 2009, before the release date.

Digby once recorded a video of hers in the bathroom because "The bathroom has the best acoustics in her house".

On May 23, 2010, Digby announced from her Twitter that she "will be making a new Japanese and American album very soon". This would be her third album composed in English and second album composed in Japanese. Both these albums have yet to be titled and yet to have a release date.

Digby released a 17-episode series - Breathing Underwater, viewable at abcmusiclounge.com, in conjunction with the Lilith Women's campaign. This series is about how it inspired Digby to write and create her second English album under the same title. The series kick started July 1, 2010.

On December 8, 2010, Digby was featured as one of the many artists to do an urban cover on Disney's Urban Pop Disney CD. Along with DJ Hasebe, Digby sang and put a twist on The Little Mermaid's Part of Your World.

2011: Debut in the Philippines [edit]

She had a one night only concert in the Philippines on August 1, 2009 at The Tent in Taguig City.

In June 2011, she recorded an album for Star Records, ABS-CBN's own record label, in Manila. She promoted the album in the country from August to September 2011. The album includes a cover of Kuh Ledesma's "I Think I'm in Love". It also features Filipino artists Sam Milby and Jericho Rosales. Her first Philippine music video was shot in Nuvali, Laguna. The album Your Love was released on September 16, 2011 by Star Records and MCA Music.

She is currently under Cornerstone Talent Management Center, the agency that manages Richard Poon, Sam Milby and Yeng Constantino. Digby was set to release a U.S. album sometime in 2012, but no further details have been given on the project.

2012: Your Love Asian tour [edit]

In 2012, Digby did an Asian tour for her Your Love album, including shows in Singapore and the Philippines.

Her Singapore live show was held on 18 October 2012 at the Esplanade Concert Hall.

In August 2012, she was interviewed by Yahoo!; during the interview, she shared that childhood depression shaped her music career and that she is preparing for her first independent album for 2013.

YouTube fame [edit]

Digby gained popularity on YouTube through her simple covers of popular music from various artists, including Linkin Park, Game, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Maroon 5, Incubus, Lady Gaga, Usher, Beyoncé, and Nelly Furtado, as well as her original compositions. She has over 290,000 subscribers and the videos on her channel have amassed over 120 million views, the most popular being a cover of "Umbrella" by Rihanna, which has gained over 20 million views.

Charitable involvement [edit]

Digby has ventures encouraging young people to get involved in songwriting and musical performance. In 2009, she sponsored a songwriting contest for Bronx teenagers through "The Generation Project", a non-profit organization that facilitates donor-designed charitable gifts to children in low-income areas. The winner of Digby's contest—a special education student from the Bronx—received a brand-new guitar with accessories.

Digby held an autographed Fender Stratocaster and Les Paul Guitar Giveaway Contest on YouTube. Contestants were asked to create an original video that included her hit single "Say It Again" in some fashion. The winner of this contest was Peter Park from Hong Kong.

On April 1, 2011, Digby, together with 29 other musicians participated in Jam For Japan Manila, a benefit concert for victims of the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan.

Songs in other media [edit]

Filmography [edit]

Digby has released her first movie, or rather a 17-episode web mini-series called "Breathing Underwater". At first, Digby wanted the movie to be called "Feel" but Breathing underwater is confirmed. The movie is released on 1 July 2010 at ABCMusicLounge.com.

About the movie [edit]

The movie centers around how Digby came across writing the songs in Breathing Underwater, her second album, and the making of it. The movie stars herself, some of her friends (namely Kristin and JT) and professional actors. The movie was made possible by Hollywood Records and StoryMusicStory.

Episode schedule [edit]