STACI GRIESBACH - BIOGRAPHY
(Photos for promotional use for MY PATSY CLINE SONGBOOK. Photo credit: Kim Thiel.)
STACI GRIESBACH (Long-form artist bio)
Staci Griesbach (pronounced "STAY-cee GREECE bahk" / "Greece" "Bach") is a Los Angeles-based vocalist brings together her passion for jazz and country music as she interprets songs from country music's "Great American Songbook" in the style of jazz. Griesbach is currently celebrating country music icon Shania Twain and her 25th anniversary of the breakout album The Woman In Me with Griesbach's own interpretation of a selection of songs from that album. Griesbach's sophomore release is entitled "My Shania Twain Songbook" and will be on music platforms worldwide on December 18, 2020. Created during the 2020 global pandemic, the celebration of Twain's catalog was an opportunity to revisit music that inspired Griesbach in her formative years, a "coming of age." With covers of some of Twain's fan-favorite tunes like "Any Man of Mine" and "No One Needs To Know," Griesbach hopes to continue to find a bridge between her two most beloved genres of music.
Griesbach's debut album is the first full-length recorded jazz interpretation of Cline’s catalog called My Patsy Cline Songbook. Throughout the album, Staci takes fans on a journey through songs Patsy Cline made famous by some of Nashville's most renown songwriters including Hank Cochran, Harlan Howard, Bill Monroe, Willie Nelson and more. These prolific American songwriters contributed greatly to the Nashville Sound - arguably in the same way Irving Berlin and Cole Porter contributed to the foundation of jazz vocal repertoire that exists today. Similarly, it could be argued that Patsy Cline has helped shape and influence many female country singers today, much like Ella Fitzgerald or Billie Holiday has throughout the jazz landscape.
Raised on a working farm in rural Wisconsin, Staci grew up studying piano, alto saxophone and voice throughout her childhood and started swinging into jazz through performing groups in her formative years, of which included playing alto saxophone in the high school jazz band. Staci developed a love for musical theatre as well, taking on lead roles in her school’s musical theater program (“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” Co-Narrator) and performing as a singer/dancer in a broadway revue-style show The Wisconsin Singers for several years while enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Staci started honing in on jazz studies in 2012 with the Santa Monica College Vocal Jazz Ensemble and private studies with UCLA educator and arranger Michele Weir. Staci has also studied under vocal instructor Dave Stroud, jazz vocalist and multiple Grammy nominee Tierney Sutton. In 2015, Staci started gigging locally in Los Angeles with a trio, and quickly realized she wanted to create a unique project where she could connect with audiences in an authentic way. While thinking about a recording, Staci wanted something authentic that she could perform and share with audiences, so she went back to her roots in Classic Country music. While the Great American Songbook is a treasure trove for jazz artists, Staci wanted to connect her background and upbringing in rural America with her current musical interests. One morning after yoga, Staci dropped the needle on her Patsy Cline "Greatest Hits" vinyl record, and knew this is what she was being called to create.
In the fall of 2015, Staci started working on arrangements with Michele Weir, studying with Brazilian artist and arranger Celia Vaz in Rio De Janeiro in February of 2016 bringing both “I Fall to Pieces” and “Sweet Dreams” alive in a bossa nova vibe. In 2017, Staci took a break from the Patsy Cline tribute project to launch a You Tube series called "Staci Sings Ella," (#StaciSingsElla) celebrating the legacy of Ella Fitzgerald by singing 100 songs in 100 days for 100 years to commemorate the First Lady of Song's centennial in April of 2017. The three-month venture resulted in a benefit concert raising money for the Ella Fitzgerald Foundation. Staci recorded the first six tracks for My Patsy Cline Songbook in January of 2018, and through the Fall of 2018, Staci started collaborating with Tamir Hendelman, Jeremy Siskind and Josh Nelson to put the finishing touches on the album for final recording sessions in the Spring of 2019.
From Carnegie Hall to Rudy’s Jazz Club in Nashville and around the world, Griesbach has helped celebrate Patsy Cline as an icon, demonstrating another Great American Songbook to be reimagined in the style of jazz. Rolling Stone debuted Griesbach’s first single, “Walkin’ After Midnight,” calling it “a gorgeous jazz interpretation.” Griesbach debuted her album at the Catalina Jazz Club in Los Angeles, California and then went on to perform a birthday tribute at the Country Music Hall of Fame alongside Cline’s session player Bill Pursell honoring Cline’s birthday before debuting her album to the Nashville community at Rudy’s Jazz Club. Griesbach also performed at the famed Carnegie Hall in October, 2019 for the the feature film premiere of Lifetime’s Critics Choice Nominee “Patsy & Loretta,” along with the Nashville Premiere in Franklin, TN. Cline’s daughter, Julie Fudge, says “these arrangements are new and fresh and so engaging” in the liner notes to the album adding, “I truly think Mom would have listened to this collection.”
Staci holds a Bachelors of Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is currently working towards her music performance certificate at Berklee Online. For nearly 15 years, Staci worked in marketing for the entertainment business at Sony Pictures Entertainment and still very much enjoys sitting back and watching a good movie -- especially with a good soundtrack.
Please follow along with Staci here, or on Facebook @StaciGriesbachMusic, Instagram @StaciGriesbach or Twitter @StaciGriesbach.
STACI GRIESBACH (Long-form artist bio)
Staci Griesbach (pronounced "STAY-cee GREECE bahk" / "Greece" "Bach") is a Los Angeles-based vocalist brings together her passion for jazz and country music as she interprets songs from country music's "Great American Songbook" in the style of jazz. Griesbach is currently celebrating country music icon Shania Twain and her 25th anniversary of the breakout album The Woman In Me with Griesbach's own interpretation of a selection of songs from that album. Griesbach's sophomore release is entitled "My Shania Twain Songbook" and will be on music platforms worldwide on December 18, 2020. Created during the 2020 global pandemic, the celebration of Twain's catalog was an opportunity to revisit music that inspired Griesbach in her formative years, a "coming of age." With covers of some of Twain's fan-favorite tunes like "Any Man of Mine" and "No One Needs To Know," Griesbach hopes to continue to find a bridge between her two most beloved genres of music.
Griesbach's debut album is the first full-length recorded jazz interpretation of Cline’s catalog called My Patsy Cline Songbook. Throughout the album, Staci takes fans on a journey through songs Patsy Cline made famous by some of Nashville's most renown songwriters including Hank Cochran, Harlan Howard, Bill Monroe, Willie Nelson and more. These prolific American songwriters contributed greatly to the Nashville Sound - arguably in the same way Irving Berlin and Cole Porter contributed to the foundation of jazz vocal repertoire that exists today. Similarly, it could be argued that Patsy Cline has helped shape and influence many female country singers today, much like Ella Fitzgerald or Billie Holiday has throughout the jazz landscape.
Raised on a working farm in rural Wisconsin, Staci grew up studying piano, alto saxophone and voice throughout her childhood and started swinging into jazz through performing groups in her formative years, of which included playing alto saxophone in the high school jazz band. Staci developed a love for musical theatre as well, taking on lead roles in her school’s musical theater program (“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” Co-Narrator) and performing as a singer/dancer in a broadway revue-style show The Wisconsin Singers for several years while enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Staci started honing in on jazz studies in 2012 with the Santa Monica College Vocal Jazz Ensemble and private studies with UCLA educator and arranger Michele Weir. Staci has also studied under vocal instructor Dave Stroud, jazz vocalist and multiple Grammy nominee Tierney Sutton. In 2015, Staci started gigging locally in Los Angeles with a trio, and quickly realized she wanted to create a unique project where she could connect with audiences in an authentic way. While thinking about a recording, Staci wanted something authentic that she could perform and share with audiences, so she went back to her roots in Classic Country music. While the Great American Songbook is a treasure trove for jazz artists, Staci wanted to connect her background and upbringing in rural America with her current musical interests. One morning after yoga, Staci dropped the needle on her Patsy Cline "Greatest Hits" vinyl record, and knew this is what she was being called to create.
In the fall of 2015, Staci started working on arrangements with Michele Weir, studying with Brazilian artist and arranger Celia Vaz in Rio De Janeiro in February of 2016 bringing both “I Fall to Pieces” and “Sweet Dreams” alive in a bossa nova vibe. In 2017, Staci took a break from the Patsy Cline tribute project to launch a You Tube series called "Staci Sings Ella," (#StaciSingsElla) celebrating the legacy of Ella Fitzgerald by singing 100 songs in 100 days for 100 years to commemorate the First Lady of Song's centennial in April of 2017. The three-month venture resulted in a benefit concert raising money for the Ella Fitzgerald Foundation. Staci recorded the first six tracks for My Patsy Cline Songbook in January of 2018, and through the Fall of 2018, Staci started collaborating with Tamir Hendelman, Jeremy Siskind and Josh Nelson to put the finishing touches on the album for final recording sessions in the Spring of 2019.
From Carnegie Hall to Rudy’s Jazz Club in Nashville and around the world, Griesbach has helped celebrate Patsy Cline as an icon, demonstrating another Great American Songbook to be reimagined in the style of jazz. Rolling Stone debuted Griesbach’s first single, “Walkin’ After Midnight,” calling it “a gorgeous jazz interpretation.” Griesbach debuted her album at the Catalina Jazz Club in Los Angeles, California and then went on to perform a birthday tribute at the Country Music Hall of Fame alongside Cline’s session player Bill Pursell honoring Cline’s birthday before debuting her album to the Nashville community at Rudy’s Jazz Club. Griesbach also performed at the famed Carnegie Hall in October, 2019 for the the feature film premiere of Lifetime’s Critics Choice Nominee “Patsy & Loretta,” along with the Nashville Premiere in Franklin, TN. Cline’s daughter, Julie Fudge, says “these arrangements are new and fresh and so engaging” in the liner notes to the album adding, “I truly think Mom would have listened to this collection.”
Staci holds a Bachelors of Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is currently working towards her music performance certificate at Berklee Online. For nearly 15 years, Staci worked in marketing for the entertainment business at Sony Pictures Entertainment and still very much enjoys sitting back and watching a good movie -- especially with a good soundtrack.
Please follow along with Staci here, or on Facebook @StaciGriesbachMusic, Instagram @StaciGriesbach or Twitter @StaciGriesbach.
