Rebel Red
Red, the daughter of a magazine editor and jazz critic from New York City, grew up amongst artists of all kinds and began playing piano at age seven.
"My parents were music lovers; my dad played the trumpet a bit - he turned me on to jazz and classical music. My ma was into rockabilly and crooners. They both liked Dylan and the Beatles. Early on I was exposed to a lot of good stuff.."
When she was thirteen her family moved to Europe, eventually settling in England where she took up the electric guitar. Red cut her performing teeth playing with English bands for several gruelling years on the U.S. overseas military bases, mostly in Germany.
" It was a performer's boot camp; we worked six nights a week, four to six hours each night. We were constantly on the road with several hours of driving between each base. We set up and tore down a huge PA every night; I was the lead singer. When I finally quit you couldn't tell me anything, I was too tough and too tired...! "
Red spent some time in England recuperating from the bases and offering her original material on the less demanding London club circuit.
"I had fallen in love with R&B and Country & Western music while playing the American bases...when I got back to England I didn't have much use for the dominant musical trends, or perhaps I should say they didn't have much use for me! In my writing I was already starting to blend the British influence with American roots rock."
Hankering for a change she returned to the States and after playing the NYC club circuit for a while, met late producer/guitarist Steve Burgh (Willie Nelson, Black Sabbath).
"At that time I was still working with an English guitarist who was very talented, but after doing a kind of art rock thing in New York for a while we began to wear out... Then I met Steve, and for the first time I got to play with guys who had a real American sound. They were backing up the country, swamp, folk-rock players who were out there, recording albums and getting national gigs..... as a kid I idolized these guys. Working with them raised my self confidence and helped me to define my musical direction, although it took awhile to mature. "
During the 90's Red released three records on various homespun labels before setting her music career aside for several years to raise a family.
"It was time to take a break. Having kids (2 boys) was great - it forced me to live a more balanced life and made me a stronger, more patient person.
And now, I have a tremendous appetite to get back out there and play!"
She has now emerged with a catalog of over 300 songs, her own publishing company, a recording studio and a fledgling record label, redZrecordZ.
" I 'm always learning something new, always a beginner. Performing is a two way street. In the best shows there is no real stage, it's everybody together in one uplifting experience."
Red produces other artists and has contributed material for theater and film. Release date for her new album, "Sex, Religion, Politics" : June 1, 2008.
Some Other Things You May Find Interesting About Red:
As a youngster, Red hitch-hiked across Europe and the Sahara Desert, carrying a backpack, her guitar, a sleeping bag and a tent sewn from an old green silk RAF parachute, which housed her for the entire trip. She ended up in Calabar, Nigeria (West Africa) where she found a job teaching English and French at an elementary school, earning enough money to get home. In between school terms she spent a month in the Cameroons camping on the grounds of a Catholic mission and wandering the beaches of Douala with her guitar.
Red became interested in yoga while still in her teens. She has traveled to India seven times to study with Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar.
And, she can dance!