Lorrie Rivers, singer/songwriter, jazz musician
from Discover Carolina, by Amy Boyce
“…when I heard a velvety voice wafting from the front of the restaurant. This singer’s smooth, sultry delivery of jazz standards was mesmerizing, and I craned my neck to see who it was who sounded so much like Sarah Vaughn.
It was Lorrie Rivers, which floored me. You see, I’d met Lorrie at college in upstate New York years ago. I had never heard her sing. I had only known her as a phenomenal actress and had forgotten, somehow, that she grew up in South Carolina.
As we reconnected, I was blown away by Lorrie’s post-college flurry of artistic activity. Not only had she started a new career as a chanteuse, but she’d continued her acting, performed around the world, written and produced screenplays and sang in Washington D.C. at the Grits and Granite Ball during the last presidential inauguration (Obama’s first term).
Lest you think that Lorrie’s being an old friend makes me biased, rest assured I am not alone in my praise. Columbia’s Free Times said "… Lorrie Rivers is a versatile vocalist whose latest work finds her writing her own modern-day jazz-infused tunes that would put Norah Jones to shame" andThe State Newspapercalled her "a singer who has the kind of voice that can be found in dreams"“
BIO
FIND YOUR VOICE
When Lorrie Rivers was half-a-dozen years old she sat on behemoth rocks in a small whispering brook in the mountains and sang to the leaves and even then they applauded. Seasons have changed but the applause hasn't. With a background in jazz and classical, Lorrie has emerged from a contemplative forest with rich, cinematic and diverse sound.
She has sung for beautiful people in restaurants and smoky clubs, and for comedian ANT (who is not, in fact, an ant) and for President Obama. She was the white in the Oreo for R-E-S-P-E-C-T at one of the inaugural balls for President Obama in Washington, D.C. She has opened for the lovely Ryan Monroe of Band of Horses.
Lorrie has written and recorded two CD’s in addition to "Hey Moon!" – "Bewitched", and "Maya’s Big Vermilion". The Maya's Big Vermilion show was a weaving meditation on hidden things. That show, Maya’s Big Vermilion, drew over 500 people and was voted one of “The Top Five Best Concerts” by The State Newspaper along with Band of Horses and Tom Petty.
Maya's Big Vermilion Live show