Vanessa Brown (born 24 October 1983), known as VV Brown , is a London-based English recording artist, songwriter and producer signed to Universal's Island Records in the United Kingdom and to EMI's Capitol Records in the United States. The Los Angeles Times and UK newspaper The Independent have both named Brown an artist to watch in 2009.

VV BROWN TICKETS BTS Tickets Rush Tickets Journey Tickets Shakira Tickets Bryson Tiller Tickets Earth, Wind and Fire Tickets

Early life and career

Vanessa Brown was born in Northampton in the UK. She is the eldest of six siblings and is of Caribbean parentage, her mother being Puerto Rican and father being Jamaican. She attended Overstone Park School near Northampton, which her parents own and work at. Brown learned to play the piano, developed her vocals and took classical and jazz piano lessons at a musical arts school which she attended at the weekend. Growing up, Brown listened to early 20th-century jazz artists like Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie. Brown gained four "A" grades at her A levels, studying at Kingsthorpe Upper School (now Kingsthorpe Community College) a year early and was offered places at five top UK universities including Oxford, King's College London, LSE and York. She declined the offers to follow a career in music.

The new face of 2009, P. Diddy attempted to sign her to his label Bad Boy Records.

Travelling Like the Light (2009 - present)

Under the moniker "VV Brown", she released her debut album, Travelling Like the Light , in July 2009 ^[1] by Universal Records. The album was preceded by a limited non-chart eligible release of "Crying Blood" on 7" vinyl and digital download. Brown wrote the music and plays instruments on the album. The album is inspired by 1950s and electronic music as well as sounds emitted from Game Boy and Nintendo.. Most of the lyrics on the album are about a failed affair Brown endured. Brown performed Crying Blood and a new song, "Bottles", on the first episode of the 33rd series of the BBC's Later With Jools Holland . She was the musical guest on The Sunday Night Project on 11 January 2009 and performed Crying Blood, as well as short extracts from other of her own songs throughout the show. On 5 December 2008, she was nominated for the BBC's Sound of 2009 award, alongside acts including Little Boots and Lady GaGa.

Collaborations

Brown is an established songwriter, and under the alias "geeki" has written for many artists who she chooses to remain quiet about. She also creates instrumental compositions and hopes to eventually get involved in scoring film.

Brown is also developing a graphic novel with friend David Allain who directed and produced the video for the single "Crying Blood". The novel will be released serially and has not been confirmed when this will be released. Both are in talks with publishers. The partnership will release a demo version of the first chapter alongside a charity book that will be released later this year.

Touring

Brown played many festivals and gigs in 2008. Brown was invited by Damon Albarn to play African Express tour. She sung with Fela Kuti's son Femi. Brown toured with Ladyhawke and The Ting Tings. She has been confirmed for Camden Crawl , The Great Escape, Evolution Music , Camp Bestival , Supersonic , and Turning Point ^[2] festivals while awaiting confirmation on several others. In March 2009 Brown played for the Teenage Cancer Trust event at the Royal Albert Hall. ^[3] In June she played the Glastonbury Festival. Throughout the summer she played every major festival including Glastonbury of which she was the only new artist to perform on the main stage. She states " it was a massive achievement in my life to do such a big stage at such a early point in my career." During the month of November VV brown will be starting her first UK headline tour.

Musical style

Brown describes her sound as "musical mashed potatoes". Her style has been described as retro pop with an indie punk and rock edge. The Los Angeles Times has said: "Brown delivers something her retro UK peers have thus far lacked - just pure, whimsical fun".

Fashion

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Standing tall at 5ft 11in, ^[5] Brown was signed to Select Model Management, after a chance meeting with one of their agents on a transatlantic flight. ^[6] On 27 January 2009 VV Brown did her first shoot for Vogue magazine which is in the April/May issue. She hopes to continue to do more in fashion and photography.

Perhaps the most noticeable feature of Brown is her trademark retro fringe, nearly always rolled into a flattop with the rest of her hair left long. ^[7]

On 30 June 2009 Brown's online vintage clothing store went live. ^[8] www.vvvintage.com

In November 2008 VV Brown took part in the Naomi Campbell charity fashion show of which she catwalked with the likes of models such as Tyson Beckford and Daisy Lowe with many others. On 20 February 2009 Brown also modelled and performed at the Ashish fashion for London fashion week. ^[9]

Discography

Studio Albums

Year	Album	Peak Chart Positions
		UK	IRE
2009	Travelling Like the Light 1st Studio Album Released: 13 July 2009 Genre: Indie pop, dance-punk, soul, rock Label: Island Records	30	-

Singles

Year	Title	Peak chart positions		Album
		UK	IRE
2008	"Crying Blood"	—	—	Travelling Like the Light
2009	"Leave!"	—	—
	"Shark in the Water"	34	37
	"Game Over"	—	—

References

1. V V Brown talks to eGigs eGigs 23 February 2009
2. VV Brown on Turning Point bill The Press Association
3. Concerts for Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall, 24-29 March The Telegraph 20 March 2009
4. http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/celebs-on-sunday/2009/05/17/5-minutes-with-a-fashion-diva-vv-brown-11
5. http://www.selectmodel.com/GetPortfolioPer2.aspx?tID=535&ttID=3
6. http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/music/popmusic/VV+Brown+On+Tour-8158.html
7. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article5695727.
8. VV Brown’s vintage online store goes live! InStyle 30 June 2009
9. http://www.metro.co.uk/lifestyle/article.html?VV_Browns_retro_look_is_a_fashion_hit&in_article_id=56