Garrison Starr
(b. Julia Garrison Starr
on April 29, 1975 [1]) is a singer-songwriter who originally hails from Hernando, Mississippi, a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee. As a solo artist, she has recorded seven full-length albums, as well as two EPs and one live album. She is currently a member of Among The Oak & Ash.
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GARRISON STARR TICKETS
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Early career
Starr's first album,
Pinwheels
, was recorded in 1993, shortly after her high school graduation.
[2] During a 1 1/2 year stint as a student at
Ole Miss, Starr played drums for a local band, This Living Hand, in which she met and forged a friendship with fellow artist and producer
Neilson Hubbard, and Clay Jones, who would produce her first major-label album. To this day, Starr and Hubbard frequently collaborate. Her second release, the 1995 seven-track EP
Stupid Girl
, references her experiences at Ole Miss, which were not always pleasant.
Geffen Records
Starr was signed to
Geffen Records, which released her first major label album featuring
Bob Rupe of
Cracker and
Silos,
Eighteen Over Me
, in 1997.
Eighteen Over Me
includes the song
Superhero
, which is her most well-known song to date.
On the moderate success of
Eighteen Over Me,
Starr was invited to play on the highly successful all-female festival tour
Lilith Fair, created by
Sarah McLachlan.
Starr left the deep south for
Los Angeles in the mid-1990s. While working on her next album, Starr took issue with the label's request that she submit acoustic demos of her songs for approval.
[3] Starr (along with many other artists) was dropped from the Geffen roster.
Recent career
It was five years after the release of
Eighteen Over Me
before Starr released her next full-length album, 2002's
Songs From Take-Off To Landing
. In those years, the songs that she had begun working on at Geffen evolved and changed significantly before reaching the final versions that appear on the album.
Between these releases, Starr released two EPs. The first,
24/7
, was released by Geffen and included live and acoustic versions of songs from
Eighteen Over Me
, as well as a cover of
The Beatles'
Taxman
and a previously unreleased song,
Simple Theme
. The second EP, 2000's
Somethin' To Hold You Over
, was self-released for fans and included several original tracks, as well as a reworking of
Molly
from
Eighteen
and
5 Minutes
, which would appear in a different form on her next album.
In Los Angeles she gained inspiration for two albums,
Songs From Take-Off To Landing
and
Airstreams and Satellites,
which was released in October 2004. The former album was released by
Virgin Records' Back Porch Records label. The latter was released by
Vanguard Records.
Starr re-recorded
Superhero
for
Airstreams,
which also includes a hidden track,
Inside Out
, in which she makes her first definitive reference to being a lesbian. In promoting the album, Starr toured with the likes of
Melissa Etheridge,
Steve Earle,
Melissa Ferrick and
Mary Chapin Carpenter. She has been
out since then.
[4]
In 2005, Starr appeared with other artists in a series of performances at L.A.'s Room 5 as the North La Brea All Star Conquistadors. These performances were later released in a series of live albums by KUFALA Recordings.
[5] The group, consisting of Starr,
Gabriel Mann, Jay Nash, and Adrianne, toured the eastern United States in spring 2007.
Also in 2005, Starr returned to the south to
Nashville, Tennessee, where she completed
The Sound of You and Me
, which was released in March 2006. Released by Vanguard Records, it includes a fellow Vanguard artist Mindy Smith on background vocals for track
We Were Just Boys and Girls
.
Starr recently completed a new collection of songs,
Fans' Greatest Hits, Volume One (Live)
for which she asked fans to vote for their top 10 favorite songs. She then recorded new acoustic studio versions of those songs. As of February 2007, the self-released album could be purchased through her web site.
Starr released "The Girl That Killed September" on
October 18,
2007 in association with
Media Creature Music.
In 2008, Starr formed a new band with
Josh Joplin called
Among The Oak & Ash. Their self-titled debut album will be released on
June 16th,
2009 on
Verve Records.
In 2009, Starr formed a new band with Glen Phillips, former singer for 90s alt-rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket. They call themselves Plover and released a self titled album in 2009.
Other Media Appearances
Starr's song
Superhero
has appeared on several compilations, including
Live at World Cafe
and
CMJ magazine's sampler. It was featured during ABC-TV's coverage of the Women's World Cup Soccer in 1999.
Her cover of Steve Forbert's song
It Isn't Going to Be That Way
appeared on the compilation
The I-10 Chronicles, Vol. 2: One More for the Road
.
Starr's
Beautiful in Los Angeles
was the featured song on the season one finale of
MTV's original program
The Hills
.
Starr has performed back-up vocals for artists including
Michelle Malone and
Mary Chapin Carpenter.
Starr appeared on CBS News'
Saturday Early Show
, performing in the "Second Cup Cafe" on June 22, 2007.
Discography
Year
| Album Title
|
1993
| Pinwheels
|
1995
| Stupid Girl
|
1997
| eighteen over me
|
1998
| 24/7
(EP)
|
2000
| Somethin' to hold you over
(EP)
|
2002
| Songs From Take-Off To Landing
|
2004
| Airstreams & Satellites
|
2006
| The sound of you and me
|
2007
| Fans' Greatest Hits, Volume One (Live)
|
2007
| The Girl That Killed September
|
References
- Garrison Starr Biography
- Garrison Starr, Mississippi Musician
- INDIE INK: Garrison Starr On her own and loving it
- Starr gazing
- The North La Brea All-Star Conquistadors