Traci Root is best enjoyed in person, front and center; so allow us to paint a picture for you. Center stage is an up and coming artist whose voice and musicianship, former Motown A&R and industry veteran Eddie Lambert, says, “outshines almost every other female artist in the marketplace today.” She’s surrounded by a stage full of the best musicians Nashville has to offer – musicians who have toured with Steve Miller, Donna Summers, Roberta Flack and Luther Vandross, to name a few. Although Traci is sometimes compared with contemporaries such as Alicia Keys, Joss Stone, Norah Jones and Lauryn Hill, her influences and taste range back to her icon Stevie Wonder as well as performers like Al Green, Gladys Knight, Earth Wind & Fire and songwriters such as Paul Simon. You might find her classified under “Pop”, but her personal fusion of Classic R&B, Soul, Jazz, Hip-hop and Pop-Rock, have given her a sound all her own that drives cross-generational and multi-ethnic audiences to child-like fervor and enthusiasm. In fact, we dare you to imagine this scene without fans of all ages grooving and singing along! Her look is as multi-faceted as her sound. She’s both high-fashion and down-to-earth. She kicked off her career touring in Southeast Asia for crowds of up to 40,000. While there, she recorded a song, “I Will Carry You,” for Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
In the summer of 2008, before this two-time ASCAPlus award-winning songwriter made it to Round 2 of American Idol’s auditions in New Jersey, (that would put her in the top 1% of the 10,000 hopefuls and/or skeptics who showed up to audition), she was picked out of the crowd by Fox News to sing a Stevie Wonder tribute live to New Jersey, New York and Washington DC. She was also a 2007 Independent Music World Series Northeast Semi-finalist. In December of 2008, she released her newest project, Love Hard, which includes the single, “Dig Deep”, that audiences and fans have gone ga-ga over. Traci is one rising star that in the words of VH-1, you truly “oughtta know!”
Wanna know more about Traci Root? Just keep reading…
Born in Indiana, but raised in multiple ethnic communities – diversity has always found its way into Traci’s musical style. She landed in Cincinnati, OH in 1995 and began actively pursuing her passion as a singer/songwriter in 1999, at which point she began playing local venues. In 2003, she and her husband, Richie, began traveling internationally, which expanded her network and provided opportunities to perform internationally. In 2006, while based in CT, she released her first full-length CD “Greener On This Side.” As a songwriter she has a catalogue of close to 300 songs in multiple genres and was a 2007-2008 ASCAPlus Award Winner for songs from her first album in the jazz and popular division. Traci’s song “Source of Life” was featured on a Playlist Productions compilation CD distributed to over 1,000 US Radio Markets. Her band also received recognition as a 2007 Northeast Semi-finalist in the Independent Music World Series. She toured New England in 2006 and 2007 in a variety of venues, such as The Space, Wintonbury Coffeehouse, Reality Café, Kennedy’s Midtown Boston, The Hungry Tiger, Borders, Brewed Awakenings, RI, Daniels Street, The Lion’s Den, and The Sugar Bar, NYC, and many other restaurants and coffeehouses throughout New England. In April of 2007, she was invited as one of six independent artists to showcase at GMA Week in Nashville, TN. In July 2007, she joined forces with Indie Extreme and founded her own label, Greener Music, LLC and in September she and her husband relocated to Nashville, TN.
In 2008, Traci was again an Indie Extreme showcase artist at GMA Week in Nashville, TN and she toured key markets in the US, including the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, and Southern California. She also completed and released, her second album project, and EP entitled Love Hard, and because the co-host of an internationally recognized Podcast, called The Business Side of Music. In addition, to her award-winning talents and critical acclaim, she also uses her voice to promote and support social justice issues, and is a member of the LOVE146 and Project AK-47 artist coalition, working to abolish child sex trafficking and rescue child soldiers. As a singer, songwriter, and performer, she also collaborates with other musicians and is a former background vocalist for Latin, Funk-Rock Sandoval Band. Her label is currently negotiating a Pressing &Distribution deal with Universal Music Group and Indie Extreme. Traci is also collaborating with well-respected, hit song-writers and producers as she gears up to release her next full-length project.
www.traciroot.com
