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Born in New York City, and transplanted to the suburbs of Plainfield, New Jersey, Vickie Russell started ballet classes and playing piano by ear at the ripe young age of 3. Melodically influenced by the ballet music, her father's masterful whistling, and her mother's and grandmother's piano playing, by age 5, Vickie knew she wanted to be a performer, her goal: "to be famoused". Formal piano lessons started at age 6. Vickie remembers the moment when she heard Elton John for the first time at age 12 and knew she wanted to sing and play piano for her life.
At age 16, her family moved to Tampa, Florida,
where she started singing
and playing guitar, affected by the southern rock and country style of the
area. New Orleans was her next residence, where she studied film, music
and psychology, but her real musical training came at night in the clubs
on Bourbon Street where she joined her first professional band. After
completing her psychology degree in early childhood development with
honors at the University of Florida in Gainesville, all the while
performing in clubs nightly and creating a local name for herself, she
headed up to
New York City, and played the club scene. She continued studying jazz
dance, acting, music theory, voice and piano, dabbling in recording
studio,
theater and film work.
Her study of psychology left her with a deep quest to understand the human spirit, and as she began to write songs, this was reflected in the depth of her lyrics. Some of her influences are: Chopin, Aretha, Sting, Elton John, the Eagles, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt and Shawn Colvin. Her love of melody is another strong element of her music. And then there is her voice, described in the Kingston Freeman as:
"Clear and strong, ranging from lilting to passionate, and her (piano and guitar) playing, likewise, often belies its apparent simplicity with richness of effect. Lyrics are evocative, personal and often spiritual."
Vickie began doing some interesting shows,
opening up lectures for New Age
speakers such as: Marianne Williamson, Bernie Siegel, festivals and
conferences with audiences of 1500 people or more. Next, she met the
members of the Jimmy Buffett band and recorded 10 songs, one of which
landed on a benefit compilation CD for Cerebral Palsy, featuring
performers out of Hoboken, N.J. such as Marianne Farley and Margo
Hennebach.
This received much local airplay, and kept her touring in the New England
area. Meanwhile, it was time to move out of the hustle and bustle of
New York City. Vickie needed some tranquility to continue her songwriting.
She moved to a small college town: New Paltz, N.Y., in the Woodstock
area to a quiet farm with a panoramic view of the mountains. "All you can
hear is the wind, the birds and your own ideas." Touring Germany
followed, with another compilation CD under her belt put out by a club she
often plays in Hamburg. Now it was time to make her own CD. Vickie
went to New York City's independent record label Prime CD's studio and
recorded 12 songs that would represent her sound while touring solo. The
CD was called "As Written". It is now out of print.
Vickie spent 6 months of 1997 touring Europe, selling CDs, doing live television performances and getting rave reviews from the press. The Mainzer newspaper from Mainz, Germany reviewed her concert there:
"The music of the songwriter from New York couldn't have been better. Her songs follow the tradition of classic folk rock, again and again enriched with the elements of blues, funk and country. The music is strongly melody-oriented, catchy and extraordinarily harmonic without being commercial. The slow melancholy songs get under your skin and have big "Goosebump potential", which is enforced too by the powerful and expressive voice of Vickie Russell. She tells stories out of real life, describes feelings everybody in the audience knows, which she works out representatively for everybody."
On her return, she wanted to get involved in a more local music scene and started a Songwriters in the Round night, Bluebird style, at a local cafe, booking, hosting and opening the evenings. Vickie ran these evenings for 4 years. She interviewed the guests about their writing processes, musical background and influences. The once a month event got local legends out of hiding and much attention.
Now her new CD Welcome Home has just been released on Oct. 3, 2003 at the Unison Arts and Learning Center in New Paltz, NY to a sold out crowd. It was recorded in Palmer, MA, Woodstock, NY, Rosendale, NY and New Paltz, NY. At her CD release party, she was joined by fellow Woodstock legends: Garth Hudson, Amy Fradon, Too Human's Roger Bruno and Ellen Schwartz, Dave Skoglund, Amanda Rothenberg and David Michael Peters. She is now touring extensively throughout the country to support her new album Welcome Home.
Quirky Facts about Vickie Russell:
- She loves to rollerblade, ice skate, swim, ski, and swing dance.
- Her goal is to make all of her own dishes on her pottery wheel.
- Ethnic food is her passion: Japanese, Indian, Mexican.
- She loves to garden, springtime is her favorite time of year, watching the tulips come up. You will find her on her lawn often, flat on her stomach, sniffing her hyacinths.
- Favorite CDs: Jill Sobule-Happy Town, Kim Richie-Bitter Sweet, James Brown's Greatest Hits, Preacher's Wife soundtrack, Gahrick Ohlsson's Chopin waltzes.
