Gretchen Witt

For a singer/songwriter who began playing out only a year and a half ago, Gretchen Witt is creating a scene, and quickly. She grew up aahwl-sweet-n-peachy in the nice countryside of Ohio before moving at age 18 to the barbarous streets of New York City where she soon thereafter developed culture shock. It’s been a great shock. She graduated from N.Y.U.’s Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in Drama, an education during which she scribbled lots of rhymes (where she should’ve scribbled exam notes) on the corners of her classroom notebooks. Compelled to perform original material, Gretchen decided to re-route her knack for performance towards song-writing. She has studied classical piano for eight years, has recently taken up the guitar, and has sung under her breadth (to the annoyance of nearby others) all of her life. No one has yet, since this joyous departure into song-writing, has been able to pull her away from the strings, the keys, or lyric-inspiring pencil set. Her vocal style is frequently compared to that of Alison Krauss, Neko Case, and Tracy Chapman however her style remains unique. The lyrics of each song have been widely agreed upon as the cornerstone of her work. Gretchen has received airplay throughout New York State, Vermont, Connecticut, North Carolina, in addition to airplay on nationwide internet radio programs. Gretchen’s song Criminal was ranked as an Editor’s Pick and 4th on a chart of the Top 20 Songs in alternative rock on discoverRadio (www.globaldust.com/radio/editor.php).

She has played an array of NYC venues, including The Knitting Factory, The Cutting Room, The Bitter End, Rockwood Music Hall, CBGB's 313 Gallery, and Pete's Candy Store. Gretchen's EP was recently nominated for Best EP (2005) on the popular station Radio Crystal Blue.(www.radiocrystalblue.com) Gretchen was recently featured in the indie film Idolette, screened for the first time on February 28th, and scheduled to be shown at festivals this summer. It profiles the motivation, inspiration, and politics of female singer/songwriters, in addition to uncovering their true feelings about American Idol!

Band Members:
Gretchen sings lead vocals, plays piano & acoustic guitar. The following musicians play with her & are wonderfully talented in addition to being really friggin’ awesome folks. They don’t always play altogether & all at once: some of us play together at some times, and some together at others!

Marcus Wolf - electric and acoustic guitar Jonathan Maron -electric bass Tony Tino -electric bass Chris Benelli - drums, percussion Tom Curiano - drums, percussion Rich Mercurio -drums, percussion Nick Capodice - harmonica Emily Wilbur - backing vocals, harmonies Liz Taubeneck - backing vocals, harmonies

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