Kina Grannis
Kina Grannis will release her debut album Stairwells in the UK through independent label partner, One Haven Music on 7th November 2011.
Born in Southern California, Kina started playing the piano and violin at primary school, taught herself to play guitar by the age of 15, and recorded and self-released three EP’s while studying a degree in Social Science and Psychology at the University of Southern California.
Post-graduation and a brief move to Austin, Kina joined YouTube, made a music video and entered herself into Doritos’ Crash The Super Bowl contest.
In the months that followed, Kina began to gather many followers, making herself right at home in front of her computer.
Her Two Weeks For Kina site traded daily videos in exchange for votes, and with her votes piling up, her following grew.
A few months later, her video for ‘Message From Your Heart’ aired during the Super Bowl and its 97-million viewers and Kina had a YouTube following, a Twitter following, a #1 video on Digg.com, and for a short time, a major record label deal.
Determined to release the songs she had been writing for years on her own terms, Kina Grannis forfeited the record deal in exchange for creative control and decided to go it alone.
In 2010, in true DIY form she self-funded and independently released her debut album Stairwells to an incredible response.
The album debuted on Billboard’s Top 200 and no. 5 on the iTunes chart, and The New York Times credited Kina as one of the top Asian-Americans (she’s half Japanese) making an impact in the pop music world.
The overwhelming reception to the album in turn led to two sold out US headlining tours, a coveted slot on the 2010 Lilith Fair bill and an impressive online presence with dedicated supporters (the Kinerds and Kination) that continues to grow and grow, with a current total of over 440,000 subscribers on Kina’s YouTube channel and over 70 million video views.
November 2011 will see the UK release of Kina Grannis’ album.
Featuring Kina on vocals, guitar, ukulele, piano and glockenspiel, and free from the studio trickery so frequently used nowadays, Stairwells is full of self-penned songs that, although intensely personal, have the ability to reach out and connect with audiences, speaking directly to their own experience.
From the song that put Kina on the map initially, ‘Message from Your Heart’, and the stripped down yet undeniably infectious ‘Valentine’, (which has close to 10 million YouTube views), through to the more up-tempo ‘The One You Say Goodnight To’ and the rhythmically intimate ‘Gone’, ‘Stairwells’ is effortlessly charming, universally appealing and emotionally honest throughout.
In the run up to the international release of Stairwells, Kina will be travelling to Europe to play a series of sold out live shows. UK dates as follows:
1st October 2011 Academy 2 Dublin
4th October 2011 Water Rats Holborn, London
5th October 2011 Water Rats Holborn, London
21st October 2011 Bush Hall Shepherds Bush, London
Kina Grannis’ Stairwells will be released in the UK by One Haven Music on 7th November 2011, followed by ‘The One You Say Goodnight To’ on 14th November 2011