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Singer-songwriter Layah Jane is a hearty young musician with a mission. With soulful vocals and a poetic, articulate tongue, Layah’s sound recalls Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones and Ani Difranco, with a resonance all her own.
Both piano and guitar became tools for writing and accompaniment as Layah began to create and perform original material at the age of thirteen. Since the completion of her first demo in 2000, Layah has been invited to play countless shows and festival showcases including the Rochester International Jazz Festival, Winterfolk Festival, North by Northeast Music Festival, Toronto Indie Music Week, Toronto City Roots Festival, the Ottawa Folk Festival, and New Music West. Following the release of her debut album Grievance and Gratitude (Grace Note Records, 2005), Layah won a CBC Galaxie Rising Star Award, a Toronto Independent Music Award for “Best Jazz” and nomination for “Best Live Acoustic Act”, and a nomination for an American Independent Music Award in the “Folk/Singer-Songwriter” category. Her song “Reverence and Ridicule” won the political category in the Ontario Council of Folk Festival’s 2005 songwriting competition. Recently Layah received a 2007 Ontario Independent Music Award (Best Folk), and nominations for two 2007 Toronto Independent Music Awards (Best Folk and Best Female Fronted Band). Layah’s new EP Patience (Grace Note Records, 2007) was produced by Oliver Johnson (Ivana Santilli, Esthero), and was musically blessed by drummers Davide Direnzo (Holly Cole, Jacksoul), Ben Riley (Bruce Cockburn) and Lyle Molzan (Jann Arden), bassist Marc Rogers (K’naan, Philosopher Kings), and percussionist Dave Gouveia (Amanda Marshall, Ivana Santilli). Both Provincial and Federal grant programs continue to recognize Layah’s musicianship and support her projects, through the Ontario Arts Council, and FACTOR. The Grievance and Gratitude Remixes (Grace Note Records, 2005) took the folk song seeds planted on Layah’s debut recording Grievance and Gratitude, and grew them into flowers that bloom compellingly in colours of breakbeat, trip-hop, hip-hop, rock, sam

ba, and reggae. The tracks were produced by a diverse and well-respected tribe of remixers. Layah Jane has been seen and heard as a live and recorded back-up vocalist for a range of artists making folk, funk, soul, and hip-hop music in the Toronto area. Over the past ten years, she has also appeared as a lead and back-up vocalist on various commercials and Juno-nominated albums. In the realm of television and radio, Layah’s songs have been licensed for Global TV’s “Blue Murder”, and ESPN’s primetime drama “Tilt”. Layah appeared on Toronto 1’s late night entertainment TV show, “The Toronto Show” in 2003, and on Calgary’s A Channel’s “Wired” in 2005. Through regular college and CBC radio play, as well as a fortunate invitation to be the voice of the Dove Real Beauty/Self Esteem Fund’s 2006 “True Colors” TV Campaign, listeners all over the world are being introduced to Layah Jane through the airwaves. Morphing from singer-songwriter to DJ, Layah co-founded the Move Collective, a Toronto dance jam that spread west to Calgary and east to Halifax. Voted Best Non-smoking Dance Event in Toronto by Now Magazine in 2003, rotating DJs pack dance floors each week. Armed with new tunes that are as organically rich and sonically intimate as ever, Layah completed a Summer/Fall 2007 tour of ON, QC, NY, VT, MA, NC, and TX, and is currently preparing for a Spring 2008 cross-Canada tour, in support of her highly anticipated sophomore full-length recording, “Brightness & Bravery”. Layah Jane is a spirited and natural performer who receives enthusiastic support wherever she plays. When she takes the stage we are transported to a place where emotion is raw, reflection is deep, and revolution is not only possible, but necessary.

Grab all of her albums from CD Baby!

25 May 2008 20:00 The Slice Bar and Grill Lethbridge, AB
4 Jun 2008 20:00 Healey’s - Toronto Ind. Music Award “Best Live Act” Competition Toronto, ON
7 Jun 2008 20:00 Moonshine Cafe Oakville, ON
20 Jun 2008 20:00 House Concert Peterborough, ON
28 Jun 2008 18:30 Toronto City Roots Festival Toronto, ON
1 Jul 2008 20:00 Good Sounds Good Showcase - Supermarket Toronto, ON
12 Jul 2008 20:00 Knox Acoustic Cafe - with Brian Macmillan Owen Sound, ON
1 Aug 2008 20:00 Blue Skies Music Fest - with Brian Macmillan Clarendon, ON
2 Aug 2008 20:00 Blue Skies Music Fest - with Brian Macmillan Clarendon, ON
3 Aug 2008 20:00 Blue Skies Music Fest - with Brian Macmillan Clarendon, ON
5 Sep 2008 19:30 Hugh Foster Hall - “Just Milton Folks” Series with Brian Macmillan Milton, ON
6 Sep 2008 20:00 House Concert Waterloo, ON
13 Sep 2008 20:00 Elk Mountain House Concert Series Asheville, NC
14 Sep 2008 8:00 Jubilee Community Asheville, NC
20 Sep 2008 20:00 Salem Art Works Salem, NY
22 Sep 2008 20:00 Dryden Community Center Cafe Dryden, NY
23 Oct 2008 20:00 Ontario Council of Folk Festivals Conference Ottawa, ON
24 Oct 2008 20:00 Ontario Council of Folk Festivals Conference Ottawa
25 Oct 2008 20:00 Ontario Council of Folk Festivals Conference Ottawa, ON
26 Oct 2008 20:00 Ontario Council of Folk Festivals Conference Ottawa, ON
29 Oct 2008 20:00 The Bees Knees Morrisville, Vermont
28 Mar 2009 20:00 Perth House Concert Series Perth, ON
25 Jul 2009 20:00 Knox Acoustic Cafe Owen Sound, ON

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