Inara George

Inara George, Cambridge Corn Exchange (June 3, 2007)

Inara George (born July 4, 1974 in Los Angeles , California ) is an American singer-songwriter and actress from Los Angeles and currently forms the music project The Bird and the Bee with Greg Kurstin .

biography

background

Inara George grew up in Topanga Canyon - a community-free artist community in the Santa Monica Mountains , California (USA) - in her mother's house. Her father Lowell George died when Inara was five years old. Some of his friends, Jackson Browne , Terry Allen and Van Dyke Parks influenced Inara: “ That kind of music where it's just a guitar and vocals… and someone singing about their last love: I find that pretty boring. And there are plenty of bad lyrics in this genre - really, really bad. Plus, some music done by my sex in this genre is godawful. So I can get why people would be tired of it. »

So Inara decided not to follow in her father's musical footsteps, but to play theater. She has appeared in various Shakespeare performance will be at the Theatricum Botanicum involved and at the College in Boston , Massachusetts , Classical Theater chosen as study.

"Lode" and "Merrick"

During the summer semester break, Inara founded an indie rock group with college friends - "Lode". Their EP "Legs & Arms" was released in April 1996, and together with Bryony Atkinson Inara has contributed some songs to the soundtracks of various US feature films. The group worked with musicians such as Devendra Banhart , Midnight Movies and Eleni Mandell .

"Lode" received a contract with the music label Geffen Records in Los Angeles . Under the new name "Merrick", two albums were released during the one-year existence of the new formation in 2001: "Merrick" and "Drive Around a Lot Hard and Fast Driving Club". Inara George (vocals / guitar) and Bryon Atkinson (bass / vocals) were responsible producers with Landon Donsbach and Martin Beal , the participating musicians were the violinist Amir Yaghmai , Tim Aaron and John Karnes . In 2006 the single "Infinity" was used in the US television series " Grey's Anatomy " - along with her songs "Greedy" and "Oh My Love".

"All Rise"

Inara stepped up her solo career with the release of her solo album "All Rise", produced by Michael Andrews , a friend of her family. Other participating musicians were Greg Kurstin (keyboards, drum machine), Pete McNeal (drums: Cake & Jem ), Chris Stillwell (bass: "Greyboy Allstars") and for the backing vocals Jackson Browne.

A week before its January 25, 2005 release, Inara's solo debut was featured in a live session on the popular Los Angeles radio station KCRW-FM in Nick Harcourt's Morning Becomes Eclectic.

In the early summer of 2005 Inara was on tour with her solo album, in September with the Scottish rock band "Idlewild", in April 2006 with " Nada Surf " and the indie rock formation "Clovis", and others. a. with a concert in Zurich.

"Genius," a song from "All Rise, " aired on an episode of " One Tree Hill " and " Everwood, " and "Fools In Love" was Inara's fourth song on "Grey's Anatomy."

"Idlewild" and "George is Jones"

Parallel to her other projects, Inara has founded the duo "George is Jones" with Rod Jones - in whose rock group " Idlewild " she appeared as backing vocal / guest singer: A planned album has not yet been released, but individual songs on her "myspace" ".

"The Bird and the Bee"

" The Bird and the Bee " is the current joint indie rock / electro-pop music project by Greg Kurstin ("the Bird") and Inara ("the Bee"), with three releases so far - the EP "again and again and again and again ”(October 31, 2006), her debut album“ The Bird and the Bee ”(January 23, 2007) and“ Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future ”(January 27, 2008).

From March 27 (Seattle) to April 11, 2007 (New York), “The Bird and The Bee” toured nine US cities, with two more concerts in Toronto and Montreal (Canada).

Trivia

• Inara George has inherited her father's musical legacy at least three times: in 1996 with “Sailin 'Shoes” on the “Little Feat” album “Live from Neon Park” and with two cover versions of “Trouble”, once in 2008 on “Join” The Band - Little Feat And Friends "and 1997 on" Rock And Roll Doctor - A Tribute To Lowell George "(the latter version was arranged by Van Dyke Parks and accompanied by Ry Cooder )
• Inara's musical role models include: Prince , Neil Young , Wilco , Joni Mitchell , David Bowie , The Bee Gees , Mark Lanegan , Nick Drake , Leonard Cohen , Chet Baker , Rickie Lee Jones , PJ Harvey , Talking Heads , Tom Waits , Elliott Smith , D'Angelo , Blonde Redhead , Elvis Costello and Björk .
• Inara George has been appearing in smaller roles in some feature films and TV series since 1999.
• She is married to actor and filmmaker Jake Kasdan .

Discography

With "Lode" and "Merrick"

• 1996: Legs & Arms (EP, Geffen Records, April 1996)
• 2001: Merrick (album, Bryony, April 1, 2001)
• 2001: Drive Around a Lot Hard and Fast Driving Club (Album, Orchard, October 14, 2001)

Cooperations

• 1996: Sailin 'Shoes on the album Live from Neon Park by Little Feat
• 1998: Trouble on Rock And Roll Doctor: A Tribute To Lowell George (March 24, 1998)
• 2005: Warmings / Promises by Idlewild (backing vocals and joint tour)
• 2007: Make Another World by Idlewild (guest singer)
• 2012: Be Honest by Jason Mraz (guest singer)

Soundtracks

• 1999: Infinity in collaboration with Bryon Atkinson (as part of the soundtrack for The Minus Man )
• 2001: Infinity in collaboration with Bryon Atkinson (as part of the soundtrack to the film Heartbreakers - Warning: Sharp curves! )
• 2005: Original Television Soundtrack 'Grey's Anatomy' Vol. 1 (September 27, 2005)

Solo albums

• 2005: All Rise (Everloving Records, Jan 25, 2005)
• 2008: An Invitation (with Van Dyke Parks , Everloving Records, August 12, 2008)

With "The Bird and the Bee"

→ Main article : “Discography” in the article The Bird and the Bee

Filmography

• 1998: The Politics of Desire
• 1999: Anywhere But Here ( Anywhere but Here )
• 2005: Everwood (TV series, episode "Put on a Happy Face")
• 2007: Year of the Dog
• 2007: Last Call with Carson Daly (TV series, episode May 10, 2007, as the Bird and the Bee )

Web links

Commons : Inara George  - Collection of Images

• Inara George at Myspace (english)
• Inara George in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Interview on the literature website "identitytheory.com" (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Of Missing Persons" by Jackson Browne ( Memento of the original from March 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , dedicated to Lowell George and Inara: His album "Hold Out" was released in June 1980 and went straight to # 1. (It was certified platinum within 3 months of release and stayed on the charts for 38 weeks.) ... The song "Of Missing Persons" was written about his friend Lowell George who had recently died and was dedicated to Lowell's daughter. »  
2. ↑ Interview "Lady of the canyons" with Inara George in " The Sunday Times " from June 25, 2006 (English)
3. ↑ Review of "Legs & Arms" on " All Music Guide (AMG)"
4. ↑ There is conflicting information about Inara's “Merrick” project partner Bryony Atkinson . Although mostly mentioned under this name, sometimes as Bryon Atkinson , the Californian songwriter Byron Kelsey Atkinson could also be meant ...
5. ↑ "Merrick" (album) on "AMG" (English)
6. ↑ "Drive Around a Lot Hard and Fast Driving Club" in "AMG" (English)
7. ↑ Review of "All Rise" on "AMG" (English)
8. ↑ "George is Jones" on "myspace.com" ( memento of the original from May 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)  
9. ↑ Source: Inara George's "myspace"