Kim Richardson

I have stuck it out in this crazy music business for over 25 years now. Coming from a family of singers it was inevitable, I think. I started out on the club circuit in Toronto at age 14 with my aunt Betty as a backup singer for the Whiskey Howl Blues Band. At age 18, I recorded a demo for a friend which ended up getting picked up by A&M Records. That single entitled "He's My Lover" awarded me a Juno for Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year. The next single, "Peek-A-Boo" won another Juno for Best R&B/Soul Recording. Unfortunately, the album never happened. My path took a different direction when I left Toronto for Montreal in the late 80's. It was there where I was able to spread my wings and experiment with different styles and languages. I soon was asked to join a contemporary jazz group called The Merlin Factor. We recorded two CDs: Jim Hillman/The Merlin Factor and Merlin Factor/Frontier Tunes. The first CD won a Juno for Best Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year and the second was nominated in the same category. Around the same time I joined Merlin Factor I had embarked on a tour of Quebec with an artist named Richard S�guin singing solely in French. I learned the whole 90 minute show in 4 days phonetically. After that successful tour I continued on with other artists from Quebec and France (to see more details, check out my website bio at www.kimrichardson.com) and doing lots of studio and commercial work. I finally realized my dream of doing a solo CD in October 2006 with the release of Kaleidoscope, a bilingual effort. My second CD entitled Mes amours (a completely French project) was released on August 23. I took a jazzy smooth approach to some popular French songs from Quebec and France and showed a softer side of me. Available on iTunes. Hope you like it!