Tina Schlieske - April 2005
"For those who worship the ground that Jewel, Ani Difranco or any other
independent female artist walks on, you've been paying homage to the
wrong diva." - Adam Jonas, Iowa State Daily (Ames, IA.)
Tina Schlieske was born in Chicago and raised in the music hub of
Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her mother - herself the daughter of a Russian
Opera diva, adored music and passed her passion along to her children.
Tina was weaned on 70's FM radio and the music her Mother blasted from
her stereo. Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin, the Beatles, and Elvis were
all early inspirations. But then an Aretha Franklin tape her sister
Laura gave to her sealed Tina's musical fate.
She had her first guitar at 13, and her first electric guitar at 16
and taught herself out of the chord books she found in her sister's
piano bench. As a teenager with an independent streak, Tina formed a
band, Tina & the B-Sides, a rock/soul/blues concoction that went on to
become one of the most popular bands in the Midwest.
Starting her own independent label Movement Records along with an
aggressive touring schedule of back-to-back two hour plus shows and an
onstage energy that ignited the crowds earned Tina a reputation that
was hard to ignore. Seymour Stein from Sire records went to see a Tina
and the B-Sides show at the famed CBGB's in New York and she was signed
the next day.
"A white soul singer from Minneapolis? Don't laugh. Like Janis Joplin
30 years before her, Tina Schlieske collides guitar-based rock with
gutbucket R&B and puts on a frenetic live show." - Terry Crawford,
Shreveport Sun (Shreveport, LA.)
Tina stayed with the label for 4 years and recorded 2 albums with
Sire, Salvation (produced by Paul Fox) and It's All Just the Same
(produced by John Fields). They had songs in three major motion
pictures, "The Traveler", "A Simple Plan" and "Very Bad Things" as well
as major TV commercials such as Motorola. Tina and band shared stages
with acts like Lenny Kravitz, Susan Tedeschi, the Indigo Girls, The
Wallflowers and Etta James. Moreover, Tina had collaborated with such
diverse artists as Stewart Copeland, Me'Shell Ndegeocello and
Minneapolis native Dan Wilson. During that time, she was also
considered to play the role of Janis Jolpin in Paramount Picture's
"Piece of My Heart" a film about the late singer's life.
After 12 years of fronting her band the B-Sides, releasing 8 records,
selling nearly 100,000 CD's (mostly from word of mouth) and touring for
an epic decade-and-a-half in front of throngs of passionately loyal
fans, Tina wanted a change.
One of the changes was a decision to leave Sire and go back to the
band's grassroots once again. To celebrate their new independence, Tina
and the B-Sides played two nights at Minneapolis' First Ave to sell out
crowds and recorded the event. The result was their 1999 double live
CD, The Last Polka, which became the band's swansong.
Tina moved West after the band's breakup and for all of 2000 she
toured the country solo with just her and her acoustic guitar, playing
the small clubs that had been so supportive during the B-Sides' reign.
Additionally, she formed a cover band to pay homage to her early
inspirations, Lola and the Red Hots. Lola released two CD's including
the unendingly popular Christmas album, "Have Yourself A Red Little
Christmas"
She also began exploring new and different outlets for her talents. In
2001, Stevie Ray Vaughn's band Double Trouble approached Tina offering
her the lead singer/rhythm guitarist slot. Throughout that spring and
summer Tina stunned hard-nosed blues-rock fans and critics alike with
her gritty voice and passionate performances.
"The highlight of the set was when DT blew the roof off of the
Tabernacle with the cover of Led Zeppelin's "Rock & Roll" sung by Tina
Schlieske. If Robert Plant had been present he surely would have
shrieked and danced…" - Adam Geitgey, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
(Atlanta, GA.)
But Tina decided not to stay on permanently with DT, and returned home
to write new material for her solo debut, something she had been
putting off doing for too long.
With several records' worth of material, Tina is preparing to enter
yet another phase of her career, this time on her own. "Music has been
and always will be a huge part of my life. I am so thankful for the
longevity and the ability to be able to continue this dream. I'm
looking forward to the next ten CD's!"
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