As you know I was a presenter at the First Annual Velocity Magazine Awards in Washington DC last weekend. The award I presented was for best Female R&B artist and the winner was a talented, gracious and emotional Mother of two named Tia Dae.

As part of a series of posts I plan to do in the run up to a feature post on the show check out this profile of Tia Dae. I have dropped some promo images of Tia, a link to her site where you can hear some music and of course her bio. Those who know me well may be a bit surprised that I am profiling an artist with such a smooth sound as I am not currently a big fan of Neo-Soul and the smoother types of R&B and jazz.However, it was easy to profile Ms Tia, because she is talented, her songs are well written and well sung and she has a sound I wanted to share with lovers of this great genre of music. Enjoy this independent artist doing her thing. I'd love to hear a duet between her and B. Michael L. who I will be profiling next week.

Bio

Tia Dae was born and raised in the Northeast section of Washington,
DC. Since the age of 5, Tia has been singing anywhere she could find an
audience.

From her humble beginnings in her grandmother’s living room, and
eventually to local music festivals and talent shows, Tia Dae has always
had the passion to perform. Like most children growing up in the inner
city during the late 80’s and early 90’s, Tia’s life was filled with the harsh
realities of her environment.

Poverty, drugs, violence and abuse would be a daily theme in the life of
Ms. Dae, and she would use music as a vehicle to help her try and escape
the bleak existence in which she lived.

By the mid to late 90's, Tia began building a local buzz around the DC
Metro area which afforded her the opportunity to perform at many of
the District’s most established venues of the time such as Unifest,
Georgia Avenue Day, and the Black Family Reunion to name a few.
Blessed with a soulful and jazzy voice, Tia credits Anita Baker, Mary J.
Blige, Billie Holiday, and Erykah Badu as the major influences on her
life and vocal style. Tia feels a connection to these ladies through life &
song, and sees their personal struggles, challenges, and triumphs as a
great lesson in faith and perseverance.

In 2006, Tia Dae was a finalist in Lil’ Wayne’s Cash Money Records
Talent Search which was sponsored by WKYS 93.9FM. In May 2007, Tia
Dae signed with independent record label Bright Vision Entertainment,
and released her first CD single "I’m Tryin" b/w "Natural High"
accompanied by a video for the lead single. In 2008, Tia released her
debut CD entitled "Its A Nu Dae", a mix of Neo Soul, Nu-Jazz, and
R&B. She has also performed as an actress in local plays and
independent films in the DC area, most notably, Let Go & Let God, In
One Day, and Jazz in The Diamond District.

Tia has been nominated for 3 awards at the 2008 Velocity Awards hosted
by Velocity Magazine & April Watts, and won for Best R&B female. She recently won first place at the
Bank of America/Artscape 2008 Billie Holiday Vocal Competition in
Baltimore, MD. Tia Dae has performed at many notable and established
venues such as Blues Alley, Bohemian Caverns, Six Flags (Jackson, NJ),
Black Family Reunion, Nationals Park Stadium, The Gaylord National
Harbor, and many other venues throughout the United States. Tia Dae’s
music has been played on WHUR 96.3FM, XM Satellite Radio’s Suite 62,
WPFW 89.3FM, Voices of America Radio, Last FM, Radio IO, Solar
Radio, Yahoo Music, Sirius Satellite Radio, and AOL Radio. Her music
is available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, Rhapsody, Verizon Wireless,
and Kemp Mill Records.

It's a Nu sound, a Nu soul & feel...It's A Nu Dae! Say hello to your, Nu
Soul, Jazz/RB artist with a twist of funk...Ms Tia Dae!

http://www.tiadae.com/