Notes
There aren't a lot of us who can claim among our MySpace friends the likes of Sarah McLachlan, Michael Buble, Bryan Adams and A Fine Frenzy. But emotive singer/songwriter Naomi Striemer stands tall alongside her fellow Canadian compatriots. Her 2007 S Records album "Images" attracted the likes of Grammy winners Carlos Santana, Narada Michael Walden and Mario Winans as participants on the record. As a teen, she also wowed then Epic Records president Polly Anthony-who championed Celine Dion through the late '90s-and offered Striemer a contract on the spot after hearing her sing. Ironically, looking back at her childhood, there were few pointers that she was destined to become an entertainer. Raised in Malagash, Nova Scotia, with a population of under 1,000, her parents-both former entertainment industry honchos, her dad a band manager and mom a booking agent-shunned the business and raised their daughter under strict religious rule. Young Naomi was so sheltered that she knew nothing of radio or TV until she was 10. "I was completely unaware of their previous world, and a trusting child who wasn't particularly curious," Striemer says. "We would play tapes in the car, either classical music or folk bible songs and sermons; that was the only world I knew." Her career launched humbly at the age of 14-after she began singing in church at 7 and was encouraged by her choir director-when a demo she sold in regional churches spurred interest from Christian label Sparrow Nashville. But Striemer declined, determined to reach the broader secular audience. She then met with Transcontinental founder Lou Pearlman, who propelled Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync to fame. He wanted to place the singer in a girl group. Again she said no. At 18, she at last found her fit: performing for Epic's Anthony. Striemer was offered a contract with Epic on Valentine's Day 2001. She recorded what was to be her debut album and the wheels were in motion for cover artwork, the first single, a video... and then two weeks before release, Sony downsized. Anthony and all of Striemer's advocates were pink-slipped and the album fell into the major label black hole. She returned to Canada, understandably sulking until she was fed up with the pity party. Striemer told Billboard in a 2007 profile, "Pain is good because it forces you to explore what's inside. A lot of my voice didn't come out until the anger of the Sony situation. I began singing out of hurt instead of trying to be technically perfect. I began to write for me, therapeutically." She recorded a new album and with little money, each song merited no more than two takes: "We did the project in six hours," she says. "It wasn't about technicality, it was about emotion. I wanted this. If I set my mind to it, I knew I could achieve it." She then began performing in Canada, and was soon discovered again by a man determined to form a label around her. The fledgling record label contacted Walden, believing that the producer's track record-Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin and his Grammy-lauded contribution to "The Bodyguard" soundtrack-was an ideal match for Striemer's inherent passion. Walden agreed to record one song with Striemer, which "I loved. It was a beautiful experience for me," he says, "so we agreed to do more." That led to producing all 17 tracks on "Images" (four were co-produced with Winans, whom Striemer worked with before aligning with Walden). The overall imprint of the disc was lush, mature pop, with a regal tapestry of all live instruments at Walden's insistence. Striemer's exalting and intimate vocals, distinctive phrasing and masterful, visual lyrics are indeed a mighty reminder of her heroes-Celine, Mariah and Whitney-but her vocal stamp is wholly her own. And physically, she possesses the indefinable "it" qualities of a star: magnetism, grace, empathy and innate beauty. Walden offers, "If anything, her sound is more alternative or gothic rock with the power of