Transcending genre distinctions, SHANA TUCKER is a "ChamberSoul" cellist and singer/songwriter from New York who's set on blazing a trail for herself down in North Carolina. Her music is a sultry pastiche of acoustic pop and soulful, jazz-influenced contemporary folk. "It’s different, yet comfortably familiar...I love 80's music and I'm a sucker for jazz. Many of the grooves have a bossa-nova/latin heartbeat, translated through percussive vocal phrasing. I can't deny the classical training; it inspires my cello sensibilities...but I like the thump of walking blues & old-timey bass lines. It's like a delicious coffee blend: bold and robust, with subtle undertones of bittersweet...and something you can't quite place, but it's still good!" she says with a smile.

Shana's debut solo project, SHiNE (Feb 2011, Mama Gooch Music/ASCAP) outlines a musical journey that indeed celebrates the major influences of everyday life: relationship, laughter, love...loss, rediscovery, and the never-ending journey towards heightened levels of peace, understanding and self-acceptance. "The most important thing I want to take away from this process is a musical truth," she explains. "If I effectively do my job as Artist, (genre) cohesion will come from the ties that bind these experiences."

Raised in Amityville, NY, Shana learned to play piano at an early age from her great-grandmother, who was herself a beginner taking community center lessons. In junior high, she traded violin for cello in order to stay in orchestra. In high school, at the strong suggestion of her orchestra director, Shana began studying privately with cellist Sue Lehr; she also broadened her musical horizons by studying choral singing, performing with regional orchestras, theatre productions, and vocal groups of various sizes and winning several regional and national awards and accolades.

Shana subsequently studied cello at Howard University in Washington, DC, and continued her musical performance education at CUNY - Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music with Marion Feldman. While in DC and NYC, she won considerable regional acclaim while singing and playing with string/piano trio, Hue. Shana's work as an arranger/composer appears on several CD recordings, theatre productions, and TV commercials. Her commissioned works include Nexxus and Savannah, both of which were composed for The Washington Ballet (with Maritri Garrett, co-writer) and premiered at The Kennedy Center (Washington, DC). Of the two, Savannah was also chosen to debut at the Joyce Theatre-NYC and also at the Witts Theater in Johannesburg, South Africa. With Hue, Shana opened for several critically-acclaimed recording artists, including Sweet Honey in the Rock, jazz saxophonist Hamiett Bluett, drummer/vocalist Vinx, the Blind Boys of Alabama and the Indigo Girls.

"At the end of the day, it's great to just let the music flow, 'do what it do' without getting in the way or taking myself too seriously," says Shana of her upcoming CD. Engaging her audience (and recruiting lasting fans) on the formative front-end, Shana has coordinated several pre-release listening sessions at art galleries and music instrument boutiques, where she introduces a set of original songs that are up for consideration on the CD, while simultaneously educating the audience on topics such the role of the music producer ("Listening Ears"), how to incorporate supportive sounds through atmospheric color ("Cello Songs" features a live string ensemble), and more.

No need to fear: Shana's music indeed speaks for itself through well-crafted lyrics, subtle, lingering melodies, and compositions that boast a unique, satisfying blend of humor and gravity. Tell somebody about it...this girl’s music is something worth sharing, worth keeping, worth hearing more of.