Meiko

sait palanduz wrote
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiko
Meiko (pronounced MEE-ko) is an American singer/songwriter, born and raised in Roberta, Georgia and currently residing in Los Angeles, California. She independently released a self-titled album on September 1, 2007 – without the help of a record label, her album reached #35 on the iTunes Top 100 Albums chart. It was also iTunes’ #1 Singer-Songwriter album for over a month and in under nine months, over 200,000 singles had been downloaded from iTunes. Several tracks have been featured in primetime TV shows.

Meiko was featured as an "Indie Spotlight" artist in the iTunes Store.

In June 2008 Meiko signed a recording deal with MySpace Records/DGC, who released her album in partnership with Lucky Ear Music (Meiko's own indie label). The Lucky Ear/MySpace/DGC release has been remixed, remastered and includes re-recorded versions of fan favorites along with a brand-new track titled "Boys With Girlfriends".

The digital album re-release was August 5, 2008, and it reached #14 on the iTunes Top 100 Albums chart. It also once again topped the iTunes Singer-Songwriter Album chart, and the new song, "Boys With Girlfriends", topped the iTunes Singer-Songwriter Songs chart. On November 21, 2008, the Meiko LP became the #1 best-selling album on Amazon.com.
Contents

* 1 Biography
o 1.1 Early life
o 1.2 Her Music Career
o 1.3 Origins Of Her Name
* 2 Discography
o 2.1 Albums
o 2.2 Singles
o 2.3 Videos
o 2.4 Featured Tracks
o 2.5 Official Movie Soundtracks
o 2.6 Live Covers
o 2.7 Television Performances
* 3 Television Song Appearances
o 3.1 Commercials
* 4 Radio
* 5 Notes
* 6 External links

Biography

Early life

Raised by her father in the small town of Roberta, Georgia (pop. 808), Meiko first stepped in front of an audience at the age of eight, singing “White Christmas” for parishioners of a Southern Baptist church. In the years that followed she performed everywhere from talent shows to Little League baseball parks. When she wasn't performing, she was practicing - spending countless hours singing into the family's clothes dryer. "Great acoustics," she insists. She soon developed an interest in writing songs and enlisted the help of her dad, who taught her how to play guitar on his old Gibson six-string. When she was thirteen, he bought her one of her own. A flood of songs followed. "As soon as I learned a new chord," she says, "I wrote a new song."

Her Music Career

At eighteen, Meiko left her hometown to showcase her talents to a wider audience. After a brief stop in Miami, she set down in Los Angeles and began her career in earnest, playing venues all over Southern California and writing at a prolific pace. She performed at Hollywood's popular Hotel Café (where she still performs regularly).

In early 2007, Meiko performed at the Sundance Film Festival and caught the ear of Paste Magazine editor Josh Jackson, who declared her a "big success story" waiting to happen, predicting it was "only a matter of time" before she found her way onto Nic Harcourt's influential “Morning Becomes Eclectic” radio program on KCRW. It was a prognostication that proved especially prophetic, as just a few months later Meiko's music became a staple of L.A. radio station playlists.

In September 2007, she toured nationally with Brett Dennen and in October, toured the U.S. as the opener for Mat Kearney.

In 2008, Meiko performed at the Sundance Film Festival and SXSW, and participated in the nationwide Hotel Café Tour with Ingrid Michaelson, Cary Brothers, and Sara Bareilles (among others). In August 2008 she toured the U.S. with Joe Purdy, Chris Seefried and Jay Nash. In the fall of 2008, Meiko once again embarked on the Hotel Cafe Tour - this time around the trek featured an all-female lineup. Meiko was the only artist performing all dates of the tour. From February-March 2009, Meiko performed on a string of U.S. dates in support of Joshua Radin. In May 2009, she will embark on her first-ever headlining U.S. tour.

Origins Of Her Name

Meiko is one-quarter Japanese, on her maternal grandmother's side; in an attempt to get in touch with their Japanese heritage, she and her sister, designer Kelly Nishimoto, adopted the names Meiko and Keiko. While those names are pronounced "May-ee-ko" and "Kay-ee-ko" in Japan, she and her sister pronounce them "MEE-ko" and "KEE-ko". "We didn't know we were misspelling/mispronouncing them for quite some time," Meiko remembers. "We didn't have the heart to change the spelling."

Discography

Albums

* Meiko (2007) (self-released), #28 Billboard Top Heatseekers
* Meiko (2008) (Lucky Ear/MySpace/DGC), (re-release) #14 Billboard Top Heatseekers

Singles

* "X-Mas Song" (2007) (self-released)
* "Boys With Girlfriends (2008) (Lucky Ear/MySpace/DGC), #1 iTunes Folk Song

Videos

* "Boys With Girlfriends" (2008) (Lucky Ear/MySpace/DGC)

Featured Tracks

* AM (musician) - Side By Side - Duets Vol. 1 (2008) (AM Sounds), Meiko featured on the track titled "New Road"
* Joshua Radin - Simple Times (2008) (Mom & Pop), Meiko featured on the track titled "Sky"
* Various Artists - Hotel Cafe Presents: Winter Songs (2008) (Sony), Meiko's song "Maybe Next Year (X-Mas Song)" is featured
* The Crystal Method - Divided by Night (May 2009) (Tiny e Records), Meiko co-wrote and sings on a track titled "Falling Hard"

Official Movie Soundtracks

* Penelope Soundtrack - "Piano Song"

Live Covers

* "Fever" - Little Willie John
* "Fade Into You" - Mazzy Star

Television Performances

* "The Bonnie Hunt Show" - September 8, 2008 (debut episode of the program)
* "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" - September 11, 2008
* "Last Call with Carson Daly" - December 11, 2008

Television Song Appearances

* Grey's Anatomy - Season 4, Episode 1

* "Reasons To Love You"

* Grey's Anatomy - Season 4, Episode 4

* "Hawaii"

* Moonlight - Season 1, Episode 5

* “Sleep”

* Kyle XY - Season 2, Episode 17

* "Heard It All Before"

* Good Morning America Weekend Edition - December 8, 2007

* "Reasons To Love You"

* The Cleaner (TV series) - Season 1, Episode 3, air date July 29, 2008

* "Said and Done"

* One Tree Hill - Season 6, Episode 4, air date September 22, 2008

* "Said and Done"

* The Hills - Season 4, Episode 10, air date October 13, 2008

* "Boys With Girlfriends"

* Knight Rider - Season 1, Episode 7, air date November 12, 2008

* "Reasons To Love You"

* Privileged (TV series) - Season 1, Episode 10, air date November 18, 2008

* "Under My Bed"

* Grey's Anatomy - Season 5, Episode 9, air date November 20, 2008

* "Boys With Girlfriends"

* One Tree Hill - Season 6, Episode 13, air date January 5, 2009

* "Hawaii"

* 90210 - Season 1, Episode 13, air date January 13, 2009

* "Under My Bed"

* Kyle XY - Season 3, Episode 8, air date March 2, 2009

* "Reasons To Love You"

* Kyle XY - Season 3, Episode 10, air date March 16, 2009

* "Hiding"

* Ghost Whisperer - Season 4, Episode 19, air date April 10, 2009

* "Reasons To Love You"

Commercials

Meiko is the female singer covering the Rolling Stones' "Time Is On My Side" in the Slim-Fast TV commercials which ran across the U.S. through March 2008.

"Boys With Girlfriends" is featured in the national Slacker (music service) TV ad campaign which ran through the end of 2008.

Radio

* Regular rotation airplay on KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic,” “New Ground” and the Nationally-syndicated “Sounds Eclectic”
* “Piano Song” in regular rotation on SIRIUS Satellite Radio’s “Left Of Center” channel
* "Boys With Girlfriends" in regular rotation on SIRIUS Satellite Radio's "The Coffee House" channel
* Two songs in Power rotation on three of Yahoo! Music’s LAUNCHcast radio stations
* Solid support on XM Radio’s “The Loft” channel

Notes

1. ^ "Meiko featured as an Indie Spotlight artist in the iTunes Store". http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewRoom?fcId=129411333&id=1. Retrieved on 2007-10-08 {{{accessyear}}}.
2. ^ Billboard Top Heatseekers Chart Listing For The Week Of Okt 20 2007
3. ^ Billboard Top Heatseekers Chart Listing For The Week Of Aug 4 2008