BAGS & SUITCASES

Biography

It may seem that Sabrina Starke from Rotterdam came out of nowhere, but nothing is further from the truth. This singer/songwriter has been working her way up for quite some time now and her talents haven’t gone unnoticed. Is it Jazz, R&B, Soul, Folk or a fragile singer/songwriter? Yes and no... it is Sabrina Starke. Indeed, she is all of these things at once. In the beginning, it went from Billie Holiday, Tracy Chapman, to Randy Crawford and back. To define her with one genre wouldn’t be easy....

It may seem that Sabrina Starke from Rotterdam came out of nowhere, but nothing is further from the truth. This singer/songwriter has been working her way up for quite some time now and her talents haven’t gone unnoticed.

Is it Jazz, R&B, Soul, Folk or a fragile singer/songwriter? Yes and no... it is Sabrina Starke. Indeed, she is all of these things at once. In the beginning, it went from Billie Holiday, Tracy Chapman, to Randy Crawford and back. To define her with one genre wouldn’t be easy. We're talking about a unique and versatile talent, whose career is taking off rapidly.

She took her first serious steps by entering a reggae band. Eventually, in 2005, she chose to branch out and go solo. Armed with only a guitar, and an authentic voice that strikes the minute you hear it, she treated her audiences with honest, heartfelt material. Along the way, she developed a laidback style of singing with interesting timing. Writing songs alone on guitar later led to co-writes and working with different musicians. Also, her live show went from acoustic to full band sound.

Highlights:

- In 2006, won "Talent Night" which brought her all the way to the legendary Apollo Theatre in New York... on the same stage legends such as Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke & James Brown performed.

- In December 2006, placed 2nd in the “Grote Prijs van Nederland” in the category Singer/Songwriter.

- The National Pop Institute noticed her and she was selected for a new "unsigned" album called “The Mighty 8: All Female Hip Hop & Soul Edition".

- Featured on "The Mighty 8..." with two tracks produced by Equipe de Clochard from the band Relax. A tour soon followed at several pop venues in the Netherlands. The song "Romeo & Juliet" of that same album hit the charts in Suriname at a number 2 position.

- Appeared on a compilation album called "Heartbreakers and Ass Shakers" from the organization “Popunie” in Rotterdam. During this process, the repertoire extended and a number of successful shows followed at North Sea Around Town, Uitmarkt, Crimejazz, Noorderslag, Rotterdam Summer festivals and many more.

- Selected by The Ministry of OCW for the project “Getalenteerd”. Soon after that, she landed her first magazine cover for "Beauty Expressions".

- Attended Popronde 2007 and closed the year off by winning the first “Music Matters Award” --becoming the musical Ambassador of Rotterdam, representing Rotterdam as a vibrant musical city in the Netherlands.

2008 should prove to be the year of Sabrina Starke. For her debut album, she has teamed up with the dynamic production duo Beat Royalty. The album will be recorded in Los Angeles, California. Beat Royalty has partnered with multiple Grammy nominated engineer Brad Gilderman, who will mix the album.


“DO FOR LOVE” is the sensational first single, and the album will be released worldwide this fall. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.