Christine Albert (born 1955) is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is French bilingual, with Texas country. She is the founder of the compassionate non-profit Swan Songs, an organization that fulfills musical last wishes of individuals nearing the end of their lives. Albert serves as chair emeritus of the board of trustees for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

Early life

Born and raised in

Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the Central New York, central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Ro ...

, at age 16 she moved to

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

, where she began her music career, and then relocated to

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

in 1982.

Music career

Adopting Austin as her home base, she frequently played in clubs, releasing her first album in 1990. Since then she has recorded and released more than a dozen additional albums as a solo artist or as a member of Albert and Gage. Albert has also performed on three dozen other musical albums as guest artist or backup vocalist with such artists as B.W. Stevenson, Jerry Jeff Walker,

Erik Moll Erik Moll (born 7 September 1948) is an American-born Norwegian-singer-songwriter, inspired by the tradition-based styles such as traditional folk, country, blues, swing, gypsy, tex-mex, calypso and rock music. Biography Moll moved to Bergen, No ...

8½ Souvenirs Souvenirs is an American swing revival band that is currently active, since 1993. The band was signed to RCA Victor and had two albums on that label, as well as two under indie labels in Austin, Texas. Souvenirs is named after the film '' '', dir ...

, Max Stalling,

Green Carnation Green Carnation is a Norwegian progressive metal band from Kristiansand, formed in 1990. Green Carnation's trend of music has continuously changed on every release one by one; from straight forward death metal in their demo, to death-doom, then ...

, Eliza Gilkyson, and Marcia Ball. In 1994 she appeared on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

music television program Austin City Limits with Paul Glasse. From 2007 to 2015 Albert served on the Board of Trustees for

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy A ...

, the organization that presents the

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

. During her period of service on the board, she was elected National Chairperson. In 2017 she returned to the board, serving as Chair Emeritus. Albert co-hosts Mystery Monday, a weekly show at the South Austin's Tex-Mex restaurant, the El Mercado, featuring some of Austin's most popular musicians.

Charitable work

In 2005 Albert founded Swan Songs, a charitable organization dedicated to the fulfillment of musical last wishes through private concerts in and around Austin, Texas. Concerts are held in hospitals, care facilities and private homes. Swan Songs matches the musical request with the requested musician, style of music, or a particular instrument. Patients, family or facilities are never charged for this service. In 2017 Swan Songs organized 353 concerts for terminally ill individuals, performed by 167 different musicians.

Personal life

Albert lives in

with her music partner and husband Chris Gage.

Discography

Solo studio albums

Albums with Albert and Gage

Albert and Gage other appearances

Awards

Kerrville Folk Festival The Kerrville Folk Festival is a music festival held for 18 consecutive days in the late spring/early summer at Quiet Valley Ranch near Kerrville, Texas. The Kerrville Folk Festival was founded in 1972 by the husband-wife team of Rod Kennedy an ...

"1996 Female Vocalist of the Year" * Austin Chamber of Commerce "Superstar of Austin Music" * 2018 Inductee – Texas Music Legends Hall of Fame

References

External links

Swan Songs Official Page
* * * * 1955 births Living people Musicians from Santa Fe, New Mexico American women country singers American country singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters Songwriters from New Mexico Country musicians from New Mexico Singers from Austin, Texas 21st-century American women musicians Singer-songwriters from Texas 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century American singer-songwriters {{US-singer-songwriter-stub