Leah Daniels
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Leah Daniels (born December 25, 1987) is a Canadian
country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
singer and songwriter. She is an independent recording artist. Her self-titled debut was released in November 2011 and her debut single was released in February 2012. She released her first music video titled "Suspicious Minds" on November 2, 2011 on CMT, Canada.


Early life and education

Leah Daniels grew up on a small farm in
Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbrid ...
, Ontario. Daniels was constantly surrounded by music and singing. She was introduced to music at an early age by a grandfather who taught her how to yodel and an uncle who schooled her in classic rock. She began to write songs at age 12 preferring music that incorporated a country pop music sound. Daniels began performing as a young girl in choirs and singing competitions. Her first exposure to country music came at age 10 singing at the CNE Open Country singing contest. While attending school in
Uxbridge, Ontario Uxbridge is a township in the Regional Municipality of Durham in south-central Ontario, Canada. Communities The main centre in the township is the namesake community of Uxbridge. Other settlements within the township include Altona, Coppin' ...
Leah began to perform in musicals. She performed roles as Eliza Doolittle in "
My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...
", Sandy in " Grease" and Anita in "
West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid-1 ...
". Her first professional singing job was at a dinner theatre called, "Al Capone’s Birthday". Soon after this at age 18 Leah was hired to work as a singer/dancer in the shows "School of Rock" and "Twistin’ to the Sixties" at a theme park called Canada's Wonderland. Here Leah met and began to sing with the musicians who form her current band. In 2005 Daniels studied musical theatre at Sheridan College and the following year she studied voice at Humber College. At this point in 2007 Leah left school to pursue her ambition of writing, recording and releasing her own original music. In 2008, she recorded and released her first 3-song Demo "No Escape". It was considered to be mostly pop/R&B but one song "Perfect World" stood out as almost having a country flavour. The positive feedback to "Perfect World" inspired Leah to focus on country music writing at this point.


Career

In 2010, Daniels began to perform regularly as a country artist. She won the Durham Region Music Award for Country Artist of the Year. She also performed at the Havelock Country Jamboree alongside such music legends as Dwight Yoakam and Tanya Tucker. She followed this with a September 2010 appearance in the New Artist Showcase at the 2010 CCMA Music Week. She began to build a motivated fan base on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube recording several music videos and posting them. Leah also began to write and record her debut CD with friend, musician and producer Sam Ellis. Sam is known as a member of the
Hunter Hayes Hunter Easton Hayes (born September 9, 1991) is an American multi-genre singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is proficient at more than 30 instruments. Hayes released his Hunter Hayes (album), self-titled debut alb ...
Band. The recording was finished in mid-2011 and the first song/video, "
Suspicious Minds "Suspicious Minds" is a 1968 song written and first recorded by American songwriter Mark James. After this recording failed commercially, it was cut by Elvis Presley with producer Chips Moman, becoming a No. 1 song in 1969, and one of the most ...
" was released to CMT Canada and YouTube in November 2011.'
Suspicious Minds "Suspicious Minds" is a 1968 song written and first recorded by American songwriter Mark James. After this recording failed commercially, it was cut by Elvis Presley with producer Chips Moman, becoming a No. 1 song in 1969, and one of the most ...
" was a remake of the
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
classic song of the same title. Leah made her debut TV appearance on March 3, 2012 on the CTV Saskatchewan
Telemiracle ''Telemiracle'' is an annual telethon organized by the Kin Canada, Kinsmen and Kinettes in Saskatchewan, Canada for the benefit of the Kin Canada, Kinsmen Foundation. Initially broadcast on both CTV Television Network, CTV and CBC Television, ...
broadcast. Leah Daniels released her second song/video, "One Night" to CMT Canada and YouTube June 8, 2012.' One song from her new CD, "Still" has been featured on the
CMT (Canada) CMT is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned as a joint venture between Corus Entertainment (which owns a controlling 90% interest) and Paramount Networks Americas (which owns the remaining 10%), owners of the flagship CMT channe ...
show "Unstable".


Other projects

Daniels performed with the tour act God Made Me Funky during 2008 and 2009. She still performs occasionally with them. Leah recorded on the group's 4th album "Welcome to Nufunktonia", released in 2009. In 2010 she performed and toured with a "
Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus), a ...
" tribute show. That same year she also appeared as a background vocalist for the Canadian Band,
IllScarlett IllScarlett (styled as illScarlett; ) is a Canadian rock and reggae band formed in 2001. Their most prominent influence is California-based band Sublime. The band found their break when they set up their equipment (using a generat ...
for their performance at the
2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...
.


Discography


Studio albums


Singles


Music videos


Other album appearances


Awards and nominations


References


External links

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Leah Daniels music video
"We Got Snow" {{DEFAULTSORT:Daniels, Leah 1987 births Living people People from Uxbridge, Ontario Canadian women country singers Canadian country singer-songwriters 20th-century Canadian multi-instrumentalists Musicians from Ontario 21st-century Canadian multi-instrumentalists 20th-century Canadian guitarists 21st-century Canadian guitarists Canadian country guitarists Canadian pop guitarists Canadian pop singers 20th-century Canadian pianists 21st-century Canadian pianists Canadian pop pianists Canadian women pianists 20th-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian women singers 20th-century women guitarists 21st-century women guitarists 20th-century women pianists 21st-century women pianists