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Toby Lightman

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Toby Lightman

Toby Lightman is a critically-acclaimed American singer/songwriter. Her first album Little Things was released in 2004 on Lava/Atlantic, featuring the hit single Devils and Angels, which enjoyed considerable airplay in the summer of 2004. Her second album Bird On A Wire was released in 2006. During her career, she has toured and performed with bands such as OAR, Rob Thomas, Jewel, Gavin DeGraw, Train and Prince.

Biography

Childhood

Toby Lightman was born in Cherry Hill, New Jersey in 1978 and grew up just outside Philadelphia where she lived with her parents. Lightman’s interest in popular music and vocal performance were limited during her childhood. However, inspired by violinist Itzhak Perlman, she began playing the violin when she was six years old and eventually joined the Young Stars music school where she studied using the Suzuki method [1]. Although Toby continued to play the violin throughout her childhood into high school, her musical endeavors did not reach much further during her youth.

High School

In high school, Toby was a member of the lacrosse team and the orchestra. She started singing when a friend urged her to join a vocal workshop class. Toby began taking her vocal abilities seriously when she found herself accepted to more advanced choral groups. High school graduation proved to be the major turning point in Toby’s life as a singer and performer. (She has referred to it as her “coming out” as a singer [1].) In a solo performance at her graduation, Toby sang a gospel version of Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water. Because of the audience’s emotional response to her performance, Toby decided to pursue her talents as a singer.

College

After her graduation performance, Toby purchased a guitar and began teaching herself how to play. She then attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison to study broadcasting where she joined the band Footsteps, which she has described as acting “as the social gathering for everyone home on break from college."[1] During this time, Toby remained a member of her college orchestra, made guest appearances in Madison-based funk bands, began writing her own songs, and performed at “open mic” nights.

During her junior year of college, Toby traveled to Thailand where she performed for five months as one of the lead vocalists of the rock band Bliss. She performed six nights a week and experienced her first time on “the road” as an artist. She has claimed that this time greatly changed her as a person and performer [1].

After College

Upon her return to the United States, Toby finished her degree in broadcasting and started to take songwriting more seriously. She then moved to New York City where she worked as a bartender. She recorded her one-track demo tape in rapper Wyclef Jean’s Booga Basement and began searching for a recording contract.

Upon hearing her demo, Ari Martin of Netwerk Management became Toby’s manager. Martin introduced Toby to Peter Zizzo, who then became her producer. Martin and Zizzo organized a solo showcase for Toby to perform for record executives and representatives. One such executive was Andy Karp (who is now the head of A&R at Atlantic Records). He signed Toby to Lava Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records, shortly after hearing her performance. [2]

Music

Little Things

Little Things album cover.

Main Article: Little Things

Toby’s first full-length studio album, Little Things, was released on March 30th, 2004. The twelve-track album was promoted with the single Devils and Angels, for which Toby filmed her first music video. The album received mixed reviews, many of which suggested that its conventional, rock/pop synthesized production restricted Toby from establishing a distinctive voice and sound as an artist. The album was often compared musically to Dido, Nelly Furtado, Lauryn Hill, and Mary J. Blige. [3]

A second version of Little Things was released on July 20, 2004 that included a bonus cover track of Mary J. Blige’s 1992 hit single Real Love. The song was released as the album’s second single and a music video was filmed to promote the track.

Bird On A Wire

File:Bird on a Wire Album Cover.jpg
Bird On A Wire album cover.

Main Article: Bird On A Wire

Toby's second full-length studio album, Bird On A Wire, was released on July 25th, 2006. The thirteen-track album's first single and music video were for the track Holding Me Down. The album has garnished positive reviews, many of which celebrate Toby's shift in production sound (from synthesized to live instrumentation) and because of this shift, suggest that Toby has more firmly established her voice as a recording artist [4].

The album is named after a 1969 album of the same name recorded by Toby's late uncle, Aaron Lightman, who encouraged her and offered her advice after she decided to make music her career.[2] The words "bird on a wire" also appear as lyrics on the album.

Two different bonus tracks appear with online versions of Bird On a Wire. The bonus track Front Row (Live) is available with the album at the iTunes music store while Alone (Slow Mix) is available with the album at Napster, Rhapsody, and Ruckus.

Music Videos

File:Devils and Angels Music Video Screenshot 2.JPG
Watch:Devils and Angels
Album: Little Things
Director: Liz Friedlander
File:Real Love Music Video Screenshot.JPG
Watch:Real Love
Album: Little Things
Director: Charles Jensen
File:Holding Me Down Music Video Screenshot.JPG
Watch:Holding Me Down
Album: Bird On A Wire
Director: Andrew Zaeh


Discography

.

Studio Albums

Cover Year Album Label US Sales Chart Peak Position
2004 Little Things Lava/Atlantic ? Top Heatseekers 14
The Billboard 200 200
2004 Little Things (Bonus Track) Lava/Atlantic ? ? ?
2004 Little Things (Australia Bonus Track) Lava/Big Much Productions ? ? ?
File:Bird on a Wire Album Cover.jpg 2006 Bird On A Wire Lava/Atlantic ? Top Heatseekers 30

EPs

Cover Year EP Label US Sales Chart Peak Position
File:Toby Lightman EP.jpg 2003 Toby Lightman EP ? ? ? ?
File:Connect Set.jpg 2005 Connect Sets Sony Connect ? ? ?

Singles

Cover Year Single Label US Sales Chart Peak Position
File:Operator Single Cover.JPG 2004 Operator Lava/Atlantic ? ? ?
File:Devils and Angels Single Cover.jpg 2004 Devils And Angels Lava/Atlantic ? ? ?
File:Everyday Single Cover.JPG 2004 Everyday Lava/Atlantic ? ? ?
File:Real Love Single Cover.JPG 2005 Real Love Lava/Atlantic ? ? ?
File:Holding Me Down Single Cover.JPG 2006 Holding Me Down Lava/Atlantic ? ? ?
File:Sleigh Ride Single Cover.JPG 2006 Sleigh Ride Lava/Atlantic ? ? ?
2007 My Sweet Song Lava/Atlantic ? ? ?

Soundtrack Appearances

Year Soundtrack Format Featured Song
2003 Project Gotham Racing Xbox Video Game Devils and Angels
2003 Uptown Girls Feature Film Frightened
2004 Everwood Television Show Operator

Trivia

  • Toby was featured as a VH1 You Oughta Know artist and as an MTV You Hear It First artist.
  • Toby learned to speak some Thai when she toured in Thailand. She did not become fluent.
  • The lyrics to Frightened were written in twenty minutes.
  • Toby’s claims to make a “pretty darn good” Bloody Mary.
  • The first two songs Toby learned to play on the guitar were the Indigo Girls’ Closer to Fine and Over the Hills and Far Away by Led Zeppelin.
  • Toby’s favorite song on Little Things is Everyday. It took her four years to complete.
  • Toby’s favorite superhero is Wonder Woman.
  • Toby claims that her most unusual gig was at a heavy metal club in Birmingham.
  • Toby’s favorite late night snack is french fries.
  • Toby wrote the Bird On A Wire song Better for her sister when she was pregnant with her nephew.
  • When Toby comes home to New York City after being on "the road," she claims that she has to get a NY bagel.
  • A still from the music video for Devils and Angels was used as the main Flash interface for the original version of Toby's official website.
  • My Sweet Song from Bird On A Wire was featured near the end of the Boston Legal episode "Desperately Seeking Shirley".

Trivia comes from [5] and [6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Netwerk Management. Toby Lightman - Eariler Biography. 2002. Cite error: The named reference "Netwerk" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b All Media Guide, LLC. VH1.com: Toby Lightman: Biography. 2005. Cite error: The named reference "VH1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ Album Review by All Music Guide, LLC. 2006.
  4. ^ Editorial Review. Amazon.com. 2006.
  5. ^ Toby Lightman’s 11 Questions. ING Music. 2004.
  6. ^ Toby Lightman.Net: Questions With Toby. 2006.
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