biography
"Good Samaritan" reaches #17 on the Freeform American Roots Chart in February 2008!
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3 1/2 Stars, Country Music People Magazine: "...impressive debut album…Beasley is an impressive songwriter…Beasley's voice has a beautiful clarity and impressive range, but also a shade of fragility and understated emotion that maintains an element of tension…a fascinating album”.
Michael Hingston - Country Music People Magazine
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5 out of 5 Stars, Maverick Magazine: "A superb debut release from a new country singer songwriter from East Tennessee, magically mixing both traditional and contemporary and coming up with that often missing ingredient, originality".
James Soars - Maverick Magazine
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USA Today, This Week's Playlist
Love My Way, Donna Beasley: "Tennessee singer/songwriter gives this Psychedelic Furs tune an eerie, woozy sway".
Brian Mansfield - USA Today
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"…When she confounds contemporary country, she glows...an extremely captivating collection of material that deserves to be heard on a wide scale".
Jay Lengnick - The American Country Radio Network
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"...It's the subtly with which she hones her songs that is most, or perhaps least, apparent. Instead, the sometimes-sparse arrangements and smoky vocals share centerstage, carefully evocative of her vintage inspirations...Do yourself a favor and go pickup a copy of this disc from Beasley, an East Nashville transplant, flip it into your player and enjoy the moment".
Todd Smith - Sharkbitten.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bio ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
East Tennessee. More than just a convenient description, in musical terms it means lonesome, spooky, mountain melodies and lyrics. Donna Beasley continues the tradition of real, honest rural music adding elements of classic country, rock, and pop. With a voice that goes from a whisper to a wail, she injects her music with the soul of the mountains, the joy of their beauty, and the pain of their isolation. Hear the results on Donna's eclectic Americana/Alt-Country debut, "Good Samaritan".
Donna's parents hailed from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Shortly after marrying, they moved to the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park where she was born and raised, Sevierville, Tennessee. From a young age Donna was exposed to a wide range of musical styles. Her mother came from a family of guitar pickers and fiddlers who favored Bluegrass and Country music. Her father's tastes ran purely country while her older brothers introduced her to Rock & Roll and R & B.
In her teens, Donna gained notoriety singing in local churches and tent revivals. The biblical themes from her Fundamental Baptist background are evident in her songs.
Donna's songs have been featured on compilations of East Tennessee songwriters. Donna was nominated for a 2006 WIVK HEMI Award for Favorite Future Female Artist, and "Good Samaritan" was a finalist for a 2007 Independent Music Award in the Americana Album category. In Fall 2008, Donna was selected to showcase at the Americana Music Association Conference in Nashville.
Donna made USA Today's Weekly Playlist as well as XM Satellite Radio's Radar Report, received airplay on XM Radio Unsigned, on Steve Earle's Air America Radio, and on the Bob Harris show on BBC radio.
Fans of Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, and Neko Case will want to experience Donna Beasley’s stellar debut CD, “Good Samaritan".
