Beth Thornley

Beth Thornley is an American singer-songwriter.

Beth Thornley was born in Birmingham, Alabama and attended the now closed L. Frazier Banks High School. She later went to Samford University and studied classical music where she earned a degree in music education. After graduating, she decided she would like to explore the world of rock and roll, so she moved to Los Angeles and joined the music scene.

Her influences include The Beatles, Aimee Mann, Elvis Costello, Ben Folds and Lucinda Williams. Thornley's second album, My Glass Eye, contains two songs not written by Thornley or Rob Cairns; "Got The Time" (Joe Jackson) and "Eleanor Rigby" (The Beatles).

According to the biography on Thornley's web site, when she first moved to Los Angeles she took advice from a vocal coach who told her "There are a million singers out there. But if you want any control you’ve got to be a songwriter, not just a singer".

Some of her achievements and recognitions include:

Thornley's band is a fluid line-up of musicians that contribute to both live shows and records. The players on her first album, Beth Thornley, were Thornley, Rob Cairns and Rob Disner.

My Glass Eye had a wider group of musicians and singers including Cairns (drums, bass, guitar, synth, keys, accordion, backing vocals), Thornley (piano, accordion, tambourine), Sheldon Gomberg (bass), Mark Browne (bass), Disner (guitar), Michael Bluestein (piano), Jeff Lane (backing vocals), Richard Dodd (cello), Daphne Chen (viola), Leah Katz (viola), Patricia Thornley (backing vocals) Mark Ferik (backing vocals), plus Robert Kelley (clapping), and Paul Trejo (clapping).

The line-up for live shows varies but has included Thornley (keys/vocals), Cairns (guitar, keys) Karen Teperberg (drums), Gomberg (bass), Disner (guitar), Vivi Rama (bass), Mark Browne (bass), and Maria Scherer (cello).

Beth Thornley - Beth Thornley(2003).

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