DELETTA GILLESPIE: Performing Artist/Singer-Songwriter/Educator

About Deletta Gillespie...

A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Deletta Gillespie is a multidisciplinary performing and teaching artist with nearly 30 years in the entertainment industry. Both parents were musicians in bands that backed some of the musical icons of the 50's and 60's such as The Ink Spots and The Shirelles. Deletta made her professional debut in Kansas City at the age of five in her mother's nightclub act.

Gillespie's background in jazz, gospel, pop, and musical theatre is the foundation of her vocal versatility. She can sing nearly everything - and over the course of a performance usually does!

Gillespie has worked in Bermuda, the UK, and across the US. She's fronted showbands on the Atlantic City and Nevada casino circuits, and performed onboard Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Musical highlights include opening for acts such as New York Voices, Patti Austin, Al Jarreau, Hiram Bullock and Lalah Hathaway, and for British music legends Paul Carrack and Judi Tzuke. Gillespie has also sang alongside Broadway performers including Michael James Leslie, Carolee Carmello, and Sharon Wilkins. Gillespie originated the role of Chloe in 7:32, an original musical and national runner up in the 2009 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

She's also performed for the King of Pop - the late Michael Jackson.

As a playwright Gillespie has written several plays that have received productions. The Magic City Massacre, a docudrama about the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 has enjoyed runs at Towson and Morgan State Universities. Her play U-Turn received an honorable mention in Stone Soup Theatre's (Seattle) 2012 Double (XX) Fest. And What a Girl Wants enjoyed runs in Baltimore, and in Bermuda where the play raised over $16,000 for the Women's Resource Center. Her one-woman play, Panties UP, Dress DOWN: Things My Mama Used to Say was featured in the Charm City Fringe Festival (Baltimore) in November 2014.

Released in 2013, Gillespie's first cd - TRIUMPH(ant) has spent over a dozen weeks on the Indie-Music-Network's weekly podcast. The album has been described as an eclectic collection of cross-genre songs. The cd continues to be played all over the world on internet radio.

Gillespie is committed to using her talents to not only entertain, but to create awareness about causes that deeply concern her. She tours as a sound healing artist with the Monument Quilt, a traveling art display that provides a public healing space for survivors of sexual and domestic violence. She was also commissioned to conduct creative writing workshops and performances with survivors of human trafficking. She also works part-time at assisted living centers and nursing homes as a therapeutic musician (vocalist).

She's a member of the Theatre Arts faculty at Coppin State and Towson Universities, and is a certified voice teacher (Somatic VoiceWorks). She offers private coaching in voice, acting, and stage performance techniques. She's also a founding member of the Bermuda Songwriters Association, and a member of The Baltimore Songwriters Association.

I'm Deletta Gillespie, a multidisciplinary performing artist, singer-songwriter and educator who creates musical and theatrical work that focuses on the themes of social change, justice and spirituality.

My work bears the trademarks of my sense of the quirky and absurd as filtered through the lens of my spirituality. On my own, and through collaboration with other artists, my mission is to devise work that serves as a conduit for facilitating dialogue, communication, and understanding between peoples and communities.

NEWS:

TRIUMPH(ANT)

Having walked away from two record deals over the course of her twenty-plus years in the music industry, singer/songwriter and performing artist Deletta Gillespie finally realized her dream of becoming a recording artist in 2013, and she's done it on her own terms.

Her first outing as a recording artist is called TRIUMPH(ant). The album is an eclectic collection of songs that celebrate triumphing over life's challenges and the lessons learned in that process. The music is firmly rooted in classic r&b and jazz, yet flavored with Gillespie' s favorite musical styles such as reggae, blues, and dance/disco. There' s even an slight nod to the hybrid of African and Celtic music .

Gillespie wrote the music for nine of the ten tracks, and co-wrote lyrics on three of those nine tracks with spoken word artist Shameeka Dream and singer/songwriter Novelair Peele.

Recorded live in front of an audience, the collection of songs on TRIUMPH(ant) are infused with messages of self-empowerment, or of social and spiritual relevance.

Since the cd's release on May 25th, it has garnered international attention, having been featured on the UK's Indie-Music-Network for four weeks straight. It has also been featured on two other podcasts, one in the UK and one in New York.

To purchase the cd -

itunes

amazon

ReverbNation

CD available for $10.

Music is always a great gift to receive, and to give. You can purchase your copy of TRIUMPH(ant) right here.

Your gift of music benefits not only the recipient, but the artists that make the music...many of us being independent artists that rely on the support of our loyal fans.

Of course, the cd is available in all digital retail music outlets (iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, etc).

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!!

"Crossover, crossover, crossover! All kinds of music here!" - Chuck B.

"I play TRIUMPH(ant) every day on my way to work." - Barbara P.

"Good songs, great melodies, thoughtful lyrics." - John W.

"Background or foreground, it's easy on the ears." - Sam H.

"Beautiful Voice!" - Ruth C.

Since its release in 2013, Deletta Gillespie's debut cd TRIUMPH(ant), has been featured on internet radio stations around the world. This singer/songwriter/performing artist has written and recorded an eclectic and uplifting collection of songs. From blues to jazz to reggae to dance, the songs are a celebration of life and triumph.

www.facebook.com/springtolifetriumphant

Spring to Life III - TRIUMPH(ant) was held on Sunday June 9 2013, but you can still make contributions to these wonderful organizations -

The Samaritan Women - the only residential facility on the east coast providing long-term care for survivors of human trafficking.

The Spiritual Empowerment Center - Affiliated with Centers for Spiritual Living.

My company, Nu Relik Performance Workshop - more info

UPCOMING SHOWS

SAT, JUL 23 AT 1:00 PM

Group Vocal Class
By: Deletta Gillespie at NuRelik Entertainment

Friday JUL 29 6:00 pm

DELETTA GILLESPIE IN "GOOD AND YUMMY"
CABARET at Germano's
$15.00