Piney Gir bio

Piney Gir hails from the American Midwest, home of wide-open plains with sunflowers that go on
as far as the Earth curves. The “you’re not in Kansas anymore” jokes never wear thin, because
Piney embraces her heritage bringing it with her to the UK, where she’s lived in London for over a
decade now (yes she does have a sparkly red shoe collection & yes she wears a lot of gingham).

Piney was raised to fear God, like a lot of kids in the Bible-belt she wasn’t taught about Darwin in
schools, she memorised Bible verses and chapters every week... It was this religious upbringing
that spurred her into rock ‘n’ roll. “All we like sheep have gone astray...” Isaiah 53:6.

All teenagers rebel, but Piney had a lot to rebel against and so she went through a series of
extremes on an epic journey to figure out what’s what and who the heck she actually is. She was a
bit of a Laura Palmer, with a mysterious double life burbling underneath her wholesome persona.
After lots of phases, from pop to goth, hippy, rocker, hip-hopper, metaller, psychedelic traveller,
straight-edger, grunger, raver, country rocker, folky lady, funkadelic, electro-girl, jazz lover, mod,
rockabilly quiff-wearer... she finally settled on ‘everything’ as a genre for herself. Because the
conclusion that Piney came to was that she didn’t need to be categorised and that maybe not
being categorised could be her niche. “If you appreciate many types of music, why only limit
yourself to one thing all the time? So much inspires me!” she says. But there is a Piney Sound: it’s
perfectly-formed indie-pop with tuneful riffs and Piney’s lovely voice unifying it all. With that lyrical
rhyme/reason that you can’t quite put your finger on; it’s pleasing, charming and poetic.

Piney Gir thanks the church for her early music education – she went to one of those Pentecostal
churches with speaking in tongues and fainting – music was a big part of the Sunday ritual and
there was a lot of drama in the sermons. She also thanks her glamorous Aunt Mary for the piano
lessons without whom she would have never learned her scales... she then took up the drums and
studied them for 10 years going to University to major in music. Her drums were nicked from her
ghetto apartment, and so she changed her major to voice (which nobody can steal). Never really
having the voice for Verdi, she moved to London after uni to see what she could see. It never
occurred to her that she might sing in a band and write songs, but she knew she liked singing and
writing songs (she was 9 when she wrote her first song).

When she moved to London she worked in a cocktail bar & took some classes at St. Martins
mainly to meet people & find new ways of expressing herself, and it was then she joined a synth
pop duo called Vic Twenty... Vic Twenty released a single on a Mute label and toured UK and
Europe with synth-pop legendary duo Erasure. Vic Twenty split up and thus Piney Gir the solo
artist was born and this is Piney’s discography so far...

“Peakahokahoo” Piney Gir - Truck Records 2004
“Hold Your Horses” The Piney Gir Country Roadshow - Truck Records 2006
“The Yearling” Piney Gir - Hotel Records 2009
“Jesus Wept” The Piney Gir Country Roadshow - Damaged Goods 2010
“Geronimo!” Piney Gir – Damaged Goods 2011
“Mr Hyde’s Wild Ride” – Damaged Goods 2015

Piney has toured the UK and Europe extensively playing big festivals, small stages, toilet venues,
night clubs, gay bars, art galleries, theatres, churches and pop-up shops. She even did her first
tour of America, having played CMJ Festival and South By Southwest. She did 2 national radio
sessions for NPR, including a gig at the esteemed Mountain Stage, which was a real milestone for
her. “It’s nice to feel welcomed by your homeland,” says Piney. She will be playing a few select UK
festivals and touring Mr. Hyde's Wild Ride spring/summer 2015.

"A new Piney Gir album is always a reason to celebrate on The Other Woman. Angela
Penhaligon has one of the best voices and is one of the finest songwriters in the
business."
Ruth Barnes, The Other Woman, Amazing Radio

UNCUT **** - Sweet 60's pop from Kansas Chameleon

THE SUN *** - Undeniably charming

MOJO *** - Varying emotions and mutations are part of her unexpected strength

GUARDIAN *** - A retro delight

It’s pretty impossible to actively dislike Piney Gir, what with her pretty prom frocks, feisty
attitude and general chirpiness all forming the background to her perky country-tinged pop
This Is Fake DIY

Exuberant, bursts with joy, divine and sometimes mournful
Q Magazine top picks

Sandy Posey twinned with Dolly Parton with exceptionally good lyricism. If Jesus were to
hear it, he’d surely approve.
Shindig

Instantly grabs you by the scruff of your neck and leaves you a toe-tapping, line-dancing
maniac
Narc Magazine

The type of open-hearted pop that has you clutching your knees with glee
Drowned In Sound

Piney is a born entertainer, all dainty dress swirls and extravagant accordion flourishes
The Fly