Deanna Loveland

By Phil Sweetland
Music and Radio contributor
New York Times

NASHVILLE – If you were to combine the beauty and musical versatility of Barbara Mandrell with the faith-based focus of Pastor Rick Warren, you’d just begin to get a feel for the magic and the gifting of the Christian singer and songwriter Deanna Loveland.

Thirty years ago, Barbara dazzled the showbiz world with her ability to play a variety of instruments and sing Radio-friendly hits. In 1980-81, she became the first female artist ever to win back-to-back CMA Entertainer of the Year awards. No woman’s done it since.

Pastor Warren, meanwhile, wrote one of the most influential books of recent times, The Purpose Driven Life, which has sold more than 30 million copies.

Like Mandrell, Deanna looks like a movie star, sings like an angel, and plays numerous instruments at a virtuoso level. Like Warren, she uses every second of every day to perform God’s work, which in her case is music.
“I have always been really, really focused. I get teased about that some, but I like it,” she says in a conversation in April, 2009. “I know what I want to do, and I’ve known since I was a kid. I’ve just gone for it.”

At age 5, Deanna started playing piano. She studied under Pat Berlen in her native Maryland, and with several hours of practice each day she quickly blossomed. By age 9, Loveland’s natural inquisitiveness led her to begin another very difficult instrument – the harp, and eventually a third, the violin. She now often sings and plays both piano and harp simultaneously on stage and on the recordings of original songs such as “Let Go” and “Standing Strong,” creating a signature sound that is rapidly attracting the attention of Music Row and the Christian music community in Nashville and Brentwood. One of her compositions even won top Christian/Gospel honors in a Song of the Year competition.

Small wonder that one her most beloved songs is the ancient Irish classic hymn “Be Thou My Vision,” which Deanna says “goes back to my focus and my drive.” She is constantly amazed at how these beloved Christian songs endure over time. “This stuff has been around for centuries. It’s just timeless, and it’s going to be around forever.”

Her journey to Music City wasn’t always easy.

She moved from Maryland to Kentucky eight years ago, which was traumatic at first. But Deanna’s mother Cara quickly became her daughter’s booking agent, arranging live appearances at weddings and churches along with her usual ministry in nursing homes and hospitals. Soon Deanna felt right at home in the Bluegrass State, though it wasn’t long before her focus shifted to another place: Nashville.

“My heart was already in Nashville before I got here. When I actually moved, I felt like I belonged and there was no better place to be,” she says. That move came in May 2008. “Coming to Nashville has helped my music and my songwriting 100%.”

Even before she got to Music City, Deanna found inspiration in a third place: Mexico, where she twice went on mission trips to some of the most impoverished areas in the Western Hemisphere. “That really affected my songwriting,” she says. “I sang and played violin for people who live in a garbage dump with mattresses for walls. I’m so blessed, I live in music. I want to travel internationally, writing songs and helping people escape for a while from the harsh world they live in.”

Deanna’s certainly hit the ground running in Music City, assembling a powerhouse team of advisors and mentors to guide her through the complicated waters of today’s music and radio.

She’s been studying with the A-list songwriting teacher Jason Blume, whose songs have sold over 50 million records. Deanna’s also working with the famed image consultant and casting director Suzzane Skinner, who has over 25 years of experience. Ronnie McDowell, who has scored two No. 1 singles and 14 Top Tens, invited Loveland to perform at his Great American Showcase in May 2009. For legal and career guidance, Deanna has turned to the veteran Music Row entertainment lawyer Philip Lyon. Her vocal instructor is Kim Wood Sandusky, whose other clients include Beyonce.

As a songwriter, Deanna writes primarily Christian songs, but also has branched out into Country and Pop. Her favorite tunesmith? “Dolly Parton,” she says, without hesitation. “She’s always been a big inspiration to me. Many of her songs have become timeless classics.”

Deanna has even played a lead in a musical about Nashville songwriters called, “The One Kiss Café” which debut at Nashville’s famed Darkhorse Theatre. Skinner has helped Deanna expand her profile and grow her brand by landing parts in commercials and music videos, and Loveland sees acting as a growth area for her career going forward.

“I definitely see myself eventually being in a movie, as part of being an artist,” she says. “Acting has really helped my confidence and my stage presence as well.”

Fact is, she’s always been comfortable on stage. “I’m not nervous when I perform live, I love being in front of people,” Loveland says. “I’ve always loved the energy of being in front of an audience, and connecting with a bunch of people.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, her favorite movie star of all time was the strong, silent type: Gary Cooper, who won Best Actor Oscars playing a reluctant Tennessee hero in Sergeant York (1941) and the soft-spoken sheriff in High Noon (1952).

Barbara Mandrell, Pastor Rick Warren, Dolly Parton, and Gary Cooper are all excellent role models. Deanna Loveland combines much of the best of all four with her own personal magic and Christian light in one of the most complete packages of talent to hit Nashville in a long, long time.

Updated April 14, 2009 CONTACT: [email protected] www.myspace.com/deannaloveland www.deannaloveland.com 615-975-1098

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