Shireen Amini is a 25-year-old Bend-based singer-songwriter who was born in Puerto Rico, raised in a suburb of San Francisco, and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Ethnomusicology at UCLA. At age 6, she began her musical rendezvous with classical piano and eventually veered toward folk-pop guitar with which she began developing her voice and songwriting abilities. Puerto Rican family gatherings incited a new passion for tropical polyrhythmic music, which became her gateway to studying music from ...
Shireen Amini is a 25-year-old Bend-based singer-songwriter who was born in Puerto Rico, raised in a suburb of San Francisco, and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Ethnomusicology at UCLA. At age 6, she began her musical rendezvous with classical piano and eventually veered toward folk-pop guitar with which she began developing her voice and songwriting abilities. Puerto Rican family gatherings incited a new passion for tropical polyrhythmic music, which became her gateway to studying music from all over the world. When channeled through her voice and guitar, her long-running & eclectic musical background emerge as her own brand of globalized folk-funk with strong roots in African-American music spanning the Motown sound to 1990s rhythm&blues/hip-hop. Her lyrics are deeply heartfelt and humorous as she sings with gospel spirit and Stevie Wonder-esque soul. Beneath her melodies, she lays down grooves on guitar with a uniquely World-influenced percussive style. In her full band format, she pieces together an uplifting blend of original songs and 90s covers while creating an exciting onstage dynamic. You can expect beautifully melodic bass and guitar duets, straight groovin' percussion breakdowns, and everything inbetween.
She lives a musical double life as a sit-in percussionist on her specialty instrument, the Afro-Peruvian cajón, as well as congas with which she accompanies various local acts. In 2007, Shireen released her first album, an EP entitled Turnaround. Currently, she finds inspiration in the beautiful surroundings of Central Oregon, where she is working on her second album to be released by spring of 2010.
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