Carla Lother Biography
Singer, pianist and songwriter CARLA LOTHER has visited many diverse areas of the music industry. A native of Canada, Carla was a serious award winning pianist. Growing up, she often traveled to compete in music competitions and spent summers studying at prestigious festivals such as The Banff School of Fine Arts. Carla hitchhiked to New York City and enrolled in graduate school earning a Masters Degree in Piano Performance from The Mannes College of Music. She paid her way with the aid of scholarships and worked on the campus cleaning bathrooms and answering phones. Upon graduating, the reality of the legality of remaining in the United States became apparent. Carla took an administrative position at Mannes and by the age of twenty-five, was running the Continuing Education Division. She started a successful jazz program at the school, but found herself missing out on playing music and developing artistically. Five years later, she wrote her first song. Since signing with Chesky Records, Carla has participated in a myriad of musical projects. She can be heard as a pianist on a recording of contemporary music for CRI Records. She arranged for and performed on a Christmas CD for Museum Music, and sang on a Bang-on-a Can release. She can be heard on numerous jingles - Dove Soap, Maxwell House, Ikea, Kitchen Aid, KitKat and MasterCard, among others. She has directed musical theater for at risk kids in the South Bronx and remains on the Mannes faculty today. In her Brooklyn neighborhood, Carla met Richie Stotts, the lead guitarist who fronted the punk rock band The Plasmatics alongside Wendy O. Williams. An un-likely match, they began collaborating on songwriting – four of which appear on her most recent Chesky release. Carla has performed on several occasions with her 7-piece band at the famed Bottom Line in New York City which sadly closed its doors this past year. She recently formed a duo with Stotts in a toned down acoustic setting of their songs accompanied by piano and acoustic guitar. In May, 2004, Carla performed for a crowd of 1200 opening for singer sensation Joan Osborne. Her band that night included members of the legendary Tom Scott All Star Band, including Will Lee on bass and maestro Tom Scott on saxophone. Carla continues to write and arrange for other artists, keeps active with session work, and teaches piano to keep her grounded and to remind her of her roots in classical music.
