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To immediately listen to this month's Top Five vocalists, please Click Here Miranda Bentley Wins November “Best Vocalist Of The Month" CompetitionBy Dale Kawashima Miranda Bentley, an exceptional newcomer based in San Francisco, CA, has won the November SingerUniverse “Best Vocalist Of The Month” Competition, for her performance of “Hey You,” a song she co-wrote with writer/producer Rob Lederer. Bentley & Lederer are creative partners who have formed the music duo, named Miranda. “Hey You” is one of nine songs which they wrote for their debut CD (released earlier this year), and they are currently writing and recording songs for their second album.
"Hey You” is a midtempo, country/blues/rock number which is a very effective showcase for Bentley’s vocal performance. Her vocals are mixed high, which allows listeners to easily hear her clear, expressive vocals. Bentley’s singing on this cut is somewhat reminiscent of k.d.lang’s torch style, but she has developed her own, distinct sound. Bentley was born and raised in Saskatchewan, Canada, which she describes as living “on the prairie.” She spent most of her adolescence living with her father, and they traveled extensively to Asia and Europe, where he would direct and produce plays. She began singing at a young age, and three of her favorite artists were Billie Holiday, Joni Mitchell and Sarah McLachlan. Interestingly, she didn’t start performing live until she moved to San Francisco three years ago. “Most of my life I’ve been intensely shy,” Bentley explained. “It’s only been more recently that I’ve been performing onstage and also writing songs. Things started to come together when I met Rob (Lederer, who has worked with Steve Jenkins of Third Eye Blind and Dave Bryson of the Counting Crows), and we started playing live and writing. We’ve now written about 30 songs.” During the past two years, they have also performed regularly in the San Francisco area, including several shows at the Hotel Utah (a popular club for acoustic-rock artists).
Bentley & Lederer are now actively promoting their first CD, and they are planning to tour extensively along the west coast, from Southern California up to Vancouver. They are currently auditioning musicians for their new band. The duo are also signing several of their song with a music publisher, with the goal of placing their songs in film & TV projects. “I’m excited about the new songs we’ve written, and about performing and touring more,” said Bentley. “We feel really good about our music, and we’re ready to promote our music more aggressively. Our goal is to eventually sign with a major label, or to release our next album independently, and sign a distribution deal.”
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