Local artist hopes music will inspire compassion
By Darleen Principe darleen@theacorn.com

WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers SONGBIRD- Singer/ songwriter Natalie Marie of Simi Valley plans to release her debut album by spring 2008. With her current single, "Don't Stop Your Praise," Natalie hopes to empower young girls and teach them to find strength from within.

Singer-songwriter Natalie Marie channels her experiences into writing music for the greater good.

"A lot of the painful things that I've gone through have really induced my songs," she said. "But my inspiration more than anything, I would say, is God."

The 29-year-old Simi Valley resident recalled a childhood filled with insecurity. Her father left when she was only 7 years old, leaving her mother alone to care for her and her four siblings.

"I used to be one of those girls who grew up in a divided home, in a place where there wasn't much stability," she said. "There's just so much pain- that feeling of rejection and abandonment."

Still, it was this experience, accompanied by a genuine tenacity, love of God and passion for music, that created the foundation for Marie's true calling- "to reach the world through love, compassion and understanding," she said.

Last month, the singer released her first R&B single, "Don't Stop Your Praise," through her own label, N'Love Records.

The song, imparting positive, faithbased wisdom through lyrics like "Don't let the things in life weigh you down- just lift your voice and praise the Lord," was inspired by Marie's concerns with young girls in today's society.

"There's such a lack of selfrespect and morale," she said. "I really needed my dad's consistency as a fatherly role model while I was growing up, and I didn't have that. A lot of girls don't have that now, and so they end up looking for love in all the wrong places and presenting themselves in the wrong way.

"I want to teach young girls some of the things I've learned- to go to God for their stability instead of looking to a man."

Marie's mission with the single is to empower girls and help them realize that they could be putting themselves in danger by giving off the wrong signals.

She said she found herself in bad situations throughout her adolescence and even during the course of her music career.

"What I didn't know was being used against me," she said. "I was very much taken advantage of- physically and in a lot of other different ways."

When Marie was 22, a male producer invited her to a studio and casually asked her to sing a song for him. She did so, she said, with a mixture of excitement and naiveté, but the producer tried to sue her for studio time later.

Marie said she also received offers from other record companies but she refused them for moral reasons.

"They wanted me to present myself in a way that contradicted everything I believed in," she said. "As a woman wanting to portray herself with respect, I couldn't go out there and try and make myself look like I'm trying to be something I'm not."

Exposure to the music industry has taught Marie how to fend for herself. Although she didn't officially go to college, she took specialized classes that taught her about the business.

Her knowledge and friendships have helped her build her own company, Natalie Marie Entertainment, which gives her full artistic freedom without having to restrict her lyrics.

"I don't want people to tell me that I can't say 'God' in my songs, that I have to say 'love' instead," Marie said. "I didn't want to be constrained. I fought back and forth because these were great opportunities. But among other things, I think they would have taken me in a different direction from where I believe I was destined to go."

Although her choice to begin her own company has turned her into a very busy businesswoman, Marie has no regrets. She said the opportunities are coming from all directions now and it's exciting for her to be doing exactly what she loves to do.

Right now, she is most excited about singing at New Christ Memorial Church in San Fernando Valley- her home church- on New Year's Eve with Andrae Crouch, pastor and renowned gospel singer.

Her near-future plans include taking her music to an international level and releasing a fulllength album by spring 2008.

"Ultimately, I want my life to give glory to God, and I want to help people along the way," Marie said. "It's a very hard task and a fine line to walk, but nothing that's worth anything is ever going to be easily attained. I'm willing, I'm able, and I'm very much determined."

Marie's new single is available for download and CD purchase at www.myspace.com/ nataliemarielive.