It was the early '90s, and business in Nashville was booming. With “new” country on the rise, studios and labels were frantically signing up vocalists for session work and handing out record deals by the score. For Annie Sellick, it was a great time to be young, gifted, and a Music City native. Which is why she decided to become a jazz singer.
“I never really liked country,” says the 26-year-old Sellick, who grew up in a musical household and began singing at an early age. “My mom loved black music, funk and R&B, and my stepdad was a big bluegrass fan. I actually think bluegrass led me to jazz — I liked the improvisational aspect of the music, the way you could hear one song interpreted many different ways. But growing up in Nashville, the whole music scene was very intimidating. I never ever thought I'd be a part of it.”
At least not the country music part. While attending college in nearby Murfreesboro, Sellick happened to catch a local performance by a jazz guitarist named Roland Gresham. On a whim, she convinced Gresham to let her sit in. “I got up and did a few tunes. Then I came back the following Sunday night. And pretty soon it became a regular thing.”
Incredibly, Sellick embarked on her new career with no prior experience. “At the time I thought Billie Holiday was a man!” she cracks. “But I was getting great feedback, so I just dove into it. I learned 200 songs within the first two years.”
Rather than relocate to a jazz-friendly locale like New York or Philly, Sellick decided that what Nashville needed wasn't another Tammy Wynette but a new Anita O'Day.
Sellick also had a lot of support. “I knew that all my friends and family who'd been watching me perform for years would come out to the shows,” she says. “I already had a built-in following — that was one advantage I had over a lot of the other singers in town.”
Her instincts were right on the money. As a noncountry alternative in an all-country town, Sellick became an immediate favorite at local venues like Cafe 123 and F. Scott's Jazz Bar, where listeners flocked to hear her colorful mix of classic standards and Brazilian sambas. “It just took off,” says Sellick. “Since then, I've had unsolicited press and an AKG microphone endorsement, not to mention a great and loyal following.”
Though pleased with her regional success, Sellick is eager to take things to the next level and is currently preparing a follow-up to her debut release, Stardust on My Sleeve. “I think about it all day long, every single day,” she admits. “I mean, I don't want to stop short of a world tour and international record sales! It's just the way I think.”
While shopping for record deals and scouting out potential record producers, Sellick helps keep her act intact by working with several different configurations. “I've got a gypsy-swing combo, a B-3 group, a piano trio with a couple of horns, and a Brazilian band as well. Let's face it: it isn't easy making a living playing jazz. You can burn out pretty quickly if you don't find a way to make things interesting.”
An unabashed do-it-yourselfer who thinks nothing of catching a last-minute flight to Atlanta to personally deliver copies of her CD to local club owners, Sellick nevertheless believes there are limits to what a person can accomplish single-handedly. “Which is why I think you really need to have a label behind you, just because it's so difficult to get gigs out of town if you don't have the promotion or distribution. For now I'll do the legwork, go to a new city and sit in with a local combo just to get my name out there. But when the help comes — then, hell yeah, I'm taking it!”
