I have to tell you that today’s artist really caught my attention. Wednesday night I was watching “So You Think You Can Dance”, which a show that I write about on my blog Simple Man Entertainment and the last performance of the night was a tune by Orianthi Panagaris. The tune was titled “According To You” and it got my undivided attention because not only could this girl sing, but she played guitar like a goddess.
I did some research and found out that this remarkably talented young lady is only twenty four years old. Orianthi hails from Adelaide Australia where she got exposed to music at an early age. Her interest in music was first fostered by her interest in her father’s record collection. Her dad was also a member of a Greek band and there were plenty of instruments around for Orianthi to take an interest in and luckily she chose the guitar.
Orianthi didn’t waste any time and started to learn how to play the guitar, which happily came very naturally to her. Not long after she got to go to a Carlos Santana show and she said the show really affected her and she begged her dad for a second hand electric guitar, which she got. Seven years later Carlos again played Adelaide but this time a sound-check meeting was arranged between Carlos and Orianthi by Carlos’s brother who had her play.
The sound check jam turned into an invitation by Carlos to join him on stage. Orianthi happily obliged and not only played for about thirty five minutes but took a solo right there in front of her hometown to boot. After that show a new star was born thanks to the discovery of the Santana’s. Since then she has opened for her idol Steve Vai as well as played with ZZ Top, Prince, Eric Clapton, and was a member of the late Michael Jacksons band.
Before M.J. and his invitation to join the band Orianthi had already been fronting her own band and working hard on Believe, which is her upcoming album. On this album Orianthi writes and sings with her band. The album is being recorded by Geffen Records and according to insiders the album is said to be a solid and excellent rock album “that will simply knock the socks off of any boy in the rock star schoolyard”.
After hearing her single “According To You” on “So You Think You Can Dance” and checking out some of her other tunes as well I can tell you that I think that not only is that statement true but that this young, bright, and talented guitar player has one hell of a future in the music industry. I for one cannot wait to see what studio effort number two will sound like I bet it will be just as awesome as the first.
That is all for now here at Simple Man Music. I hope you all have enjoyed this post and the accompanying video of “According To You”. Drop me a line and let me know what you think about this young star and her music. We really think that she will be around for years to come and will open up the doors for female rockers even more like Joan Jett and Lita Ford have done also. Have a great weekend my friends and CIAO4NOW!!!!!
