One Bladen County resident is enjoying much success as a singer, songwriter and playwright in Los Angeles. Beck Black, who recently released her first album grew up in Bladen County and is pursuing a career in music and acting on the West Coast.
Black, who was visiting relatives in Bladen County during the holiday season, performed on Saturday evening at the Cape Fear Vineyard and Winery, showcasing her strong vocal talent. She performed along with DJ Howard Faircloth and Nina Repeta.
“It was nice to meet Nina and perform with her,” said Black. “I was very honored to perform in Bladen County this New Years Eve.”
She was born Rebecca Allen and having grown up in White Oak, she said her musical interests developed when her mother enrolled her for classical piano lessons. While attending Tar Heel High School, Black said she was in the band from grades 6 through 10 where she played the flute. She said she also learned to play bass first with a keyboard in a jazz ensemble and then learned to play a bass guitar.
Black said she moved to Los Angeles after majoring in film to pursue her career in acting. She said she spent time auditioning for roles in such films as Iron Man III and Safe Haven in a supporting role in Wilmington and booked bit parts and had supporting parts in a few independent movies. In addition, she worked as a body double & stand in for several actresses including Kristen Stewart in the first Twilight movie. She also worked on such television shows as “Without a Trace “and “Cold Case Files” at Warner Brothers for two years. Before Black ventured to Hollywood a decade ago; she worked at WECT in Wilmington as a sound mixer.
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“Acting really hasn’t worked the way I had hoped for but alas music fell into my lap” said Black of acting. She decided that maybe theatrical acting was not the direction she needed to take “for now.” Black currently is a supporting character in “Silent Life” a biography about Rudolph Valentino that is currently filming.
Black is currently editing her screenplay “Train Jumper” which is a period piece about 1911 and 1931 Bladen County and Wilmington, NC. Black said because of her training in writing screen plays she has easily adapted those skills to songwriting. She began to composing music professionally five years ago and has never received any formal vocal training but notes listening to Roy Orbison & Patsy Cline as a child shaped her vocal range. Her first album “Clandestine” is available on iTunes. A few of her songs are receiving air play on radio stations from Tokyo to LA.
“Music can heal. It is the universal language,” said Black.
Her most recent release was “Jingle Bells” which was released to radio 3 weeks ago prior to the Christmas holiday. Her synthy version of the Christmas classic debuted via Rodney Bingenheimer’s show on KROQ FM in Los Angeles & went onward to 365 Radio Networks rotating on 20 additional stations across the country for the holidays.
“I’m thinking I am exactly where God wants me to be,” said Black of her musical career.
She has the opportunity to work with some the record industry’s top engineers. Bruce Sugar, whom just recorded Ringo Star’s United Nation song about peace last fall, engineered the mix for “Red Dog” off of the record “Clandestine”. The song was written about a friend’s dog that was rescued off of Highway 87. Black has just finished shooting a music video for “Red Dog” in which the actual dog is featured riding in a 1955 pink Thunderbird. The video was filmed in Malibu, CA instead of North Carolina.
She has also had the opportunity to perform and record music in many of rock n’ roll’s most hallowed locations. Black’s song “Vampires Come Out at Night” was recorded by Trident Studios Engineer and Producer Adam Moseley. Her single “Rock On” was recorded at the legendary Sunset Sound Studios. Sunset Sound Studios has hosted such musical talents as Journey, Led Zeppelin, Prince & the Doors.
Beck Black began working with drummer Adam Alt from SDC as “The Moonbeams” for three years and later rebranding the band to “Beck Black” upon their tour to SXSW in Austin, Texas. In search of a new guitarist they were later introduced to guitarist Mo Mataquin from the San Fransisco punk rock scene via Nick Launay; legendary engineer & producer of the “Yeah Yeah Yeahs” & “Nick Cave”.
Black has performed at such venues as the The Whisky A Go Go, Viper Room, House of Blues LA, the Satellite, the Echo, the Casbah in San Diego, and up the California coast to San Fransisco. She said the goal for next year is to extend the band’s reach. Black said the group has had offers to perform in Japan but needs to raise the funds to tour. Black said she also wants to perform in New York and to go on a cross country tour.
“I would love to play a show in North Carolina,” said Black.
Black, who is busy working on a second album is hoping to find investors to sponsor and help fund a tour, recordings, music videos, PR and marketing, and her feature film “Train Jumper.” Some locations for her film include The Cape Fear River, Singletary Lake, Clarkton, Elizabethtown & local train depots scattered throughout Bladen County.”
To learn more about Beck Black and her music, go to www.beckblack.com.
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