Whitney Wolanin - Recording Artist & Songwriter

�It Takes Two,� Wolanin's Duet With Former Survivor Vocal Legend Jimi Jamison From Her 2005 Debut Funkology XIII, Hit ..9 And Spent A Total of 20 Weeks On FMQB's AC40 Chart; The Album's First Single �Good� Remained On The Chart for 47 Weeks And Hit ..7

Over the past two years, as the first two singles from her mega-popular independent debut 'Funkology XIII' were scaling the charts, powerhouse teen vocalist Whitney Wolanin (pronunciation WO-Lan-in) traveled the country, singing for thousands of fans and inspiring her peers to live healthier lives by seeking their own individuality.

This summer, the funk and inspiration extends to dance floors everywhere as she gets ready to perform at clubs in support of her explosive new teen empowerment anthem �Loud and Clear.� In an extraordinary promotional move, the track�co-written by the 16-year-old Wolanin and her 20-year-old sister Victoria�will be released first to dance clubs in five versions: a radio edit, a dance radio remix, an extended club remix (featuring a tribal vibe), a club dub instrumental remix and an A cappella track featuring her vocals only.

The instrumental and vocal only mixes will give club DJs and remixers the opportunity to create their own musical collages of the song. A nationwide contest for the best �video blog version� that includes the radio edit or any of the remixes off the extended single is in the works. The dance promotion of �Loud And Clear� will be handled by the industry's top promoter Brad Le Beau's Pro Motion, which has over the years successfully achieved global prominence for dance mixes of hits by superstars Anastacia, Cher, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan, Enrique Iglesias, Janet Jackson, Jennifer (J-Lo) Lopez, Madonna and Shakira.

The dance promotion, slated for late spring, is geared towards building momentum before the radio edit and dance radio remix of �Loud And Clear� are promoted to mainstream pop radio stations in early summer.

Wolanin has been a familiar sight on the AC charts since the release of 'Funkology XIII' in the summer of 2005. �It Takes Two,� her duet with Survivor lead singer Jimi Jamison from 'Funkology XIII' , hit ..9 on FMQB's AC40 Chart, was a ..1 most added, and spent 20 weeks on the chart. Wolanin's teen empowerment anthem �Good� stayed on the same chart for 47 weeks, hitting ..7�all incredible figures for a debut artist. This past holiday season, a fiery cover of �Frosty The Snowman� from her Christmasology� release hit ..11 on Radio & Records AC chart.

While her previous recordings showcased Wolanin as a strong interpreter of outside material, �Loud And Clear��and the other songs she is working on for a multi-track EP release later this year�represents a songbook of her astounding strengths as a songwriter. �Victoria and I have always been outspoken and outgoing about the things we believe,� she says, �and one of the things we are most passionate about is being individuals and encouraging others to stand out, be themselves and assert their own individuality. This song was inspired by that idea. It's really about who I am and who she is, a song totally about ourselves. She's sung background for me many times, and as a songwriter, she's a bit older and wiser and adds experience to my music about things that I haven't been through.�

A natural born storyteller, Wolanin won numerous awards for her writing when she was younger, and sees her growth as a songwriter as a natural, musical extension of that talent. In writing some of the songs for the upcoming EP, she drew upon an archive of lyrics she composed over time and began setting them to music. The tunes she wrote with Victoria began with the two sitting on Whitney's bed, riffing on lyrics and bouncing ideas off each other until they agreed that they were on the right track. They're very honest with each other; if a song is completed and they don't feel it has immediate hit potential, they discard it. �Our philosophy is to write hit songs and not filler,� she says. �Because I'm not under the demands of a major label, I can take my time to ensure that every song is great.�

After the success of 'Funkology XIII' , Wolanin was approached by numerous well- known songwriters with material they hoped she might cut. After listening intently, she decided she'd rather sing her own songs, and, in line with her whole �individuality� campaign, let her own voice as a composer be heard for the first time.

�I think both �Loud and Clear' and the other material I am working on shows a lot about myself,� she says. �In the past, I recorded songs (with the exception of GOOD and Christmas (the Warmest Time of the Year) that I had no part in writing, but there were times when I added and rewrote the lyrics, so I've been developing for a long time. I just think writing my own material is a way to let my fans get to know the real me. It's also great to be self-reliant, which makes the process of recording an album much more efficient. If I write a song that's about an experience that my friends or I have had, maybe that can connect with listeners and influence their lives in a positive way. I like writing stories to music that can affect people like this.

�The songs we are working on all deal with teen related issues that we go through every day,� she adds. �I love to inspire teen girls, but I know guys will be able to relate as well. They're about important things like dealing with peer pressure, heartache and life's ups and downs. It's also amazing writing with my sister and having my dad (Vincent) co-produce my recordings. I think bonds between people are important, and nothing is more important to me than my family. This is another aspect of who I am that I am eager to express. With everything I do, I want to put my own life into it, and they're obviously a huge part of my life.� While she's looking forward to performing live in dance clubs this summer, Wolanin is also scheduled to make appearances at various major league ballparks, including Fenway Park in Boston, singing the national anthem for a Red Sox game. Her popular MySpace page has earned her legions of fans throughout the world, and many of her fans from as far away as Japan, Australia, Finland and Iceland are urging her to come do concerts in their countries.

�It's all just very exciting for me right now,� she says. �I've enjoyed connecting with fans singing other people's material, and I'm really looking forward to getting out there and performing my own material live for the first time.�

WHITNEY WOLANIN (Pronounced Wo-Lan-in) IS SINGING IT �LOUD AND CLEAR�: TEEN VOCAL POWERHOUSE AND NATIONAL ROLE MODEL CONTINUES TO INSPIRE HER PEERS TO DISCOVER AND DEVELOP THEIR OWN INDIVIDUALITY

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The Popular Singer, Whose 2005 Debut �Funkology XIII� Spawned Two Hit Singles And Who Recently Scored A Top 15 Radio & Records AC Hit With �Frosty The Snowman,� Makes Her Debut As A Songwriter On Her Upcoming Single �Loud And Clear� And An EP Of The Same Name, Due In Early Summer

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Whether she�s in the studio recording her next big hit, performing live for thousands of people at venues nationwide or speaking out to inspire teens to live healthier, happier lives, 16-year-old vocal powerhouse Whitney Wolanin strives to make an impact. Over the past two years, she�s emerged as a bona fide pop star with two Top Ten singles from her first album Funkology XIII (�It Takes Two� and the teen empowerment anthem �Good�) and most recently, a funk-filled cover of �Frosty The Snowman� from her Christmasology release that hit ..11 on Radio & Records AC chart. �Loud and Clear,� her highly anticipated new single from an upcoming EP of the same name, is due for release in late spring. Every endeavor Wolanin undertakes as an artist, performer or a guest motivational speaker across the country is geared around helping kids her own age overcome the inherent struggles of being teenagers�the crushing pressures to fit in, be popular, look celebrity-perfect and live up to the expectations of both parents and society. �It�s important to touch on the many issues that teens go through every day, things that my friends and I have personally gone through,� says Wolanin, who was recently inducted in the National Honor Society, reflecting her excellence in leadership, character and academics. �I want to write and record songs that kids my age can relate to, but also that they could turn up loud and sing along to in the car. The message I want to send is about being independent and finding your own individual personality and style, about not being molded by the conformities of society that tell us we have to look or act a certain way to be worthy, accepted and popular. �Individuality is one of the things every person has to find sometime in their lives,� she adds. �Most importantly, you have to find it for yourself. Never stop being your own person, even if it�s tough at first. Some of the best things in life come with work, and individuality is one of the most important things to achieve. You can�t just become what everyone�s telling you to be, you have to overcome the peer pressure to find out who you are inside. I�ve been there, and it�s really difficult to do this, but I finally got to the point where I knew I had to be happy with myself before I could be happy with others. The music I make is always going to try to inspire kids to stop comparing themselves to faces on magazine covers and listening to degrading lyrics. I really want to inspire people as much as I can.� Wolanin believes that peer pressure is the most prominent issue facing teens today. �It�s hard to figure out how to change this tough problem,� she says. �The best way, I can see, is to have more positive role models in today�s world. Maybe then it can seem okay to be an individual and more of our youth can see the good in overcoming conformities.� Wolanin makes her debut as a songwriter on the upcoming EP Loud and Clear, writing or co-writing (with her sister Victoria) every song on the project. She has found composing to be a wonderfully cathartic way to confront and move past painful relationships and struggles she�s had with two-faced friends. This coming November, she will be a guest singer and panelist at The B.A.B.E. event in Fort Myers, Florida, Geared towards teaching teen girls that they are Beautiful, Accepted, Blessed and Eternally Significant, B.A.B.E.�whose motto is �Making a life changing investment into the lives of teen girls--is an outreach of renowned inspirational writer and speaker Andrea Stephens.

2007 Whitney Wolanin Career Update

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Whitney Wolanin's new EP "Loud and Clear", a collection of all original cutting edge songs being written by Whitney, with some songs co-written with her sister, pianist composer Victoria Wolanin for a release in 2007. The album is produced by the studio team of Wolanin-Zaiter-Wolanin and mixing of "Loud and Clear" is by multi platinum sound engineer Joe Smith (Backstreet Boys, N' Sync, Destiny's Child.) The first single is expected to reach radio in spring-summer of 2007.

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2006 Whitney Wolanin Career Bio History

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15-Year Old Singing Sensation WHITNEY WOLANIN Moves to the head of the soulful class with Funkology XIII

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Working with Motown Funk Brother and bass legend Bob Babbitt, the wise-beyond-her-years vocal powerhouse mines a spirited handful of legendary R&B classics, including her new single It Takes Two, a duet with Survivors Jimi Jamison.

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Wolanin, whose anthemic original Good Hit ..7 on FMQBs AC40 chart, has appeared on the homepage of iTunes, sung the National Anthem for major league and NFL Games, and is headlining with The Commodores at The Naples Music Festival March 26

The musical electricity in the Nashville studio was crackling that day in 2004 when 13-year-old Whitney Wolanin (pronounced WO-Lan-in) made her recording debut with a powerful and spirited rendition of the Martha and The Vandellas classic Heat Wave which she nailed brilliantly in one take. Legendary bassist and Motown Funk Brother Bob Babbitt, who gathered some of the industrys top session musicians to play with the young singer, turned to his cohorts and asked what they thought.

Amazing for a 20 year old, they agreed. Then Wolanin spoke up and reminded them, Guys, I'm only 13! Reflecting later on her first session at the House of Bob studio in the vintage Victorian house whose vibe was very much like "the Hitsville USA Studio" on Grand Boulevard in Detroit, where the early Motown classics were cut she says, I went in there wanting to just be myself, and I was nervous at first working with all these great players. But the energy was high and the setting really inspired me. We cut four songs that first day!

Those tracks quickly evolved the into the core of Funkology XIII, the singers debut project whose title reflects the sets lively old school-meets-modern pop/rock grooves and the age of 13 Wolanin was when she recorded it. Produced by Babbitt with the singers father, 35 year music industry veteran Vincent Wolanin, the collection is a fun-filled gathering of soul classics, some very familiar (This Old Heart Of Mine, What Becomes of The Brokenhearted, Young And In Love) and others magical but a bit more obscure (Martha and The Vandellas Quicksand, Smokey Robinsons Head To Toe). On Quicksand, the singer pulls off the amazing feat of literally swinging with her voice, along with the band.

Wolanin fashions another Robinson chestnut, Mickeys Monkey, into her own thing with a whimsical reworking called Whitneys Monkey, and she recorded Funkology XIIIs new single (scheduled for a February release to radio) It Takes Two (originally done by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston) with famed Survivor lead singer Jimi Jamison. The lone original number, a self-empowerment anthem appropriately and simply titled Good, has spent over 47 weeks on FMQBs AC40 Chart (peaking at ..7 last November), and Wolanins lighthearted holiday gem Christmas (The Warmest Time Of The Year) was the most added song at radio four weeks in a row. Both songs appeared in the Top 100 Airplay Chart at the same time. On the FMQB AC40 Top 40 Radio Chart of Feb 14th 2006 "It Takes Two" was the number 1 added song.

We picked the songs based on what I thought was best for my range and which allowed me to vocally be my best, says Wolanin. Ive always been told my voice had soul in it, so I thought it would be fun to focus on R&B to establish myself. The best part of the whole experience was finally being able to record songs I love and get some music out there. From the time I started singing when I was two years old, Ive wanted to sing for as many people as possible. Its not just about trying to be famous, but about my love and passion for the music.

Still, I'm not limiting myself to old school R&B, she adds. I love all kinds of music, and some of the new original material I'm working on now is more modern, with a next generation Destinys Child flavor. I'm also eager to do more pop/rock material.

At the tender age of 15, the charismatic singer with the four and a half octave range is developing into more than simply a star, but an artist of substance and an inspiration to young girls with dreams everywhere. On March 26, 2006 Wolanin, backed by Babbitt and many of the other Funk Brothers, is scheduled to be one of the headliners along with The Commodores--at the Naples Music Festival.

In 2005, Whitney appeared on the front page of the Apple iTunes website twice. Wolanin also sang the national anthem before hundreds of thousands of people at Fenway Park, Shea Stadium and other major league parks, plus at a series of games for the Yankees, Red Sox, Twins, Phillies, Reds, etc. and also at Pro Player Stadium before a Miami Dolphins game. She has five baseball games scheduled already for the 2006 season.

At the National Girls Basketball Championship in Texas, there were 2,500 young girls on one side of the court and 2,500 parents on the other. By the time Wolanin who was at the event making a promotional appearance--performed her second song, hundreds from both sides were on the floor dancing. Her popularity on the teen basketball circuit which extends to being a starter on her own high school basketball team as well earned her an article in the national magazine Womens Basketball.

The University of Tennessee, which has one of the top womens basketball teams in the country, sponsored a nine game special event where they gave away 288 copies of Good at each game and put Wolanins bright smile on the scoreboard. Each year, the Wolanin Family puts on a Rockin' Christmas Show for charity, featuring an All-Star band comprised of members of famous rock groups. At those events, Wolanin performs along with rockers from ACDC, Survivor, Loverboy, Kansas, and Starship; proceeds go to cancer research, the local Childrens Hospitals and to fund a permanent scholarship endowment for needy students. In 2005, Wolanin did a national campaign with every Childrens and Shriners Hospital in every state in the US, whereby all the sick children received a copy of her Christmas record.

While Wolanin, currently hard at work on her second album, is eager to go on her first full-scale tour, she is focused on maintaining a balance between making music and being a regular teenager. No matter where her career takes her, she is adamant about remaining enrolled at her high school, where she is in the International Baccalaureate Program, an intense course of study, which assigns college level work. Naturally, while playing on the basketball team and also playing softball and volleyball, the singer maintains a straight A average.

There are so many things in life that I enjoy, but ever since I can remember, singing was the one thing I knew I was going to do, Wolanin says. Its a lot of fun to have all these things happening career-wise, but on a more meaningful level, I love having people relate to the music, and relate to what Im going through in my life through the songs I sing. When they sing along, I know Im reaching them, and theres nothing greater for me than experiencing that emotional connection.