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Type: Pop Albums: Genuine (2000), Christmas Wish (Will be Released on Oct. 9,01) Other Projects: Genuine: Being Real in an Artificial World (2001), Dear Friend (2001), Genuine, Folio (Will be Released on Sept. 18,01) |
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Stacie Joy Orrico |
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Rooted by family, motivated by a love for music and for God and driven by a desire to reach her peers with the gospel, ninth grader Stacie Orrico stands out among 14-year-olds. She is also a remarkably normal, everyday kid. "I’m totally your typical teenage girl who likes to have sleepovers and go to the movies," she confides. "I love to, like, bake cookies and just hang out!"
When it came time to begin recording demos, the label paired her up with some of the top producers in the business, including Tedd T., Mark Heimermann and Michael-Anthony (Mooki) Taylor. Her debut album, the urban/R&B flavored Genuine, released in August. Despite Orrico’s tender age, a common concern as the teen pop trend rages on, ForeFront President Greg Hamm stands behind the timing of the release. "We knew we had the artist," he says. "It was just, was she ready? Was everything coming together? If it wouldn’t have been happening, then we would still be waiting." "I started out [the development phase] going, ‘OK, I don’t write songs or music,’" remembers Stacie. "‘I don’t write lyrics. I don’t really know exactly which direction I want to go musically. I don’t know what I’m going to say to these kids once I get on stage. I don’t know how I’m gonna live this crazy life without falling apart.’ "I went, literally, went from that point to knowing exactly what I wanted musically—and to writing. Once they started getting me thinking, I really found out what I wanted to do." And what she could do.
Once given the challenge, her natural talents emerged. Still, Orrico
admits that in other areas of life, she struggles just "Recently I’ve kind of been having arguments with my parents and stuff," she confesses. "A lot of times I think it’s because there’s so many adjustments [or] because of my job and everything I do. And really, I’ve been learning, it’s just part of growing up. It’s part of me being a teenager and struggling through things as a teenager." In addition to common adolescent conflicts, Orrico recently faced more painful issues. "I’ve been through a lot this last year," she admits. "My best friend is sick with anorexia, and that’s just been devastating to me. It’s really… it’s hard. It just hurts, you know? To have someone that close to you… all of a sudden you just can’t talk to them the way you used to be able to. That’s been a struggle." That experience led the young artist to pen "Dear Friend," the first song she’d written entirely by herself—now the closing track on Genuine.
And that is a message Stacie is determined to share. "I know 150 percent that this is where God wants me to be," she says confidently. "And yeah, there are adjustments. But this is His plan for my life. Sometimes it’s hard to think that I’m 14 years old and that He has a plan for me. But it’s cool to know that the plans for our lives don’t start just when we get married or just when we graduate from high school. His plans for our lives start at day one, which seems so crazy! "I’m so passionate about what I do that I don’t feel like I’m missing out [on any part of my childhood]. I feel like I’m getting the opportunity of a lifetime."
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More Pictures of Stacie |
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These five pictures are from the Plus ONE tour on May 4, 01 in Sacramento, Ca. |
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| These two pics are from JoyFest at Great America in Santa Clara, CA. |
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| Stacie's New Book "Genuine: In an Artificial World" | Her Dancers. | Geniune | |
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<---Her newest book: Genuine, Folio. Another book of hers: Dear Friend---> |
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Before
hitting her teen years, girl-next-door Orrico often spent time
"hanging out" at home in Denver, listening for hours to pop
divas and R&B artists Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and
Lauryn Hill, while singing along in front of the mirror using a
hairspray can or hairbrush as a microphone. During that time, Orrico
developed the astoundingly limber and mature vocal style that led her,
at age 12, to win a competition at the 1998 "Praise in the
Rockies" festival in Estes Park, Colorado. A development deal with
ForeFront Records quickly followed.
like every other teen.
"It
was almost kind of like a prayer for her. I never really thought I’d
do anything with it, but then I got the chance to record it—and how
God has used that song has been amazing. I mean, I wrote it for a little
14-year-old girl, but a 40-year-old man can relate to not having value.
[The song serves] just to remind so many people of how amazingly
precious we are to God."
