Kiki Ebsen

Kiki Ebsen, is a singer/songwriter/keyboard player from Southern California. She has performed and toured extensively with many artists like Boz Scaggs, Al Jarreau, Christopher Cross, Tracy Chapman and many more. She has recorded five solo CDs and is getting ready to release her sixth CD this summer. "Scarecrow Sessions" is a collection of jazz standards inspired by songs from her dad, Buddy Ebsen's life and career to be released as a gift to him on Father's Day 2014. The album features an all-star band including John Patitucci on bass and Chuck Loeb on guitar. David Mann is producing, arranging and adds the saxophone as well. Her critically acclaimed records include, Red, Love Loud, Kiki, Cool Songs vol. 1 and The Beauty Inside. She can be seen and heard on music videos from Tracy Chapman and Michael Bolton as well as live concerts video/DVDs from Christopher Cross, Belinda Carlisle, Namie Amuro and Al Jarreau. Her voice is featured in the soundtrack for Bodies: Rest and Motion starring Bridget Fonda and Eric Stolz. Her songs have been covered by sax artists Eric Marienthal, Boney James and Jessy J. Family and Early life[edit] Kiki Ebsen was born Nancy Kiersten Ebsen at St John's hospital in Santa Monica, CA. Her father is the late actor Buddy Ebsen and mother Nancy Wolcott, also an actor and executive producer/director of The Newport Harbor Actors Theater. Kiki has three sisters, two half sisters and one brother. She spent the first three years of her life on Hutton Dr. in Beverly Hills, CA. Then the family moved to Balboa Isle where she enjoyed the waterfront and learned to sail from her dad. She would move at age 11 to a secluded ranch in the Malibu mountains. It was there that her love of horses led to several successful years as a champion equestrian. The arts beckoned and at 18 she left her horses to pursue a career in music. Career[edit] Kiki started playing piano as a child, following in the footsteps of her mother, aunt and grandmother. (She wasn't the only one, her cousin, Jim Pugh, is also an accomplished keyboard player). Picking up melodies effortlessly by ear, she began composing her own songs at an early age. She pursued her love of music balanced by her love of animals and nature while growing up in the coastal town of Balboa Island and on a ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains. She honed her chops in countless garage bands and eventually earned a degree in classical voice from California Institute of the Arts. Just out of college, Kiki won Collegiate Entertainer of the Year and embarked on a touring career with the legendary band, Chicago, as a keyboardist and MIDI tech. Two tours and one record later she left them to join Al Jarreau's touring band. They performed on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show and the Arsenio Hall show before embarking on a world tour. The band featured future stars like N'Dea Davenport (Brand New Heavies), Rickie Minor (American Idol, Jay Leno’s Tonight Show) and Felicia Collins (The Late Show with David Letterman). Kiki's first CD "Red" was produced by hit smooth jazz producer Paul Brown and features inspired performances from Boney James, Buzz Feiten and Paul Jackson, Jr. It was dubbed "the kind of debut most artists can only dream of creating" by the Mac Report. She went on to play live with a succession of artists including Belinda Carlisle, Bill Champlin, Peter Cetera, Tracy Chapman, Michael McDonald, Stephen Bishop, James Ingram, Jeffrey Osborne, Boz Scaggs, Christopher Cross, Dave Koz, Colin Hay and Wilson/Phillips. Kiki's songs have been covered by Boney James, Eric Marienthal and Jessy J. Her TV credits include performances with Take Six, Blake Shelton, Glen Campbell, Michelle Branch, Robert Goulet, Dolly Parton, Lee Ann Womack, Gloria Estefan, Kenny Loggins, Melissa Etheridge, Patty Griffin and many more. Notable performances include the NAMM Show, FAR-West Official Showcase, Folk Alliance International Featured Showcase Artist, The Maui Music Festival, Java Jazz Festival, Waikaloa Music and Wine Festival, Tin Pan South, Pacific Rim Jazz Festival, KSBR 25th Birthday Bash, The KIFM Anniversary Party and the Temecula Music and Wine Festival. Her sophomore effort, "Love Loud" made it into the Muse's Muse Top 10 of 2002. She later reunited with Paul Brown to create "Kiki" which was added to Steve Quirk's Fusion Flavors Best of 2005 list. Says Steve, "Kiki is a sleeping giant in contemporary music, who deserves to be heard." She released her first cover CD in 2009 called Cool Songs Vol. 1. featuring classic pop tunes like Time After Time, It's Too Late and Diary. Kiki's music appears on several compilations worldwide. She has opened for Christopher Cross, Peter Cetera, Emmy Lou Harris and Al Stewart. Kiki performs all over the US and will make her debut in Scotland later this summer. Kiki divides her time between writing, recording and performing music and sharing her love of horses (especially rescued horses) with the community (thehealingequineranch.com) (Little known trivia info: Kiki was an extra in the film "Back To The Future," playing a musician in the scene with Huey Lewis,)