Naomi Striemer

She was raised on a hobby farm in Malagash Point, near Truro, Nova Scotia and homeschooled by strict missionary parents. At age ten, her family moved to Manitoba where in 1993 the 11-year-old recorded an album of Christian music. Before that point, she had never watched television nor listened to the radio. In 1998 her family moved again, this time to Florida.

In an article in Billboard that ran in February 2007, Striemer told writer Chuck Taylor that her parents "were artistic people, hippies going the opposite way to vegetarian farmland. They did a total 360. I was completely unaware of their previous world, and a trusting child who wasn’t particularly curious. We would play tapes in the car, either classical music or folk bible songs and sermons; that was the only world I knew.”

In a November 21, 2006 interview on CBC Radio's "Sounds Like Canada", Striemer revealed that she is very protective of her voice. Her diet excludes caffeine, fizzy drinks and very hot / cold items. Concerning her childhood, she reflected on the close ties she had with nature and animals on the farm. While still 5 or 6 she sang with adults in a group. She further stated that she basically knew from an early age she wanted to sing professionally.

In April 2001, Striemer was signed by Epic Records and completed her first album for them in 2003 which was never released following a shakeup at Epic's parent, Sony BMG. The following year she and her family moved to the rural community of Delhi, Ontario. Conflicted over Epic's shelving of her album, she nonetheless continued performing in the Toronto area where she met her next manager, following a performance at an Indigo Bookstore. Steven Nowack subsequently founded S Records to launch Striemer's career and she was the first artist signed to S Records.[1]

Striemer moved to Los Angeles in 2005. S Records solicited the participation of producer Narada Michael Walden, who has the most number one hits of any producer in history, responsible for writing and producing many of the signature hit songs for Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.

Following a chance meeting with Carlos Santana at a Marin, County, California steakhouse Santana recorded on Striemer's first cd "Images" on the first single titled "Cars" "Images" was released on December 19, 2006 in Canada on the S Records label and was the No. 1 downloaded album in Canada. "Cars" was released as a single and in his review, Billboard's Taylor described it as "the year's most promising melodic debut... A standing ovation of an endorsement... Remember the first time you heard Whitney, Mariah or Celine and recognized a star was born?"[2]

Prominent press about Striemer, in addition to the CBC interview, includes the lead story on the CTV National News the most watched and most prominent nightly newscast in Canada, a front page and a feature story in Canada’s national newspaper “National Post,” features on the CTV national news and “Entertainment Tonight,” a lifestyle front in Canada’s “Globe and Mail,” and multiple items in Roger Friedman’s Foxnews.com “Foxlife” column.

In December 2006, S Records offered "Cars" as a free download on Internet site sympatico.msn.ca. The move thrust Images to become the No. 1 downloaded album in Canada for the final two weeks of the year, topping discs by Sarah McLachlan, U2 and the Beatles. She repeated the achievement the week of January 15, 2007—after the free download had expired—beating fare from Justin Timberlake, Josh Groban and Gwen Stefani.

In a subsequent profile in Billboard, producer Narada Michael Walden told Taylor, "Steven [Nowack] is very zealous, so I listened to what he had to say, not taking his pitch overly seriously until I met Naomi and heard her live. I was impressed with her beauty, but more so by her voice. You believe her. She has the chops, the range, the drive—and the humility—to offer a beautiful gift."

Taylor's description of Striemer's Images the album include the haunting piano-driven title track, which opens with the lyric, "I found out today my love has found another/And all the things I did to make you happy won’t make you happy anymore," as Striemer pleads amid urgent percussion, "If I could fight my way back to you/It would only throw me further away."

"Fall Behind" is Striemer's intense take on her lost contract at Epic. She sings, "What's happening/I feel the world slipping apart before my eyes," amid an inflamed backdrop of electric guitars and howling vocal of defiance.

Shimmering power ballad and first single "Cars" uses the lyrical allegory of counting passing vehicles as she waits for her AWOL man—an allusion to universal diligence in the search for love: "In life, we wait for that one person that is meant for us," Striemer explains. "They may be with someone else now, but you hold out hope that they exist, so you put on a brave face and wait".

On August 19, 2009, Striemer's The Green Album shot to No. 2 on Canada's Puretracks album download charts after the release on August 18, 2009. It went to No. 1 on the same chart August 20, 2009.

In June 2010, Striemer made her debut on the CT20 Christian Radio Charts in Canada debuting at No. 18, moving up a spot to No. 17 the following week and up to No. 11 on June 26, 2010, where she held steady for two weeks with her single "Perfect (When I Grow Up)" co-written with songwriter Peter Zizzo.

2012 Striemer released Hope That Breaks the Dark with singles produced by Ed and Scott Cash at Anchor Productions (Chris Tomlin, Kari Jobe, Chris August) in Nashville, TN. The first single 'Earth & Sky' spent 16 weeks in 2013 on the TRAA Charts in Australia and New Zealand and garnered a Top 5 CCM hit in Canada. The song was performed live on Christian Television programs 'The 700 Club' on CBN and 'Hour of Power' which is broadcast to dozens of countries around the world. The second single 'Giving It To God' was performed on Hour of Power and several other talk shows and remained on the Canadian Christian Contemporary charts for several weeks. Striemer became a published author releasing her autobiographical book 'Backstage Pass - The Naomi Striemer Story' in 2013 which became a Best-Seller on Amazon. The book chronicles Naomi's journey through pop music into Christian Contemporary and takes a close look at the moment that changed her life: When a man approached her in a New York City Hip Hop Studio with a dream.

• Images (CD) - S Records - 2006

1. "Cars"
2. "Images"
3. "I Know That It's Love"
4. "Three Days Ago"
5. "I Believe" (Theme Song for the Hospital for Sick Children)
6. "Derailed"
7. "Last Chance"
8. "I'm Taking Everything"
9. "Reach The Top"
10. "Fall Behind"
11. "Something to Lose"
12. "Starting Gate"
13. "J’Irai Au Sommet"
14. "I Love You Still"
15. "Go Away"
16. "Wild About You"
17. "United We Stand"

• The Green Album (CD) - Solo Andeavor Records - 2009 (11.08.2009)

1. "Let Me Go"
2. "Fall Behind"
3. "Stay With Me (Tonight)"
4. "Live Through You"
5. "Starting Gate +"
6. "Run"
7. "Play Along"
8. "End Of Time"
9. "Waiting"
10. "I'll Catch Up"
11. "Sailing Away"

• EightyEight (CD) - NellsNotes Records - 2010 (6.04.2010)

1. "Breathe"
2. "We Can Stay Together"
3. "Embrace The Day"
4. "Set You Free"
5. "Why"
6. "Open Cage"
7. "Trust Now"
8. "Toy Soldier"
9. "Tell Me You Love Me"

• Official website