Tess Wiley biography

   (English version)

Tess began her musical career at the age of four, banging out chopsticks with great fervor on a toy piano, and went on to graduate from Performing Arts High School in her hometown of Houston, Texas. After teaching herself to play guitar, she debuted as "chick singer" with the band Nothing In Return before touring and recording '94-'95 with Sixpence None The Richer. One of her earliest compositions found a place on that group's second CD "This Beautiful Mess." Tess went solo, and since then has toured the United States and Europe extensively, performing her highly introspective music in every type of venue from coffee houses to summer festivals.

Listen closely to "Rainy Day Assembly," and you may detect shades of Shawn Colvin, Paula Cole, Beth Orton or Aimee Maan. That's because many of the musicians who added their distinctive touch to those artists' recordings also helped out here. But these shades don't overshadow Tess's transcendent lyricism and musical verve or her sensitive portrayal of growing up, growing wise, falling in and out of love, wrestling with faith and self-doubt, dealing with the ebb and flow of ambition and ennui. That's all here it's all Tess. Listen and find out for yourself why Rainy Day Assembly has been receiving nothing but praise from critics and audiences alike.

»The appearance of Rainy Day Assembly is muted epiphany. Like a messianic prophet of antiquity, Tess Wiley delivers a life-shaping message without formal sanction.«  - www.popmatters.com