Cliff Beach

2013 Nominee – Record of the Year – 23rd Annual LA Music Awards “Who the funk is Cliff Beach”

2013 Nominee – Jazz Artist of the Year – 23rd Annual LA Music Awards

2013 Nominee -Urban Music Artist of the Year – 23rd Annual LA Music Awards

Cliff Beach Biography:

Cliff was born into a family with strong musical roots and like most of the musicians that he idolized as a kid, he too grew up playing music in the church and sang regularly at home to entertain members of his family. Cliff describes those days as if he were, “singing into a drumstick for a meal,” with a laugh, “I just remember there being a lot of food around and for some reason, looking back, I always picture a drumstick in my hand.” Its remarks like this that reveals the quick humored, bright-natured and welcoming personality that is “Cliff Beach”.

Cliff’s musical journey flourished once he ventured from his home town of Washington, DC to attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. There he performed in all-star showcases as well as honed in and perfected his singing, songwriting and keyboard skills. After graduating in 2002, he relocated and set his sights on conquering Los Angeles with his band, The Moon Crickets. The group headlined gigs at notable blues/funk venues like BB Kings Blues Club and The Hard Rock Café along with their Outdoor Concert Series. The group did experience some local success which led to them releasing two independent albums, a self-titled debut LP released in 2006 followed by The Moon Crickets: Live at Universal City Walk released in 2007.

The group quickly disbanded in late 2007 and at that time Cliff was booked for a series of tours on Holland America Cruise Lines where he was a featured member (keys and vocals) in their house band. He recalls this time of his life as being, “fantastic but also somewhat of a drunken blur.” Upon returning to Los Angeles Cliff refocused his energy on playing solo shows, doing some studio recordings and hosting writing sessions with other local artists and producers. The result of these sessions led to the formation of C.T.O. (Creating the Opportunity), a network of local musicians founded by Cliff and six others. C.T.O.’s motto is “Music First” and its members were banded together to create performance opportunities, offer support to one another and to raise awareness on social issues. “We were tired of playing places with booking agents that didn’t promote and had bands that did not mesh well together on one bill, we decided we could create a more family atmosphere producing our own shows. We were already booking shows together anyway so it seemed like a logical progression.”

In 2013 Cliff hit the studio and began to focus on his solo EP, “Who the Funk is Cliff Beach?” An introductory EP comprised of five songs executive produced by Cliff with mastering by good friend Peter Rocks (Far East Movement, Of Montreal, Lupe Fiasco), engineering by up-and-comer Tim Hall and an alternative mix from Lightdrop . The EP features the single “Let Me Down” a funky, head nodding, catchy track that perfectly displays the range of Cliff’s vocal ability and his funkability. Another stand out track is a slick rendition of The Black Keys’ “Lonely Boy”, “The Black Keys are one of my favorite bands” says Cliff. “They were able to bring a style of music back to the forefront that was totally left of center all thanks to them being true to themselves”.

In 2014 Cliff headlined Target Sundays at the California African American Museum for Black History Month in Feb and for their July 4th Extravaganza. Cliff was also a featured musical act at TEDX Napa Valley in March 2014.His latest EP “Stripped Down and Unplugged” was released in September 2014, with its lead single “Let Me Down (Acoustic) featured on Soul Tracks.com Music Blog in Nov. 2014. Cliff is currently working on his new album entitled “The Gospel According to Cliff Beach”, which is due out late summer 2015. Cliff is a voting Member of NARAS, a Songwriter and Publisher with BMI and an award winning member of Toastmasters International.