In our last episode, Russian-born-and-raised singer-songwriter Marina Gennadievna Verenikina packed up her piano and split for LA in hopes of furthering her music career.
If you remember, as a 15-year-old, the green-eyed girl beat out about 10,000 other Russian students to win a scholarship for study in the good old U.S. of A. The stateside experience helped convinced her that a move to America would best fit her goals of songwriting and performing. She landed in Jacksonville, Ill., and met musician Nick Baker. They collaborated on songwriting and producing, and formed a band. After two CDs and several local live shows, the partners moved to the City of Angels in search of some music mogul magic. In the last two years, Marina won a few awards, met with record business types, and generally kept her head above water, her feet on the ground, and her hands in several directions, signaling she was ready for someone to help her achieve her dreams.
This year, she got a break — a huge one. David Krebs, former manager of Aerosmith, Don McLean, AC/DC, Michael Bolton, and other show business heavies, put an ad in a business journal, informing the world he was looking for talent. Marina, who sent out thousands of demos over the years, sent out one more. Two weeks later she received a call from Krebs.
“He said his assistants liked my demo and he loved it and five of his best friends loved it,” Marina says. “Then he said he would be in LA in a few weeks and could we meet.” The result of the meeting and a few live listenings from Krebs was a management contract and a showcase concert for major labels this February in New York City. “I’m excited and scared at the same time,” says the singer, now 25.
Basically a management contract gives Krebs full reign to use his significant powers to arrange deals and promote the career of Marina V. One of his first moves was to introduce the songwriters to producer Jack Douglas (John Lennon, George Harrison, Concert for Bangladesh). “He was not intimidating. He was a good guy,” Baker says. “He came to practice and suggested little things like harmony placement and arrangements and generally gave us a good report.”
Whether Douglas will end up as producer of a major label debut of Marina V is yet to be seen. “He told us he would do it if we wanted him to and if David thought it would work,” Baker says. Would that work for you guys? “Oh yeah,” they both say, laughing and enjoying the reality of the situation that takes them one step closer to realizing their dreams.
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Marina V returns to Springfield at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23,
for a visit to Samuel’s Music in White Oaks Mall. She’ll play a few songs and
have updated copies of last years’ CD, Something of My Own, (courtesy of manager
David Krebs), featuring different artwork and new recordings of the title track
and its Russian version, Taet Sneg. For more information, visit MarinaV.com
This article appears in Dec 18-24, 2003.
