Sara Niemietz & Snuffy Walden
Sara Niemietz Bio:
Chicago-native Sara Niemietz moved to California over a decade ago, in search of creative opportunities. Since then, she has stared on Broadway (Carol Burnett's Hollywood Arms), appeared in television and film (Akeelah and the Bee, Glee), recorded vocals for many scores and projects, released four albums, sang in Times Square before 50,000 people, and spent countless hours honing her craft.
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The last few years have been full of new ventures. Sara's heartfelt songs and highly interactive approach to social media have garnered her over nineteen million views and over one hundred fourteen thousand followers and subscribers across various new media platforms. In 2011, Ellen DeGeneres saw one of Sara's videos and invited her to sing on The Ellen Show. That year, Richard Marx and Sara began a series of collaborations. She approved on his A Night Out With Friends CD/DVD set, as well as his Christmas Spirit record.
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In 2012, Sara collaborated with Emmy-award winning composer, W.G Snuffy Walden, and released a new EP, Push Play. The two recorded another collection of Christmas songs, Christmas Favorites, which became available later that year. A few months later, BJ Thomas invited Sara to Nashville to record on his new album, The Living Room Sessions (released in Spring of 2013). Her writing and singing also appear in the end titles of several recent films (Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Conspiracy, In the Key of Eli, and Stetson: Street Dog of Park City).
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In 2013, Sara was thrilled to return to the Mark Taper Forum to play the role of Wanda in Enter Laughing, a one-nightproduction, fundraiser, and tribute to Carl Reiner. That year, she was also invited to sing with BJ Thomas at the Grand Old Opry. Her songs were heard on Delta Airline's in-flight Singer-Songwriter channel for the duration of the summer. Sara's rendition of "Turn! Turn! Turn!" was heard in the 2014 season of Under the Dome.
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Sara was honored to reprise the role of Wanda in the sold-out run of Enter Laughing at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in 2015. Sara's rendition of "At Last" was featured in ABC's Scandal Season 5 promo and her newest EP of original songs, Fountain and Vine, was released. Sara was excited to join Postmodern Jukebox for two European tours, performing in over thirty countries, and their US tours of over thirty states. Her videos with Postmodern Jukebox has garnered millions of views.
Snuffy Walden Bio:
Born in Louisiana, raised in Texas, W.G. Snuffy Walden started piano lessons at the age of six before deciding after a year that a self-taught method was the better fit. While attending college in Houston on a double major of pre-med and math, he worked at a late-night radio show and played guitar in a strip club
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He continued along this path, with music in the background, until one day he dropped out of school, quit his job, and focused on music full time. In 1968, he formed a blues-based rock trio, Stray Dog, who relocated from Texas to England. Snuffy recorded several albums and then moved to Los Angeles where he continued his solo career and began touring with artists such as Chaka Khan, Eric Burton, and Donna Summer.
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I was during this period that several film and television agents heard Snuffy playing guitar at a regular monthly gig in a Santa Monica nightclub. He was invited to interview with the producers of "thirtysomething". Snuffy landed the gig, and "thirtysomething" was the first show he worked on. He scored the pilot, the series, and wrote the theme.
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A month after "thirtysomething" went on the air, Snuffy received a call asking if he would be interested in a "little show" premiering after the Super Bowl. The show turned out to be "The Wonder Years." Snuffy scored the pilot, then went on to score the series, and revamped a Beatles song for the end credits.
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Walden's work in "thirtysomething" and "The Wonder Years" brought him new attention in the composing world, and he went on to score "Ellen", "Roseanne", "Sister", "The Jackie Thomas Show", "Friday Night Lights", and many other television shows; more than a dozen films and movies for television; several independent films; and the major release "Leaving Normal."
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Walden has received twelve Emmy nominations, multiple BMI awards, and was awarded the Emmy for Outstanding Main Title Theme for "The West Wing."
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Snuffy's ability to combine intricate emotions with musical simplicity has earned him a special place among the ranks of composers, as his work continues to ring with genuine warmth and truth.