Biography
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Named one of the "50 Women Who Rock Seattle” by the Seattle Weekly, Gretta Harley, a native New Yorker, began her Seattle music career in 1990 as the guitarist, songwriter and singer (alongside bassist Tess Lotta) of hard-rocking Maxi Badd (later Danger Gens).
Her band Mettle Lark, with Fred Speakman, Dave Pascal and Kai Strandskov, performs her original music in the Seattle area. Gretta was co-founder, co-songwriter and singer of the band Love and Fury. In 2013, Gretta co-wrote/produced These Streets with Sarah Rudinoff and Elizabeth Kenny, a live music play about the female musicians of the famed grunge era that put Seattle on the international map. These Streets played to sold-out houses at Seattle's ACT Theatre, garnering national attention on NPR’s All Things Considered, feature articles in Alaska Air Magazine, Seattle Met, Seattle Magazine, Seattle Times, and a cover story in City Arts Magazine. Gretta received a Gypsy Rose Lee Award nomination for best composer for These Streets. She and the project were highlighted in the book, GRUNGE, Jeunesse eternelle, and the accompanying documentary film. Gretta released her first solo album, Element 115 (Uup), in June 2015, premiering the work with a 10-piece ensemble (arrangements by Harley and Andrew Joslyn (Macklemore, Mark Lanegan, Built To Spill), and based on the recorded arrangements by KRAMER and Harley) on June 6, 2015 at Seattle's Royal Room. She has also performed Element 115 (Uup) solo, and with her rock band Mettle Lark. In 1993, Gretta co-founded Home Alive, an organization still offering a variety of affordable self-defense classes to people (now through their website). She produced Home Alive's first record, The Art of Self-Defense, on Epic/SONY Records, featuring artists Joan Jett, Ann and Nancy Wilson, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, 7 Year Bitch, and Harley, among many others. Gretta's band, We Are Golden with Sarah Rudinoff, released their eponymous EP in 2009. Gretta's music has been heard on several recordings, film and TV, including cult-phenom, "Waxie Moon In Fallen Jewel" and "Little Potato." She has written music for dozens of dramatic theater productions as well as her own music productions. Gretta is a 4Culture Artist Project Award recipient. Other awards include a Creative Capital Grant, Centrum Artist Residency, and an award from the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture for These Streets. She holds a degree in music composition from Cornish College of the Arts where she was also a faculty member for 11 years. |