Todd Alsup
Todd Alsup is a New York City–based pianist and singer-songwriter endorsed by Yamaha. He has been profiled in Billboard Magazine and Performing Songwriter and featured on MTV, PBS, and Sirius XM Radio. He has toured throughout the United States and Europe. Alsup's style has been compared to John Legend, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Billy Joel, Ben Folds, Gavin Degraw and Rufus Wainwright. His full-length debut, Todd Alsup, is available on iTunes. Early life and career. Alsup was born and raised in Waterford, Michigan and began studying piano at the age of 11. He graduated  from Waterford Mott High School and moved to New York City where he attended the Steinhardt School at New York University, graduating with a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance. He began performing his original songs in Manhattan clubs in 2007. Alsup's first EP release "Facts & Figures" was produced by Major Who Media and received favorable press including features in Billboard Magazine and Performing Songwriter. In 2008, Alsup was selected to be a Yamaha Corporate Artist, joining an impressive list of legendary artists including Elton John, Paul McCartney, Alicia Keys and John Legend representing the Yamaha brand. In 2009 , Alsup began touring colleges and universities up and down the East Coast. His follow-up LP, "Todd Alsup" (released in 2011) was produced by Steve Greenwell, Jeremy Sklarsky and James Walsh. The album features the singles "How I'm Made," "The Only Thing," and "Let's Have A Party" (which was featured on MTV's ). In November 2010, Alsup's song "How I'm Made" became a Top 12 Finalist, alongside artists Lucius in the 5th Annual Songwriters Circle Contest in New York City. Past winners include Kate Voegele, Company of Thieves, and Mieka Pauley. Placing in the Top 5 , word of Alsup's talent reached legendary music industry blogger Bob Lefsetz. "If this record came out when I was in college everybody would know who Todd Alsup was", Lefsetz writes. "If you think this guy has no talent you know nothing". A club remix of the single "The Only Thing," produced by legendary DJ Richard Cutmore was released in 2011 and "The Only Thing" won the 2012 OutMusic Award for "Pop Song of the Year." In March 2012, Alsup was invited to perform at the 23rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York City. The following month he was  invited by Yamaha to showcase alongside Vanessa Carlton, Jon McLaughlin, and Landon Pigg at Yamaha's annual entertainment conference, hosted by the comedian Sinbad (entertainer). Alsup is currently in the studio completing his third studio album. The project was funded in part by fans (known as the Todd Squad) via a successful Kickstarter campaign in April 2015. The work on this project was done across continents with Swiss producer Orlando Ribar. Much of the recording was done in Switzerland and additional recording was done at Threshold Studios in New York City.