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Cindy Alter
Vocals, Guitar, Songwriter

Even though Cindy Alter was born to a musical family in Johannesburg, South
Africa, she claims that "music chose her". She picked up a guitar at age 10, wrote her first song at 15 then joined a heavy-rock, cover-band, playing everything from Zeppelin to Grand Funk.  Her strong childhood dream to write songs and live in the U.S.A. was reinforced by listening to James Taylor & Carol King and later, Cat Stevens and other prolific songwriters.

After graduating from High School and working as a girl-Friday for a local recording studio, she recorded her first single, "Schoolboy", then spent the next few years touring South Africa, opening for various big-name acts, until 1977 when she auditioned for an all-girl band and was suddenly catapulted into the world of pop-stardom, constant touring and recording, playing huge arena 's and concert halls in Europe and Africa, as she spearheaded the band "Clout", selling over ten million albums worldwide, earning gold records, Sarie Awards (South Africa's Grammy equivalent), and charting at #1 across Europe and Africa, # 2 in U.K., and entering the U.S. Billboard top 100 with their hit single (a cover of the Righteous Brothers song),  "Substitute".

"Clout" toured Europe for four years, sharing stages with the top recording artists of the time, The Police, Thin Lizzy, Supertramp, Dire Straights, Blondie, Gloria Gaynor and the Village People, to name a few. Cindy had been writing songs for a few years, and two of these were recorded by Clout, but her efforts to contribute more were met with indifference, which marked the beginning of the band’s long struggle to redeem royalties from their management & record company. Cindy's personal life took a turn when her mother was diagnosed with leukemia; the ill-feelings between band members and management escalated, the pressures finally took their toll and after four monumental years, "Clout" disbanded.

Cindy joined forces with local musicians to form a new band, with the sole purpose of writing and recording original material. "Cyndicate" had enormous potential, being courted by the U.S.A. manager of the "Runaways", Kim Fowley, but after visiting the U.S. to write and record with Fowley, Cindy decided to take a personal break, and reassess her goals, and started the “Cindy Alter Band”, which evolved into “ZIA”, a new concept in South African music, during a politically charged era. It was a multi-racial band playing pop/rock songs, with Zulu influences. Zia had a couple of radio hits, (most written by Cindy),and toured the country, then broke into the French market, and toured France, opening for the "Bee Gee's" at "Bercy" in Paris, after which they were offered the opening slot on the "Bee Gee's" U.S. tour. This was a major coup, but was sadly thwarted when their local record company could not offer tour support. Cindy took this as a sign to move on. She resigned from "Zia", and in July 1990, booked a ticket to Los Angeles.

In L.A., Cindy found peace and fulfillment as a human being, musician and songwriter, stretching her musical abilities beyond her wildest dreams, co-producing, writing and independently releasing two solo CD's, "Silver Moon", and "Dark Heart". Cindy became very active in the local songwriter community, playing clubs from the "Roxy" to "Roxbury", and hosting numerous songwriting showcases and events. She became an active member of ASCAP, NSAI & other Songwriting organizations across the U.S. and has been a seminar guest-speaker promoting artist empowerment. She is a published poet; had an Honorable Mention in the "John Lennon Songwriting Competition" and been a prize winner in the "Senheisser Evolution Band Search" & the "Grand Slam" Songwriting competitions.

Cindy performed acoustically and with her band making waves in songwriter circles in Los Angeles, and in Nashville. Her appearance at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara in the "Sings Like Hell" series was a powerful introduction to an audience who support the likes of John Hiatt, Peter Case, Richard Thomson, Nickel Creek, & Gillian Welch, and Santa Barbara newspaper,"The Independent", called her "red-hot"!

Cindy has also appeared alongside such diverse artists as Kenny Loggins, Olivia Newton-John, Clint Black, Glen Phillips, Dave Mason, Sophie B. Hawkins, Flock of Seagulls & Dishwalla, and has co-written with other songwriters, including Trevor Rabin.

In 2002, Cindy was approached by an agent in South Africa who wanted to reunite “Clout” for a series of shows. After nearly 20 years apart, Cindy thought it would be good karma for the band to play together in a relaxed atmosphere, with none of the previous baggage in tow. Two months before her planned departure to South Africa, Cindy did a short tour in Nashville, and was inspired to move to the songwriting capitol. As she was making plans, life decided to throw her another curveball - she was diagnosed with Acute Mylogenous Leukemia, and was admitted into hospital immediately for intense chemotherapy treatments. This was just the beginning of the long road back to health, and after undergoing a Stem-Cell Bone Marrow Transplant at City of Hope hospital in California, Cindy felt strong enough to make new plans.

The past year in and out of hospital had not daunted her spirit or her passion for music, but, in fact, enhanced it. Her guitar was with her always, and the songs were flowing like tears…happy tears! A few shows here and there during treatment kept her soul alive and strong, and when she felt renewed and revitalized, Cindy decided to move back to South Africa, reunite “Clout” and do the shows she was meant to do a year before. Also, going back to her roots felt like an integral part of the healing process.

Leaving L.A. was one of the toughest things she’d done … she left not only a marriage, her sister, niece and friends, but a part of her life that had brought her ‘to and through’ her greatest challenges. In 2005 “Clout” recorded a new CD, and toured South Africa. This time around was definitely a more meaningful experience, and the band played purely and simply because they loved music.

Cindy realized that playing once or twice a month was not enough, and decided to branch out, joining forces with Stewart Irving, a fantastic vocalist and performer. They formed “Alter Irving”, put a band together and are now working the concert circuit around South Africa. Their first CD together will be released in April 2009, a collection of eight original songs, depicting their unique “Country-Rock” sound.

Cindy still does solo shows, playing her songs, telling the stories about her life’s journey. She has started writing her biography, which she hopes to finish by the end of the year, titled aptly, “No Substitute”. Living her best life, her interesting and crazy life … a life she would not change for anything. As she says, “It’s been a wild ride, but it’s far from over”.

From the Press

“Good melodies - catchy tunes you’d like to hear over again”. - Lily Raven –Rock City News 2000 

“Cindy Alter’s red-hot opening performance” Courtney King – The Santa Barbara Independent 2000 

“Cindy Alter is a power rock Goddess!!! - Red-Star Productions, Santa Barbara 2000 

“Cindy Alter, an exceptional singer, guitarist & songwriter, takes us on an emotional musical journey, on her new excellent CD, “Dark Heart” – NOHO LA 2001 

Check out Cindy's Mp3.com site to download tracks from Silver Moon & Dark Heart