The end.”

One day, Dina Regine rode her bicycle over the 59th Street Bridge to Manhattan to hang out at the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. What she found when she got there was an assortment of folkies, activists, scene makers… and the New York Dolls. Regine realized how different things were on the other side of the river and thought to herself ‘I’m really gonna like it here”.

Regine spent most of her teenage years slipping into the city to perform at open mics, and by the age of 17 she had already shared bills with established artists like Bill Withers and Richie Havens. Like her father, who had thousands of jazz recordings, she was passionate about her record collection and loved turning all the neighborhood kids on to her discoveries. "My first 45's were bought at a bargain store in Queens. These old gems were piled into a huge pickle barrel and sold for about a dime each. I would pick records that had band names that looked cool. If I liked the 45, I would take my allowance, go back to the store and buy all that band's records. That's how I discovered Phil Spector’s ‘wall of sound’ and the funky old Atlantic Soul recordings. Jimi Hendrix was my first full-length LP purchase. I remember seeing the title "Are you experienced" and I thought to myself, hell no, so I bought it!"

When Regine fell in love with Richard Avedon’s work, she convinced her parents to buy her a 35mm camera, and enrolled in the School of Visual Arts. Countless hours were spent in the darkroom developing photos, many of which she took at concerts. The under age Regine would call record companies and magazines, putting on what she called her ‘ husky grown up voice’ trying to sell her work. To her surprise, some said yes. “I damn near fainted when I sold my first photo” claims Regine who parallel’s her life to Cameron Crowe’s autobiographical young character in the movie ‘Almost Famous’. All the freelance jobs she eventually landed gave her a chance to see numerous concerts for free, soak up the scene at the time, and of course learn from the best. She even found her way to the crossroads by accident while on a shoot for Led Zeppelin. When Robert Plant found out she was a musician and had never heard of Robert Johnson, he pulled a twenty out of his pocket and sent her out right then and there to buy the album. She kept the change and discovered the blues.

After almost getting killed taking pictures at a general admission arena concert when a barricade wall collapsed on her (along with the first few rows of people), Regine put down the Nikon and picked up an electric guitar. While going through the Village Voice classifieds, an ad caught her eye resulting in her first and last audition. It was for Bruce Springstein. After hearing her sing the required songs, he had her cut loose with the E Street Band to see what she could do. The impressed Springstein encouraged her to go solo and front her own project. She took the Boss's advice. Although she made the final cut, Bruce did the tour sans backup singers. Other than with friends, the only back-up work she did after that was singing several songs, including the single ‘The Harder they Come’ on " The Best Of Jimmy Cliff Live”. Over the next few years she would have several combos of her own, and countless gigs in NYC, mainly at Max’s Kansas City and CBGB’s. By 1981, she finally had the perfect band, signed the dream publishing and record deal in Europe, and in typical Rock n Roll fashion, watched it all come crashing down. Regine headed for London for a change of scenery.

While in London, a chance meeting introduced Regine to yet another career as a DJ, resulting in her coming back to NY for her first club gig. It was a huge success. Regine got lucky and began DJ-ing a string clubs and high profile events with her eclectic mix, mainly in the art and entertainment world. Some highlights include the Closing Party for the US Olympics in California, Keith Richards 50th birthday and most recently, a fundraiser at Lincoln Center for Richard Gere’s organization ‘Healing the Divide’ featuring the Dalai Lama and Tom Waits.

In 1990 Regine signed a publishing deal with Sony Music and fronted the Irish-American group Naked Grape. She also collaborated with several artists and had a few of her songs recorded for major label releases. When the Grapes broke up, she and guitarist Kieran McEvoy brought the volume down a few notches, going acoustic with their new project, Swamp Honey. The Music Paper described their stripped down sound as having a "back porch delivery" and called her bluesy vocal style "scarily authentic". A review in Ireland's Hot Press praised their performance after opening for Eleanor McEvoy at the Bottom Line in NYC. The duo parted ways when Kieran decided to move back home to Dublin. Regine kicked off her new project as a solo act opening for Jorma Kaukonen at Irving Plaza to a packed house. Over the next year, Regine made a home for herself at the renowned Café Sin-e, with percussionist Jerry Arias.

In October 1999 Regine released her homegrown debut ‘BE AS IT WILL’. Performing Songwriter Magazine called her style "Roots music with a modern twist", Music Connection called her "Moody soulful and introspective", and Relix referred to her as "One of the most promising female artists in many a year". "This CD was my chance to try all those guitar parts I never got to do in bands before, go production crazy, and play with the musicians that I adored". Low-end heavy hitters Will Lee (David Letterman Show), Kasim Sultan (Todd Rundgren/Joan Jett) & Alan Geveart (Chris Whitley), all make guest appearances on the CD. Gig Magazine published her first feature article "Bedroom Mixing" in February 2000, documenting the humorous process of mixing a record in an apartment the size of a dollhouse (she also did the photo layout). Presently, Regine is working on two CD’s, the follow-up EP "Blame it on the Moon” is due out April-May 2005. This collection of demos will be sporting an early 70’s roots sound, with a pinch of Americana, and a pinch of pop, Regine's favorite recipe at the moment. "I've been hearing things in my head differently lately, more open. I want these tunes to sound more like I do live. On most of the tracks, the scratch guitars and vocals are the keepers. I'm going with what feels right, and keeping the little dents in the fenders".