Dubbed ‘the darling of the blues’, this British Columbia singer with the Janis Joplin-like voice started singing aged four and, after honing her craft in her father’s band, has gone on to perform with Jeff Healey and Henrik Freischlader, the latter producing her last two of seven albums, Sleep Little Girl and The Lily.
What can we expect from your first UK shows?
You can expect me, fully, completely and without reservation. I give my sweat, tears and heart on stage. You will hear blues, rock and gospel, and my words, emotions and life in the lyrics. I will give the blues fire I am born to give and nothing less.
What will the set list comprise of?
Mostly originals from my new album The Lily, some songs from my last album Sleep Little Girl and a few cover songs and a capella pieces.
**Tell us about The Lily. **
It was recorded in Arnsberg, Germany in Megaphon Ton Studios with engineer Martin Meinschäfer and producer Henrik Freischlader. We worked so well together on the last album, Sleep Little Girl, that it made sense to do it again. We laughed a lot, cried during a few songs, goofed around and had a good time.
Your dad was a blues fan and played in a band. Was he an influence?
He definitely brought a lot to my life musically. Sitting on his knee while he played guitar and harmonica and drank beer and smoked cigarettes is an early memory I won’t forget. He also played guitar at the beach when we’d go camping, and played around on the piano and wrote songs, and I watched all of this and absorbed it and loved it as a child. We always used to listen to music during dinner time, artists like Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, Billie Holiday.
Who else has impacted on you?
I’ve been influenced vocally by Janis Joplin, Etta James, Joni Mitchell, Sam Cooke, Muddy Waters and Van Morrison. And musically by Tom Waits, Neil Young and Frank Zappa. Also Henrik Freischlader inspires me and has been a great person in my life, because not only do I strive to be better as an artist on his label, but also strive to be a stronger, better person in this business because of his support and respect.
