FFWD Weekly
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Music by Mike Bell Roberta Michèle with Amanda Marshall Monday, April 24 Jubilee Auditorium It’s not the voice, that lands on the wholesome side of sexy. It’s not the songs themselves, which hit their modest mark between labelmates Esthero and Chantal Kreviazuk, and recall Tori Amos at her more lucid moments. And it’s not even the fact that she’s an Alberta gal who found her way to Toronto and into a development deal with Sony Music. It’s those bangs. Singer Roberta Michèle has the best bangs in the business. "Oh, you like my bangs," laughs the classically trained musician. "I was actually growing them out at one point... and even the president of Sony said, ‘You know what? I really like your longer bangs.’ And I was like, ‘Well, I’m cuttin’ them.’ "So I still have them." Good call, because those bangs, as well as the aforementioned musical attributes, should take Michèle and her recently released debut, Today, far. Not that she hasn’t already ascended the ladder to a rung rarely reached. From her hometown of Edmonton to a new life in T.O. and then a lengthy wooing and nurturing with the record label, the personable, appreciative artist already seems poised for success in the Canadian music industry. She just needs a little more time – something everyone involved seems to be more than happy to give her. "It wasn’t one of those things where it’s like, ‘We’re going to make you a star, baby!’ It was more like, ‘OK, I have an opportunity and I’m going to try and make the most out of it and see where it goes,’" Michèle says of the journey. "I’m glad it happened this way rather than it being a whirlwind because there were so many things that I’ve been able to breathe in and enjoy. Including the making of the record, which took a year and a half." And it shows. While Today isn’t an overly precious recording, it is extremely well produced, with each listen peeling away a new layer. How it adapts to a live setting should be an interesting transition, and another challenge that Michèle is looking forward to as she gets ready for her coming out tour, opening for the tempestuous Amanda Marshall. "It’ll be interesting transferring the record to live. We haven’t had problems but we’ve definitely had to hash things out, like ‘Where are we going to go with this? How are we going to do it?’" she says, explaining that this time out it will be just herself and a pianist. "But we just kept it quite visceral so that I could just get out and sing and do what I do. I sort of see myself as an interpreter of music, so that’s my priority.... My voice is the focus for me, but there is a point, especially when I step on stage, where it’s like, ‘You’re a singer, you know what you’re doing, you’re not going to get any better in five minutes, so go out and break a barrier between people and try and connect,’" she says. "So, that’s sort of my goal."

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