McClelland - a can't miss show
Melissa McClelland is polite, pretty and saccharine-voiced, but that won't stop her from singing about cocaine and fighting.
“As a kid I was really kind of drawn to music that had a dark undercurrent, or you know, it almost sounds kind of bubblegum on the surface and then you actually hear what they're singing about,” said McClelland from her hotel room in Calgary, Alberta. Born in Chicago, her family moved to the GTA when she was three, the area she still calls home.
McClelland continued, “Darkness for the sake of darkness is kind of lame. When you inject some kind of humour into it, or some prettiness, whether that's through my voice or instrumentation, that contrast really brings the emotion of the song to the surface.”
It's something that McClelland has become known for, amidst her dabblings in country, folk, blues and pop music. And having such a wide appeal has made her a musical chameleon of sorts, opening up for acts as diverse as Blue Rodeo and Matt Good.
Now on tour with fellow folkie Justin Rutledge, she'll be performing at the Aeolian Hall in London on November 20.
But her chameleonic quality comes from McClelland's personal philosophy to take influence from everything around her. She even admitted to her hip-hop roots.
“I can't believe I was a fan of NWA as a teenager!” laughed McClelland, “But I grew up listening to so many different styles of music and truly loving so much. Everything from classical to hip-hop to folk music to punk rock. Not that I express all those things in my music, but I'm definitely open to trying anything really.”
And for someone raised as a Canadian, there too, is an undeniable fascination with Americana that comes out in her music.
“I think it started out as just being drawn to that tradition. I was born in the States and most of my relatives live [there] but honestly... as soon as I started singing something with a little more blues or country flavour, I think it really opened up my voice in a new way and I just felt so much more passionate singing that,” she explained.
Her exploration of southern music led to McClelland's tracing of family lineage through the States (“You can date it back as far as the Mayflower,” she says) and a road trip with friends and family along Route 66 inspired several songs from her latest album Victoria Day, produced by husband and singer-songwriter Luke Doucet.
“A lot of my songs either have to do with my travels, different places I've been to, or they have to do with home, and you can hear that on any record I've done,” she said. But it was the idea itself of the May 2-4 weekend that inspired the album's title.
“I like the idea of Victoria Day. It's kind of a weird holiday. We're celebrating the Queen's birthday, which is an odd thing, but it's also this great celebration. And for Canadians, we spend half the year shivering, and to come out on Victoria Day and have barbecues and fireworks, that was kind of the basis of [it], for me.”
It's a very Canadian holiday, and perhaps the eclecticism of McClelland's record is also a product of her roots here, a metaphor for the diversity of our country's culture. For in such a broad-spanning land, McClelland has found her way into a tight-knit group of singer-songwriters, friends and family.
“I lived in Nashville with my husband for six months and we met some wonderful people and heard some great music, but what it really did was put it into perspective how special the Canadian music scene is. Nashville is known as Music City, and we did see a lot of good stuff, but everybody's just trying to ‘Make it! Make it! Make it!' and when we came back to Canada it was so refreshing because you don't get so much of that attitude. People want to be successful, but it's not this desperate road to fame that they're on. Here people are making music trying to impress their other musician friends, and that usually makes for good music.”
Having just turned 30, McClelland is still “in that in-between place” of musical success, and constant musical evolution. And even though she doesn't know where her musical exploration will take her next, McClelland is without a doubt one of Canada's finest folk-artists — a must-see, live in concert.
“As a kid I was really kind of drawn to music that had a dark undercurrent, or you know, it almost sounds kind of bubblegum on the surface and then you actually hear what they're singing about,” said McClelland from her hotel room in Calgary, Alberta. Born in Chicago, her family moved to the GTA when she was three, the area she still calls home.
McClelland continued, “Darkness for the sake of darkness is kind of lame. When you inject some kind of humour into it, or some prettiness, whether that's through my voice or instrumentation, that contrast really brings the emotion of the song to the surface.”
It's something that McClelland has become known for, amidst her dabblings in country, folk, blues and pop music. And having such a wide appeal has made her a musical chameleon of sorts, opening up for acts as diverse as Blue Rodeo and Matt Good.
Now on tour with fellow folkie Justin Rutledge, she'll be performing at the Aeolian Hall in London on November 20.
But her chameleonic quality comes from McClelland's personal philosophy to take influence from everything around her. She even admitted to her hip-hop roots.
“I can't believe I was a fan of NWA as a teenager!” laughed McClelland, “But I grew up listening to so many different styles of music and truly loving so much. Everything from classical to hip-hop to folk music to punk rock. Not that I express all those things in my music, but I'm definitely open to trying anything really.”
And for someone raised as a Canadian, there too, is an undeniable fascination with Americana that comes out in her music.
“I think it started out as just being drawn to that tradition. I was born in the States and most of my relatives live [there] but honestly... as soon as I started singing something with a little more blues or country flavour, I think it really opened up my voice in a new way and I just felt so much more passionate singing that,” she explained.
Her exploration of southern music led to McClelland's tracing of family lineage through the States (“You can date it back as far as the Mayflower,” she says) and a road trip with friends and family along Route 66 inspired several songs from her latest album Victoria Day, produced by husband and singer-songwriter Luke Doucet.
“A lot of my songs either have to do with my travels, different places I've been to, or they have to do with home, and you can hear that on any record I've done,” she said. But it was the idea itself of the May 2-4 weekend that inspired the album's title.
“I like the idea of Victoria Day. It's kind of a weird holiday. We're celebrating the Queen's birthday, which is an odd thing, but it's also this great celebration. And for Canadians, we spend half the year shivering, and to come out on Victoria Day and have barbecues and fireworks, that was kind of the basis of [it], for me.”
It's a very Canadian holiday, and perhaps the eclecticism of McClelland's record is also a product of her roots here, a metaphor for the diversity of our country's culture. For in such a broad-spanning land, McClelland has found her way into a tight-knit group of singer-songwriters, friends and family.
“I lived in Nashville with my husband for six months and we met some wonderful people and heard some great music, but what it really did was put it into perspective how special the Canadian music scene is. Nashville is known as Music City, and we did see a lot of good stuff, but everybody's just trying to ‘Make it! Make it! Make it!' and when we came back to Canada it was so refreshing because you don't get so much of that attitude. People want to be successful, but it's not this desperate road to fame that they're on. Here people are making music trying to impress their other musician friends, and that usually makes for good music.”
Having just turned 30, McClelland is still “in that in-between place” of musical success, and constant musical evolution. And even though she doesn't know where her musical exploration will take her next, McClelland is without a doubt one of Canada's finest folk-artists — a must-see, live in concert.
