Saskatchewan songstress Belle Plaine will make her Revelstoke debut this Tuesday, Sept. 4 when she brings her jazzy vocal skills to the Last Drop Pub.
Belle Plaine (aka Melanie Hankewich) will be touring her new album Notes from a Waitress on her first cross-Canada tour, including stops in Banff, Winlaw and Fernie before heading to the Coast.
Her jazz fusion style combines vintage country, swing and a feminine pop done right. She plays a combination of original music, jazz standards and folk anthems.
Belle Plaine started vocal lessons young and studied jazz at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton before stints in Calgary and then Victoria where she sang at the coffeehouse scene.
She eventually returned to her home province, settling into Regina where she started work on original albums including Hello from Belle Plaine and Notes from a Waitress, which was released this summer.
My take: Belle Plaine has an arresting voice — a grown up's Shirley Temple with a shot of whiskey and a twist of despair in a smoky Prairie saloon. Solid vocal training enables her to fuse jazz and blues, often evoking female greats from those genres in the same number. Sample some of her songs here.
Belle Plaine's show at the Last Drop will make for a laid back, bluesy, authentic, late summer evening out for anyone who loves a strong female lead. This is her first B.C. stop on the tour. 8 p.m. Free.