>>PREVIEW
MELISSA McCLELLAND
Tuesday, May 1
Jack Singer Concert Hall
Melissa McClelland wants you to have her songs. Well, sort of.
On her album Thumbelina’s One Night Stand, McClelland weaves together several intricate stories that seem to follow a common path, making each song seem as important as the last in understanding what the album is about. Just don’t expect McClelland to explain it to you – she’s more interested in how you interpret the songs.
"With visual artists and painters," McClelland says, "they put so much work into this one piece of art and then if they sell it or give it away, it’s not theirs anymore. They literally have to part with it. I like to transfer that to music, I think it’s important to kind of let it go and put it in the hands of the listener."
Going into the recording of the album, it wasn’t McClelland’s intention to make a concept album, but she sees why Thumbelina has been getting labelled as such by critics.
"It wasn’t a conscious decision – I just do what comes naturally to me. And even some of the themes that pop up through the record, none of that was conscious, it just kind of made sense at the end," she says. "I tend to place a lot of focus on the lyrics and the stories and that usually comes first in the song writing process."
With McClelland putting the emphasis on her lyrics, it’s important to have a good producer around to help guide the musical vision of the album as well. Luckily, she happens to keep one around at home. Thumbelina was produced by her husband, Luke Doucet, who is also accompanying her on the road for the first half of her current tour, opening for Jesse Cook.
"He just has a natural talent for production and knowing where each part should fit and where each instrument should be," she says of Doucet. "I think he’s really respectful of leaving a lot of space and letting my voice and the stories be the focus and he’s got a really sophisticated ear."
Her tour with Cook comes after stints on the folk festival circuit and a spot opening for Matt Good on his solo acoustic tour. Having played for such diverse audiences has opened her up to the idea of just how versatile her music is.
"The audiences on the Matt Good tour and the Jesse Cook tour couldn’t be more different," she says with a laugh, "but there are things about my music that appeal to both crowds. I am finding that the things the Matt Good crowd liked about my music are different than the things the Jesse Cook crowd likes about my music. They’re drawn to different songs.
"It’s really been an experiment for me, and to see that both crowds have responded really well is a really good feeling." |
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