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Biography
Michelle Cross is obsessed with her music. "I [play and write music] all the time. When I don't have a job I'm playing 14 hours a day. When I do have a job I play 4 or 5 hours a day. I have to do it everyday… as much as I can squeeze in." She describes her songs as therapeutic and very personal. "It's like my journal" although she admits she likes to "steal shoes" a lot.
Sprinkled with classical influences and firmly supported by strong vocals, Cross's songs tend to have a darker moodier feel to them. At times, there is a lot of aggression and rhythm in her piano playing, yet even at its most gentle moments her powerfully emotional and melodic piano-based songs have caused listeners to sit-up and pay attention." ( read more... )
Blog
September 24, 2004
Music Update! Surprises come in threes!!
Check out the music section for new mp3s, now available for download!September 22, 2004
There are two (two is better than zero, folks) songs from a recent performance at the Pallette and Chisel show. The songs are (please right-click and d/l): Doctor Said and Numb Like the Sun. Please understand that these are VERY lo-fi audio.
Those were your first two surprises. The third is just this:
Mat has given me the best gift of the three and I get to share it with you all. In a show--the Beat Kitchen Show--a couple of years back, Michelle did a cover of a song that is, to say simply, the greatest thing ever... you know, since the album and Butterfinger Blizzard's from Dairy Queen.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the cover:
Come Together (a Beatles Cover).
Hi Guys.September 20, 2004
What goes on? It's Sunday night - another work week looms over me. Is this life? Oh, it's really not so bad. You really meet some interesting people that you normally would have never met. I do find "time" is a precious, precious thing these days. I hold it close to me like a baby.
Anyhow, we played the Elbo Room last night and it was a total blast! A total party! Vodka was coursing through my veins like a happy fire. Everyone was so lovable and huggable - I loved it all! I don't know if we recorded it... it was such a casual thing, but Matty Poo will let us know. Bebe sailed on his mean ol' cella, Matty Poo switched diligently from bass to guitar and totally rocked on Better Girl (he worked up a whole new intro and everything), and Henry - darling, darling Henry lit up a fire up under my ass! So we were feelin' good, if I may dare say. The set list's at the end of this blog - but I'm not done yet.
Okay, so the band after us was MicroChimp - and the dude had an awesome freakin' voice and really smart tunes - very impressive material (and the bass player was sooo cute, excuse me). But more along my genre, Liz Larin went on before us. Never heard of her, never gave it a second thought - who knew that I would be in love with her now? I had to send her an email to this effect. I have a total love for women who can sound like women who can be men - does this make sense? Liz is one of them. The good ones are hard to find, I tell you. She just has that edge to her voice and her songwriting impeccable. Every song on her new record (The Story of O-Miz) is fabulous. She's from Detroit which just makes it way cooler. She has a wise soul that can scream - that's the only way I can really put it right now.
Let's see. I think that's it for now. Thanks for stopping by, as always.
Michelle
Intro (Money Where Your Mouth Is)
Big Fish
Better Girl
We Both Know
Desire
Planet Steve (Bebe 'n me)
Raven (Bebe n' me)
River of Seine
Tipsy
Glory Box - Portishead (just me)
Elbo Room, Sept 18th.
Last Saturday night rocked.September 8, 2004
Thank you to everyone who made it out to the show. You caught a good one. There were a lot of people who came out to support and we really appreciate you taking the time to do so. This show was a big test for us- different lineup, new set, some new songs- and it all worked out great. I thought Michelle sounded beautiful, Mike played some incredible cello, and Henry banged out some rock solid rhythms to anchor it all down. I alternated between playing bass and guitar, and, well... I didn't suck either. We all had a great time and the feedback from people was very positive. There is a lot of energy between us all to get out there and do it again, and if things go as smoothly as this show did, you can expect to be seeing more of Michelle and band in the near future.
Other things.... I promise to get on putting together some mp3's of the Pallette and Chisel show. It's VERY lo-fi... which makes it hard for me, being a recording engineer and all, to even let people listen to it. But the general consensus is that you don't care, you just want to hear Michelle. Understood. But Michelle also made me promise not to let anyone hear her sound BAD, and that I understand too. But I believe there are a few good nuggets there and I'll let you hear them.
Also, some video was taken at the Elbo Room, so perhaps we'll get to see that as well. No promises yet though. I will ask Michelle to post about the show and give a run down of the set list as well. Please feel free to visit the Forums and join the discussions! We love hearing from you.
Till next time!
Mat
Our apologies...
We realize things have been quiet around here for a while and I figured it was time to let everyone know why. No, there haven’t been any BIG events, just little life episodes that come up every now and then.
First off, for those of you who don’t know, Brianna lives in that crazy place called Florida. Florida has a tendency to attract hurricanes at this time of year and has not only been battered by one hurricane, but soon afterwards another decided to swing on by too. Currently there is yet a third threatening to touch land again. I haven’t heard anything from Brianna in a couple weeks, but this is understandable. We’re sure she’s all right- just preoccupied. Let’s hope that she was able to avoid the worst of the storms (she did tell me that the first hurricane missed her part of the state.)
Second, I had the pleasure to be in Europe for a week. It was for work, which made the trip even better. Not only did I get to spend a week in Prague, but I got paid to be there as well. However, this kept me away from being able to handle normal everyday things here in Chicago. I was out of touch for most of the week.
And last (but not least!) Michelle got a job. A real nine to fiver. So she will no longer be able to call herself a starving artist. At the same time, she is adjusting to a new schedule- or should I say, adjusting to having any type of schedule to begin with.
With all that going on, it should be easy to see how things have been quiet on the web. We are still moving forward though. We did record something at the Palette and Chisel show- very lo-fi, but we will let you hear something eventually. And we are busy rehearsing for the upcoming Sept 18th show. It will be a full band performance and we’re testing out how to best approach that with the new material. But it should be a fun show so please come out and say Hi. Hope to see you there.
Mat