Sol spoke with us about her life as a musician and the importance of small community-oriented festivals like Harvest Sun.
What inspired you to start making music?
It's been a part of who I am my whole life. I was always involved in choirs, band, music classes, plays and all the things growing up. I went to school and went to university and took a performance degree in jazz voice. I got out of school and realized very quickly that I love jazz, but my writing didn't sound like jazz music, so I stopped resisting that and just let it come. That's the music that I perform now; it's more the style that reflects me.
Did you come from a musical family, is that how it was always in your life?
My family is musical, but my parents were all blue-collar people. They were parents who could afford to put me in music lessons. Thankfully, I was able to really foster this intrinsic motivation that I had thanks to [my parents] – who didn't get to pursue their passions the same way. I got out of school, and I just wouldn't accept music as not a career. I think to their chagrin; it was not their first choice for me but they know it's a part of who I am, and they've been very supportive.
You mentioned your music formulated on its own. You started out with jazz, and now it's kind of like this roots/country vibe. So what inspired those stylistic changes?
Jazz is taught in schools, and so that was what was fostered. That was what I was taught. They don't hold rock band classes, at least they didn't when I was going to school. My influences were, growing up, far more country and soul roots based anyways, especially country and folk. My dad was into all that 70s rock, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and all these crazy bands, so I was influenced a lot by that but going into school you have to choose. Jazz was the closest thing to that, and I think it's a good education because jazz musicians have to be pretty versatile. They have to understand music in a way that makes it so that they can delve in and out.
It's hard to identify in this world where you have to stick yourself in that box. They want you to check off ‘I’m roots artist. I'm a blues artist,’ but I'm kind of all of the above. Also, to make a living in music I've had to be very versatile. I can't just make music doing my originals all the time, so I've been in soul bands. I've played weddings and funerals, and I'm learning music therapy right now, and I'm taking all these courses for psychology to become a music therapist and learn how music affects all of that. I just have had to be very versatile to make a living out of it.
What can people expect when they catch your Harvest Sun set?
I try to be as real as possible, and I make jokes. I like to banter. I like to get the audience involved. I like to sing the crap out of stuff. I try to be interactive and have it be an us-experience rather than me vs. them. I think they can expect me to say some really ridiculous things to try and be funny and maybe awkward. Hopefully, they'll find me charming and funny. People always talk about somebody like Jann Arden being almost like a comedy show. I try my best to be entertaining throughout the whole thing and just sell what I'm doing because I believe in it so much.
I feel like that's the best for people when they get to watch these kinds of shows, they connect with it more, and they're not just passively listening to a song like if it were on the radio or something.
Yeah, I'd like to be able to do both, like have them say 'WOW. Musically, this experience was amazing but also, I feel like I know her. I feel like I could walk up to her and the same person who's on-stage is the same person I'm talking to.'
This is your first time playing Harvest Sun - why do you think a festival like this is so important in Manitoba?
Oh, it's integral. For people like me who are local artists who need exposure to different areas of the province, different kinds of people, it’s an invaluable part of making our careers.
Every time I play a small festival like this, you get to see the best. You wouldn't go to Kelwood, Manitoba necessarily unless they had this festival and there's a whole group of people up there that are lovely, who put this festival on every year. They work really hard to make it happen and take artists like us and stick them in front of people. Without that happening, music would cease to exist as we know it. It would all just be people opening their computers and putting on their Spotify. These are the human connections, and these are the things we need as human beings. I'm lucky because I get to stand up in front of everybody and sing my heart out, which is the big part of who I am and we all get to be with each other. Without a festival like Harvest Sun, it would be almost impossible for us to be able to get out there and really connect with people.
Catch Sol James at The Harvest Sun Music Festival in Kelwood, MB - August 17 - 19th.
Follow Sol James on Facebook, on Instagram and on her website.
Janet Adamana is the Founder/Editor-In-Chief of Sound, Phrase & Fury Magazine - a Winnipeg-based digital publication dedicated to promoting independent artists and industry professionals from all over the world. More than just about inciting hype, she interviews/writes to capture an artists’ essence and their greatest passions to ignite meaningful connections between fans and really great bands.