Her strong, clear vocals once sang counterpoint to country-side streams. Her words connect place and circumstance to then and now. Her melodies reach in, touching heartstrings or selling whimsy. More pop than folk, more true than faux, Bahia sings a slice-of-life, from love and marriage and childhood wounds, to forgiveness and cat naps. She’s also not opposed to just plain fun, and has a vocal range that lends itself to play.
Growing up on 20 acres in a rural Northwest community, Bahia sang ...
Her strong, clear vocals once sang counterpoint to country-side streams. Her words connect place and circumstance to then and now. Her melodies reach in, touching heartstrings or selling whimsy. More pop than folk, more true than faux, Bahia sings a slice-of-life, from love and marriage and childhood wounds, to forgiveness and cat naps. She’s also not opposed to just plain fun, and has a vocal range that lends itself to play.
Growing up on 20 acres in a rural Northwest community, Bahia sang to streams and let the breeze give her words. The natural world, strong women, and an early understanding of injustice shaped her world view, and at 13, songs began to flow like those unhindered streams.
Classically trained, Bahia’s real music education happened in her earliest years. The youngest of six kids, Bahia sang soprano to her older sister’s alto, while another played piano. Her dad and brothers played guitar, and together, they belted out rock & roll classics and jazz standards.
The family that played together didn’t stay together, however, and at 10, her dad left and the wild, free-spirited jam sessions stopped. She followed a conservative path, walking her older sisters’ footsteps, joining choir, taking music lessons, performing in school musicals. Eventually she majored in theatre but at last found her way home to singing and writing songs.
The primal, unadulterated music of her childhood was the music she could touch, and it’s that sound and spirit that enclothe her songs today. The sadness of her later years became living, breathing, life-affirming music and cathartic storytelling. The strength in her voice gives no clues to the self-described wallflower living behind the music, a testament to some hard-earned personal strength. From coping with an absent dad, helping her mom and sisters run the family business, to coming out and getting married, she’s learned to listen to her inner voice.
Now, when the songs come from some nebulous interior space, she let’s them “bake” until she feels they’re ready. The intuitive sense that helped her improvise early on let’s her know when they’re ready, or if they need to “cook” awhile longer.
Her first recording, Just out of the Woods, is warm, smart, and all acoustic. Backed up by cello and hand percussion, the recording features the same guitar her dad played, a 1963 Ramirez, a deep, rich sound made better by some master guitar playing by William Reedy. "Apple Tree", sung a cappella, was her first-ever song and conveys the pain of loss. "But Bring Me Down" is anything but – it’s lighthearted and up-tempo, perhaps a nod to some even deeper musical roots: her “Irish Nightingale” grandmother was a 1920s radio singer.
Music is a powerful tool, and Bahia feels a responsibility to convey a balanced perspective, to show that life’s trials can be very positive – beautiful, compassionate, alive.
To date, Bahia’s live performances are solo, but a new band with cellist and percussionist is forthcoming in 2010, as is a new recording.
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