Print
Well meaning though they inevitably are, good intentions often lead to awkward moments. On the upside, when applied surreptitiously to the right inclination, they can be the little spark that kindles an artistic calling.
In her youth, Chrissy Ewacha Klaas had absolutely no desire to be a singer. Sure, there was an upright grand piano around the house, “one of those big old clunkers,” she recalls, that on occasion, would attract her fleeting interest. When a friend who overheard her “goofing around” in the gym locker room suggested that Ewacha Klaas enter a public school talent contest she balked. The friend signed her up anyway. Put on the spot, Ewacha Klaas had to step on stage. “After the first round of applause,” she says, “I was hooked.” Ewacha Klaas formed her first band, a rock cover unit, in high school and progressed rapidly from there.
While her voice undoubtedly has the power and the emotive qualities and her recent focus has been on blues and R&B, Ewacha Klaas doesn’t consider herself to be a traditional blues singer. She has always found her inspiration in great vocalists – Etta James in blues, Janis Joplin and even Robert Plant in rock, Anita Baker in smooth jazz and Gladys Knight in R&B – rather than any specific genre of music.
As someone who penned poetry before she ever started to sing, Ewacha Klaas gravitated naturally to song writing. For the past sixteen years she has collaborated in that endeavour with her writing partner and The Chain’s keyboard player, Peter Gleeson. Their exemplary creative efforts have stood out in the local music community for their noteworthy results. The nub of a song can come from almost anywhere, a riff, a phrase, an event or an experience. “Sometimes you can create a song in ten minutes,” she says. “Sometimes it takes a year.” Currently, the process revolves around Ewacha Klaas’ lyrics, Gleeson’s melodies, a guitar, a piano and a computer coming together in Gleeson’s basement recording studio. “We always try to freshen it up, throw in something so it’s not so cliché like a rock chord in a blues song,” she says.
Ewacha Klaas, who has appeared at eight of the nine Thunder Bay Blues Festivals, is delighted to have a later performance slot this year. “I’m excited to be able to play our music in front of more people,” she relates. Her most memorable career highlights are opening for The Commitments and sharing the stage with the late Koko Taylor.
The other members of The Chain include guitarist Rob Jardine, the Audio Director of the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium and owner of Reeltone Recording Studio, bassist Greg McIntosh, whose skills have been featured on an award-winning children’s CD and percussionist Jim Differ, who has performed with Flamenco Caravan, Ti Amo and Mood Indigo. The band is looking to expand their touring range into Minnesota. Watch for their latest CD of new material and reworked older numbers.
The Chain plays a sparkling platter of blues, rock and R&B with smile-fetching enthusiasm. Don’t miss a note of it! www.myspace.com/thechainca
Ken Wright
