DALLAS FRASCA
June 13, 2007 | Author: Eva Roberts
EVERY now and then a voice comes along that makes you stop in your tracks and listen, and in an industry that is fraught with commercialism, an emergence of real talent is a breath of fresh air. It is no surprise then to find Melbourne singer songwriter Dallas Frasca is independently making an impact on the industry. Eva Roberts reports
With a big voice, one she aptly and jokingly describes as the ‘bourbon and ciggy voice’, Dallas’s most recent EP ‘Learn Your Routes’ is a mixture of roots-based music with thoughtful lyrics, combined with a soul sounds reminiscent of artists such as Aretha Franklin. In fact, she’s been dubbed by some as a modern day Janis Joplin. Couple this with the fact that it’s still got that current appeal, and that is ‘Dallas Frasca and Her Gentleman.’
Fresh from performing at the East Coast Blues and Roots Festival in Byron Bay, Dallas is gearing up to record her first full-length album, with the anticipation of a release, or at least a single, out this year.
Since she won Triple J’s ‘Light Your Fuse’ competition last year, the music industry has been taking note of this lady with the big voice.She started singing late, only discovering her voice at 19, and now several years on, she’s honed the skill like she’s been doing it forever. But it was a pivotal moment three years ago that really turned her career around.
“I got throat nodules and I wasn’t able to sing for eight months,” Dallas explains.“It is almost the best thing that’s happened to me, because I got a chance to stop and really listen.I picked the guitar up and played slide.“Because a lot of time, as a vocalist, your voice is dictated by what the guitarist is doing, their styles and their influences.
“I found being true to my voice, if I pick up the guitar and play, then my voice is going to be used to its best ability.” But picking up a guitar with limited musical training wasn’t easy.
Although Dallas says she was inspired and was determined to make it work.“I have spent a lot of time in my room, really honing that skill,” she says. “Going through all the cramps in the hands and the blood blisters, but I am gig fit now.”
Taking a mid-year break, Dallas is heading ‘bush’ with her band to work on the songs for her forthcoming album.Although she already has a swag of potential tunes, she wants to spend a dedicated amount of time honing the songs. As a songwriter, she says she is always being struck by inspiration in unusual places, like while she is driving, or while listening to the radio. “A lot of the time I have it as I am breezing off to sleep of a night time,” she says. “I am half asleep and sometimes it is so hard to get back up.”