Michelle Lambert
| Michelle Lambert | |
|---|---|
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Lambert in July 2016 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Michelle Marie Lambert |
| Born |
May 2, 1985 Covelo, California, US |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2005–present |
| Website |
michellelambert |
| Notable instruments | |
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Michelle Lambert (born May 2, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter and musician, born in Covelo, California and raised in the Bay Area. After a long career as a professional musician, she released her debut album Warrior in 2015. One of Lambert's highlights was the halftime performance at the NCAA finals in 2014 in front of 18,000 people at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee[2] On January 9, 2015 she made the front page of the Reporter-Herald in an article about her official music video Warrior that spotlights high school football players during a game.[3]
Early life
Michelle Lambert started studying the violin when she was 2 years old under the Suzuki Method, following the footsteps of her 4 older siblings. At the age of 12 she was already working as a professional musician in Northern California. In 2008 she moved to Boston where she attended the Berklee College of Music majoring in Professional Music. Michelle moved to Nashville in 2011 after graduating from Berklee, to pursue a career as a studio and stage musician. In 2015 she moved to Los Angeles, California in order to release her debut album and focus on her solo career as a pop singer.
Lambert became Catholic at the age of 12 and briefly considered a vocation to religious life at 19. According to the singer, a visit to the Salesian Sisters ended up showing her that music was her true calling.[4]
In an interview for Asia Pop 40, Lambert told Dom Lau (host of the show and former Channel V VJ and E! News Asia) that she considered a career in private aviation in her teenage years. She even got 100 hours of flight time while pursuing her pilot's license.[5]
Music career
Lambert worked as a professional musician since her early teen years, career that took her to San Francisco, Boston, Nashville and Los Angeles. While in Boston she was part of the Captain Wolf Band and got featured in 3 songs from their debut CD, as a singer and songwriter.[6] Lambert's participation on the album was so notable that she was even featured in the cover of the CD. Despite being a self release, the album was well received and became a "jukebox star" being featured in over 28,000 jukebox across North America.[7]
Michelle toured with country rapper Jessta James during 2013 and part of 2014 as a violinist and backup singer.[8]
In 2014 she had her first experience performing overseas as part of Johnny Rodgers' band during their US Embassy and the US Department of State's American Music Abroad tour in Malaysia.[9][10]
She launched her first official album Warrior in 2015 after moving to Los Angeles. That album was a turning point in her career, the moment where she decided to pursue being a solo artist. Warrior has the collaboration of Grammy winners Shannon Sanders (president of the Nashville Grammy Chapter) and Billy Hume. It also features three time Grammy nominee Kief Brown as a co-author of " Rain on You" and singing a verse in "I'm Just a Girl". In January 2016 she was elected to be the female face of SkyHigh Radio in the UK.[11] In February 2016 she gave a long interview to the Sound Profile Magazine,[12] where she explains in detail how important women empowerment (that's a recurrent theme in her songs) is for her.
Artistry
Influences
Michelle grew up in a household with 5 older siblings, 4 of them studying the violin. Being the youngest child, she was exposed to all kinds of music, from classical music to punk rock. According to an interview for a radio station in the U.K. her biggest influences are Elvis Presley and Alison Krauss. When she was 12, Lambert visited Scotland with her sister Heidi Clare (who is a professional bluegrass violin player),[13] where she studied violin at the Isle of Skye with Alasdair Fraser. She visited the Western Hebrides region where she learned Celtic music. That is still a big influence in her work.[14]
Fire breathing
While working in Nashville, Lambert learned and started to use fire breathing in her live performances.[15]
Instruments
After learning how to play the violin at a very young age, Lambert studied piano and the drums. She also studied vocals and songwriting at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Discography
Extended plays
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Warrior [16] |
|
Singles as featured artist
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| The Hunt [17]
(Achraf Kallel Feat. Michelle Lambert) |
|
Music videos
| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Warrior | Hunter Neiblum |
| 2015 | Devil Went Down to Georgia | Mark McIntosh |
References
- ↑ "Michelle Lambert – Zeta Artist". January 3, 2015.
- ↑ "Tennessean Article on Michelle's performance on the NCAA finals". April 8, 2014.
- ↑ "Reporter Herald Article on Official Music Video for Warrior". January 9, 2016.
- ↑ "North Beach festival highlights parallels between homeless, Holy Family". December 15, 2010.
- ↑ "Dom Lau interviews Michelle Lambert". March 4, 2016.
- ↑ "Call of The Wolf at AllMusic". February 1, 2011.
- ↑ "Call of The Wolf on the Daily Item". August 2, 2013.
- ↑ "Atlanta Music Guide Live Review: Jessta James". January 15, 2013.
- ↑ "Johnny Rodgers' Tour – Malaysia 2014". March 3, 2014.
- ↑ "We're Off To See Malaysia…". February 12, 2014.
- ↑ "Elected Female Ambassador of SkyHigh Radio – UK". January 10, 2016.
- ↑ "Sound Profile Magazine Interview". February 1, 2016.
- ↑ "Fiddler Clare honors billionaire friend, musician Hellman". February 22, 2012.
- ↑ "Acid Planet Profile". December 29, 2003.
- ↑ "Atlanta and Nashville: the new face of the South". June 4, 2014.
- ↑ "Warrior ~ Release by Michelle Lambert". July 10, 2015.
- ↑ "The Hunt ~ Release by Michelle Lambert & Achraf Kallel". April 11, 2016.
External links
- The music video for Warrior (video)
- Michelle Lambert Website (website)
- Michelle Lambert discography at MusicBrainz
- Michelle Lambert's channel on YouTube
- Michelle Lambert at Discogs (database)