I can’t remember the name of the planet I travelled to when I first heard Michaela Caitlin play, but I’m pretty sure I would have loved to stay there with its friendly natives. Only the roaring applause bouncing from one teal Otherlands wall to another could bring me back to reality. And I don’t often drift off like that in public.
I sometimes wish I had randomly come across her music online, in a 6 degrees of so-and-so kind of way, so that I could pretend she wasn’t human and that her ethereal vocal tones weren’t something to envy. Instead I’m content and grateful to have her in Memphis living and working in the same half-mile radius as me and my friends.
Michaela’s songs are deceivingly complex but you’d never know by the way she glues words together with high vibratoless lines. Add vibrato and it’s like birds gracefully coming in for a water landing, soft ripples and all. Falsetto or belting, long scooped notes or sixteenth accents – it’s all strong. With songwriting as accessible as it is poetic, I’ve learned a lot from her. Her vivid blue, red or any other color hair and fun face paint is just a bonus.
Okay sure, so I did get to play on her “Potential Broken Windows” EP (with fellow Dawl Krista Wroten), but that’s not why I would push it on anyone. I feel myself wanting to include “I Used to be Alive (and when I was I loved you.)” on mix CDs to friends and family as eerie as that sounds. She can make death feel like a warm blanket, serial killers sound romantic and I cant wait to hear what dangerous ideas she’ll wail on next.
Jana Misener is a cellist, singer and songwriter. She has toured extensively with Memphis band, Giant Bear , currently plays with The Memphis Dawls and The Sultana, and just finished up a UK tour with Nashville based Harpeth Rising. Originally from Clovis, NM she makes her home in midtown with a well behaved dog and cat.
