Can a burlesque artist from Hamilton crossover to rock-a-billy?

Ginger St. James at the Elephant and Castle, Halifax, NS (Hipstamatic photo by Stephen Pate)

A trip to Halifax for business turned into a chance meeting with ex-burlesque performer Ginger St. James.

St. James was well known in Southern Ontario as a regular on the burlesque circuit – yes it still exists despite the prevalence of strip clubs in Ontario.

I was over to Halifax for the weekend on a mix of business (studio lights) and personal (visiting my uncle in the hospital) and wanted to catch some music Saturday night.

Checking The Coast for live entertainment, I noticed Ginger St. James was playing at the Seahorse Tavern in something called Rockabilly Riot.

Awesome. Ginger St. James has been a Facebook Friend of mine for years, via Jezebel DuPree, via Tom Wilson – all Hamilton based artists.

We jumped at the chance to meet her in-person. You have to be up for adventure on a trip.

Some one messaged me on Facebook at supper time that the venue had changed to the Elephant and Castle, due to an electrical fire at the Seahorse.

Rockabilly Riot is an annual Halifax show that was featuring St. James.

May 2nd St. James is playing Moncton at the plan b – Bar & Lounge

I spotted Ginger St. James right away with her flaming red hair.

Screwing up my courage I approached her and she was instantly friendly.

Apparently she has been working on transition from burlesque to a singer songwriter for five years, although she still keeps involved in the burlesque circuit.

Elephant & Castle

The basement of the Elephant & Castle had a festive air, although a smaller crowd than The Seahorse Tavern.

Haligonians have taken to tattoos and mix-and-don’t-match wardrobes that were interesting in themselves.

The first act was Miss Magenta, a burlesque performer from Tainted Temple Burlesque. The crowd was so thick we missed most of it.

The Whiskey Kisses opened the music with a tribute to country rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson.

The band played well and the singer did a full-throated version of the material. Worth listening to as a bar band. The audience loved them.

The Trouble Shooters followed as a Chuck Berry Tribute band, including a sax player.

Here’s how tribute bands work – you play the music as it was recorded. Unfortunately the band didn’t learn the licks so it was the “Chuck Berry Fake Book” version.

The singer assumed he had some right to improvise the tunes which was dreadful.

When the Trouble Shooters performed their own bluesy material they caught the groove and the audience danced and pushed towards the stage.

Ginger St. James

We moved to the front of the stage for Ginger St. James’ performance since by then the club was full.

Good move – back on the floor came Miss Magenta for another burlesque performance. I tried to video her dance but my camera locked up.

Immediately, Ginger St. James took to the stage for three solo songs with her new blue guitar. She’s a high energy gal but the house engineer didn’t give Ginger a break and the music sounded flat.

Singers should never sing without any vocal effects like reverb or delay.

As soon as the band came back on stage, things heated up and Ginger St. James rocked and belted out her sultry songs.

She is a charmer and knows how to put over a song. Most of the material was tinged with a burlesque sensibility. We were feeling a little naughty.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0BNznSy-Tw&feature=related’]

Boom Boom Boom – Ginger St. James and The Grinders

You can catch Ginger St. James tonight May 2nd in Moncton at the plan b – Bar & Lounge.

Vocal effects

If you’re a vocalist, get yourself a good microphone a some basic vocal effects pedals like VoiceTone Create or Correct (about $250 each), VoiceLive Touch ($500) or VoiceLive2 ($800).

If you want to hear the difference between a good vocalist with and without reverb, check out the first part of this Sonnox video.

Why vocalists don’t pack their own gear is beyond me. Imagine a guitarist or keyboard player arriving at a gig expecting the house to have musical instruments, amps and pedals.