In 2007, Sara Bareilles’s album Little Voice exploded onto the world music scene, quickly putting this American singer-songwriter on the map. The first single from the album, Love Song, was greeted with several award nominations and spent many weeks at the top of the charts. Sara has been recognised as a strong female identifying artist standing up for her rights, navigating love and loss, and NOT writing love songs simply because someone asked for it.
Local Adelaide artist, Mikala Lane, has drawn huge inspiration from Sara Bareilles over her career, and at this year’s Adelaide Fringe, Mikala and her band will be paying tribute to Bareilles and the album Little Voice.
Like so many artists, music has been a huge part of Mikala’s life.
“It’s been a bit of a journey. I started performing in high school and it quickly became my happy place. It’s that age that you are trying to find who you are as a person and performing was something that always brought me joy. It was my high school music teacher that suggested I studied at Tabor, so that’s how I ended up there the first time. Over time paths change and I seem to head down the non-performing, working path, but I just kept finding myself performing and working in the music industry and it’s now pretty much become my job.”
Sara Bareilles and her music has been a huge part of Mikala’s life, playing a part in shaping her into the performer she is today.
“I was around twelve or thirteen when I first discovered her. I was in year six when her music finally made it to Australia. I grew up with parents who had a wonderful taste in music and encouraged me to listen to a wide range of music, but it was the first thing that I had heard that just drew me in. I had an instant connection – it spoke to who I was and all the different elements of music that I just love.
“She has a wonderful storytelling ability; her music is so unique and doesn’t follow the “normal” writing structures. That was something that my band and I really noticed when we were writing out charts for my fringe show – they never are the same. Sara has a great way of changing things up. Her motives and musical expressions are near perfect.”
At this year’s Fringe, Mikala is bringing her very special tribute to Sara Bareilles and her album Little Voice.
“We are running through the album Little Voice from top to tail. I really wanted audiences to experience the album the way I did, song by song. I will be talking about what each piece on the album means to me and my journey in the music world as well as Sara’s journey. It won’t be full cabaret, scripted style, but I’m really trying to encapsulate the experience of the album.”
Mikala will be joined by her band, featuring Kane Jones (bass), Sadie Humphrey (backing vocals), Jacob Howard (guitar) Victor Oria (keyboards) and Crafty (drums).
My Little Voice, featuring Mikala Lane will be at The Warehouse Theatre, 8 Unley Rd on Friday 24 February at 9.00pm and Saturday 11 March at 7.3pm. Tickets can be purchased here: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/my-little-voice-a-sara-bareilles-tribute-af2023 .
Interviewed by Ben Stefanoff
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