Jane Carmichael
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Jane Carmichael

Band Folk Singer/Songwriter

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"Rock Side Emerges"



Rock side emerges
Sat, December 6, 2008
Teacher Jane Carmichael will be supported by friends tonight as she marks the release of her CD

By JAMES REANEY
Jane Carmichael Releases New CD
London singer/songwriter Jane Carmichael plays a couple of songs from her new CD, "One Sided."

A new class at Jane Carmichael's school of rock begins tonight.

The London teacher, rocker and singer-songwriter launches her CD One Sided at the London Music Club at 10 p.m. Carmichael will be surrounded by allies from the London music and education communities.

"Working on this album has been one of the best experiences of my life," Carmichael says. There are many sides to One Sided -- and Carmichael. The album sounds tougher and sweeter and faster and deeper every time you listen, always a good sign. The title track is a no-quit rocker. So is the hidden final track, a bluesy wailer.

In between, there are rockers and ballads about love, life, death, regret. They are almost all Carmichael. The last ballad, In Remembrance is a lovely setting of a traditional poem. Her pupils at John P. Robarts public school ask Carmichael to play her songs.

Carmichael has heard people compare her sounds to the Corrs, Michelle Branch and Natalie Imbruglia -- hardly a one-sided universe.




On her side is a band of friends, including four teachers. "All the musicians who played on the album are great friends of mine and I am so happy and proud of their contributions," she says.

Growing up in Brampton, Carmichael, 27, was part of a big, music-loving family. She sang with the acclaimed Toronto Children's Chorus for six years in the 1990s -- and began to rock. "(I) started writing songs, playing in bands when I was 15," she says.

Later, she was in the pop-rock band Jaydn and arrived in London. The UWO Don Wright music faculty grad is in her third year as a teacher in London elementary schools. Yes, she has heard the inevitable "school of rock" line, a riff on the Jack Black movie.

"I haven't got as many of those this year," she says.

Like Black, she has created young rock bands from her charges. One was the Mammoths, whose Hey Jude, Shakin' All Over and Zep rocked her previous school, St. George's. The St. George's senior choir is heard on One Sided.

"I am no longer teaching there unfortunately due to being surplus, but David Ennis, the principal at St. George's, is continuing the rock band which is wonderful," she says.

"I have also started up a rock band and a guitar club with my kids at (Robarts).

"It is incredible how eager these kids are. I think due to the popularity of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, more kids are picking up guitars and want to learn the classic rock songs they hear in the video games."

The launch for One Sided is just the latest musical adventure for Carmichael. In 2007, she guided eight groups in the Kiwanis fest.

This year, she didn't have quite as many ensembles to track. Carmichael devoted some Kiwanis time to revisit her inner classical -- not classic rock -- self.

She was part of the inaugural field in the fest's $2,000 Lois Marshall Memorial vocal competition.

She teaches singing and is part of other projects, often involving Matt Weston who co-produced One Sided with Carmichael. (Weston, who teaches at Exeter South Huron secondary school, is also the drummer on One Sided).

"I will be taking my students to Kiwanis again this year, but I haven't decided if I will be entering on my own."

School's in. - The London Free Press


"Our Top 10 Cd List"

5. Jane Carmichael

One Sided

(Indie)

janecarmichael.com

An elementary school teacher who knows how to rock -- where have I heard that before? Jane Carmichael's debut has rock songs that sound tighter and tougher each time you listen, while the sensitive ballads sound stronger and more haunting. Not One Sided at all. The band around her includes several more teachers. One of them is guitarist Kevin Kennedy. When she's wailing and Kennedy is blazing away, the two-as-one sound like they're in love -- and they are. In fact, they're engaged. True love always rocks.

Words to live by:

"So, goodbye nineteen." - The London Free Press


Discography

One Sided, 2008

Photos

Bio

The last to make her appearance in a family of seven brothers and sisters, Brampton-born singer/songwriter Jane Carmichael has always enjoyed keeping people waiting. Perhaps this penchant for being fashionably late is what kept the highly anticipated debut album, One-Sided, in it’s seemingly eternal period of musical gestation.

“When I was little I would sit down at the piano with my mom for hours and make up harmonies to whatever she was singing. I think that sparked my interest in creating music.”

Now, however, we see her timing could not have been more perfect. With an incredibly well-rounded and extensive resume of performing under her belt, one might say Jane Carmichael’s decision to only recently record her long-overdue album was by all means carefully chosen. Almost a decade spans between the various songs of the album, yet Jane’s much earned musical maturity allows for a decidedly high-level of artistic consistency throughout the many pop/rock tracks of One Sided. One Sided was voted #5 in the Top 10 Albums of 2008 by The London Free Press.

“There was always music playing in my house, whether it was my mom singing and playing the piano, my brother playing the drums, or other siblings competing to see who could blast their music the loudest. And sometimes this meant hearing Ozzy Ozbourne, Barry Manilow, and The Cure all at the same time.”

Unknowingly influenced by a varied mixture of artists at such a young age, Jane Carmichael acknowledges those few in particular that have had their impact; Aerosmith, Tom Petty, Sheryl Crow, KT Tunstall, Travis, Muse, and Imogen Heap. Before Jane’s career turned solo, she front-lined the pop-rock band Jaydn. The band’s successful endeavors included several TV appearances, shows at many of Toronto’s sought after venues and an opening performance for Canadian artist, Sarah Slean.

Currently, Jane Carmichael resides in London, Ontario where she is working on several musical projects. Fans should expect a cross-Canada tour in 2009 following the release of One-Sided.