Melanie Hankewich, grew up near the village of Fosston where she was a classically trained vocalist, although now she is carving out a folk career, performing as Belle Plaine.
"I've been singing ever since I can remember," said the artist who will perform as part of a writers' circle at 5th Avenue Cup & Saucer in Yorkton tonight (Jan. 5). "My parents put me into voice lessons when I was six and I continued to study classical voice until I was 18. I performed all through my childhood and adolescence.
"I continued to study music at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton after high school, focusing on jazz and music recording."
Hankewich is a relative newcomer to music as a career, in spite of her long involvement in singing."I started playing music as a career in May of 2010, so mostly just around Regina," she said. "This summer's big gigs were the Regina Folk Festival and The Gateway Folk Festival in Bengough."The high water mark was playing the RFF. Elizabeth Curry (my bassist) and I worked so hard leading up to the festival. It ended with an amazing impromptu concert at the cenotaph with Little Miss Higgins and Patrick Watson. I was stunned that I was there singing in harmony with Watson. He's masterful. I have progressed in no small way by the exposure at the Regina Folk Fest."While performance creates memories, music is also about creation, and Hankewich has also focused on writing songs.
"I identify as a vocalist and lyricist first and foremost," she said, adding it creates a sort of internal struggle as an artist. "The writer in me is always trying to please the scrutinizing vocalist. The melody has to be interesting and the lyrics have got be something that I can stand behind night after night."As a result songwriting takes time for Hankewich.
"I don't tend to write songs very quickly," she said. "It's a bloody celebration every time another one finds its way to me. Some of the songs on Hello from Belle Plaine have been around since 2006. I actually have a backlog of material that needs to be recorded, which is good. It will buy me some time to churn out more songs."
The material has made it to a debut recording for Hankewich. The CD was recorded with Orion Paradis at SoulSound in Regina.
"He's extremely dedicated and attentive. It's an absolute pleasure," she said.
"The bed tracks were all live off the floor, so it actually wasn't that different from playing live. The real difference was that we had to listen to our imperfections and then decide what take of each song we could live with."
For a first recording effort Hankewich is pleased with the result.
"Absolutely happy," she said, adding it did take more time than expected. "I started this project in June thinking that it would be ready for the Regina Folk Festival in August. Very soon into the process I realized I was far too invested in it to do a rush job.
"Now that the recording, mixing and mastering has been completed I am collaborating on the album artwork. There is no training course that I know of for creating an album. This effort to release my first CD has been at extremes both excruciating and exuberant."
In terms of style, Hankewich said her music is vocally focused.
"Well, it can be termed folk for simplicity," she said. "I strive to arrest the listener with my voice. My vocal performance is always what comes first for me.
"I learned to play guitar only so I could be independent as a performer. I don't actually derive any enjoyment from strumming it yet. I often wish I could just call my music 'vocal'.
While classically trained, and terming her style folk, Hankewich draws from other areas in terms of background.
"As for influences, I love the tone of jazz singers like Peggy Lee and Julie London," she said.
"Novels and films are often a source of inspiration.
Tom Waits, Cole Porter, Neko Case and Buck 65 are a few writers that only skim the surface of influences.
"Songs that develop rhyme schemes, movement, breath and story catch me. I geek out on lyrics. I've always had a head for remembering them."
