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12B - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, April 7, 2005
Heather Bodel shows off talent in A2
The Michigar
HOUSE PARTY
A STUDENT OPENS HIS DOORS TO LOCAL MUSIC
By Abby Frackman
Daily Arts Writer
Ever since she was ten years old,
Heather Bodell knew that she wanted
to be a musician. Now at 20 and with
avo already-released CDs under her
belt, Bodell shows no signs of slow-
ing down any time soon.
Bodell was born and raised in the
town of Monroe, Michigan. Despite
the fact that music does not run in
Bodell's family, she decided that
making music was what she wanted
to do.
"I have always loved music. 1 have
4kways been interested in songwrit-
ing, and I guess I always had the need
to create something. At the time,
music seemed like the best outlet for
my creative expression," she said.
At the tender age of ten, young
Bodell picked up a guitar for the first
time and has not let it go since. She
has also acquired the skill of play-
ing the piano by ear, and although
she does not consider herself well-
versed in other instruments, has
the ability to pick up just about any
musical device and play it well.
When she was 11 years old,
Bodell began performing live at an
intimate coffee shop in downtown
Monroe called Jenny Vine's. Com-
pletely infatuated by playing for a
live audience, Bodell sang at Jenny
Vine's just about every weekend
until it closed down when she was
17. While she was disappointed that
her favorite venue was no longer in
business, the closing in no way hin-
dered Bodell's desire to continue
performing. Singing before a live
audience was a thrill she was not yet
ready to let go..
Ihave always
loved music. I
have always been
interested in
songwriting, and
I guess I always
had the need to
create something."
- Heather Bodell
Art and Design sophomore
Even today, Bodell considers per-
forming her favorite part of being a
musician. She explained that it gives
her "an amazing, intimate feeling:
being on stage is the best feeling in
the world ... people see a side of me
that they don't see any other time
because I get completely consumed
in the music:"
Bodell has performed at many
Ann Arbor hotspots including The
Ark and The Crazy Wisdom Tea-
room. She even opened for Michelle
Branch at the Blind Pig in Octo-
ber 2001. Additionally, Bodell has
opened for other established music
acts including Jewel's former gui-
tarist, Steve Poltz at The Cellar in
Monroe, and Bliss 66 at the former
Croakie's Island, also located in
Monroe.
For those who are unable to see
Bodell in person, she has two albums
currently released and is hard at work
on a third one. Her self-titled debut
showcases Bodell's self-proclaimed
^ULI '"rr"r"i Ud
Art and Design sophomore Heather Modell plays her guitar. Modell has played guitar since she was 10 and
started performing live when she was 11.
acoustic rock style, as well as her
lyrical talent in writing about top-
ics dealing with hardships she has
endured, to relationships in her life.
On her second album, entitled
"Live," the multitalented Bodell
shows off yet another skill. Not only
did she do all of the recording her-
self, but "Live" is a purely improvi-
sational work.
"The second CD was written while
recorded ... sometimes the only way
I can write songs in on the spot, so
I just sat down in front of the mic
and hit record and just sang for a few
hours," Bodell said.
Bodell's not-yet-titled third release
promises to be a bit different from
what fans are already used to.
"I've grown a lot as a musician and
songwriter ... my music has matured
quite a bit in all aspects ... I've
been exposed to more music, which
has helped me to develop more of a
unique and original sound," she said.
While many compare her smooth,
passionate vocals to those of Tori
Amos, Bodell cites artists such as
Ani DiFranco, Tegan and Sara, and
Elliott Smith as musical influences.
Beyond that, she is just trying to
successfully create her own sound
A1~rI
- separate from anything else in
the music world. It's a difficult feat,
but Bodell is up to the challenge.
Now at 20 years old, Bodell has
been involved in a number of under-
takings to make the rest of us feel
lazy. In addition to recording her
album, Bodell is currently posing as
music supervisor for an upcoming
movie being shot in Michigan. She
is also a full time art student, con-
centrating in digital media.
It would make sense then that
Bodell is the mind behind her website,
www.heatherbodell.comn. The website
has been up and running for five years
now, and according to Bodell, has
been an incredibly useful tool.
"I've gotten a lot of exposure
because of it. I've sold CDs to fans
in Australia and Europe ... It's been
a great way to get my music out there
internationally," she said.
As for any wannabe musicians,
Bodell has some encouraging words.
"I would just advise any musician
to never stop playing ... and to push
themselves to play live, no matter
how shy they may be. Playing live is
what really inspired me to continue
writing'." Without a doubt, this is not
the last we have heard from Heather
Bodell.
15 WUKREEiMND~a y
Ps S ~~OEYL
By Alexandra Jones
Daily Arts Editor
LSA senior Jason Voss is a true
renaissance man when it comes to
local music in Ann Arbor. Voss, who
will graduate this semester, has been
deeply involved in the local music
scene during his time at the Univer-
sity: He has recorded music as a solo
artist and as a member of different
bands and worked with Ann Arbor's
We're Twins CD-R label.
For the past two and a half years,
he's hosted the Local Music Show
on WCBN-FM, the University's stu-
dent-run radio station. Voss and his
housemates, with whom he often col-
laborates musically, have even been
transforming their living space once
a week into Totally Awesome House,
an intimate venue for unique, often
experimental bands and artists. Voss
has also toured around the United
States three times, playing shows
along both coasts and in the Midwest
with friends, including his housemate
and local artist Patrick Elkins.
They "were moving in together right
before we were on the tour, so we were
coming in contact with a lot of people
who wanted to play shows and were
just having a hard time finding plac-
es to play, so we decided to have our
house be a venue," Voss explained.
"There's kind of a lot of other
houses that do shows, but we start-
ed doing it every Tuesday, calling
it Totally Awesome Supper Club.
It ended up being a lot more shows
than I'd ever heard of anyone doing
at their house ... 1 was just always in
bands that played house parties and
house shows," he said.
Shows at Totally Awesome House
usually happen as part of the Totally
Awesome Supper Club, at which a
few different artists - some local',
some not - will play music, starting
around 9 or 9:30 p.m. There's also
a vegetarian/vegan dinner served.
The stated purpose for the weekly
get-together, according to their web-
site, www.totallvawesome.org, is
"to provide a space for people to get
together, talk together, eat together
and listen to music together."
As for the kinds of artists who play
there, Voss said, "We try to keep it
pretty open and get people that we
like to play and just kind of do things
that don't go over as well in bars or
bigger clubs ... weirder things that
don't really have a place."
"There's (also) ...
a comic artist
named Nate Powell
(who) came and
dda reading of a
comic strip with an
overhead projector. ~
- Jason Voss
Owner, Totally Awesome House
Jason Voss at Totally Awesome House on Tuesday night.
Some local groups who have played
at the Supper Club and other shows
at Totally Awesome House are Hot
Meat For Young Lovers, The Seams,
Parenthetical Girls and Kimya Daw-
son of The Moldy Peaches.
"This band (called) Thanksgiving
is one of my favorites. It's this guy
Adrian from Oregon," Voss said. "He
was just touring around the whole
country for like a full year in his
truck ... There's (also) ... a comic
artist named Nate Powell (who) came
and did a reading of a comic strip
with an overhead projector."
But because the "stage" at Totally
Awesome House is really just a resi-
dential living room, Voss said, some
acts suit the space better than others,
Voss said. "We've had some big rock
bands come in with their huge stacks
and it kind of fills up the whole liv-
ing room and it's really loud ... you
See VOSS, page 7B
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ai /fe 9Iniuersi/y of Ji/cutjgan ,pres en/s
Sir Tony Atkinson
"European Union Social Policy
in a Global Context"
Thursday, April 7, 2005 4:00 p.m.
Pendleton Room, Michigan Union
530 S. State Street, Ann Arbor
sir Tony Atkinson is internationally known for his work
on inequality and income distribution. He has been the
Warden of Nuffield College at Oxford since 1994, and has
been involved as an advisor to the European Union on
social poicy issues
This lecture and the reception that follows are free and open to the
public. For more information contact the Ford School at 734-764-
3490 or visit the Ford School's website at wwwfordschool.umich.edu.
This lecture is made possible by a generous gift from the Citigroup
Foundation.
GLENN GETTY/Daily
2005 cITIGROUP
A LECTURE, SERIES
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