This Thursday, October 31st at 7:30 at the Rady Jewish Community Centre as part of their inaugural JFest they are presenting Winnipeg drag goddess Lady Muse and her band The Inspirations playing the music of Amy Winehouse.
This show invites audience members to experience an intimate evening of music written by one of the 21st century’s biggest talents. Featuring songs such as Rehab, Back to Black and Valerie, this show will have you dancing in your seats to the sounds of Winehouse presented by Lady Muse and her killer band.
Lady Muse has had a long connection with the music of Amy Winehouse. It all started when she picked up a copy of the album Back to Black as a teenager in Salem, Oregon close to where she grew up. "I came home and just could not get enough...I was completely obsessed. And I think a lot of people were deeply attached to her and her story and her struggle and her media sensation...so yeah, a big presence in my life,” states Muse.
The show on Thursday will feature all the songs on the Back to Black record. The music will be performed across two sets. There will also be material that Winehouse was particularly fond of sprinkled in. As Muse explains, “She had a distinct and unique taste in music herself. She really loved 60s doo-wop groups, things like the Shangri-las...she really loved jazz and Dinah Shore, and so we are kind of drawing our inspiration from her musical loves.”
Winehouse was always accompanied on stage by some of the best musicians around, not only a rhythm section, but horns as well. It will be no different for Lady Muse. Joining her on stage will be some of the best musicians Winnipeg has to offer. The line up for the band The Inspirations consists of Carter Graham on keyboards, Kyle Cobb on guitar, Julian Bradford on bass, Daniel Roy on drums and Sean Irvine on woodwinds. Additionally, Muse will be joined by some added back-up singers, TJ Pepper. Shenna Rattai, and Ingia who is both a singer and a saxophonist.
Muse will be literally larger than life. Including the iconic bouffant hairdo that Winehouse had, she jokes she will be dressed as a “7-foot Amy Winehouse”
Many of Winehouse’s songs deal with drinking, drug use, and domestic abuse, and many are explicit in language content. All of this will be presented as she herself would have presented it.
As Muse says “We haven’t censored anything. I wanted to address this concern that thematic elements of the show really do reflect Amy Winehouse’s life. And the language in the show is the language she wrote very much in her own blood. We are just playing Amy Winehouse’s songs exactly as she would have and letting them speak for themselves.”
Muse wants the audiences to see Amy Winehouse as close to the original experience as possible. “She just died so young. She was 27. I would say that most audiences did not and will never have a chance to see her perform live and so while none of us are attempting to measure up to the mantle of her tremendous singing and songwriting. What we're hoping you’ll [the audience] take away from this, is as close to an experience of seeing an Amy Winehouse show as there would have been.”
This is sure to be an outstanding concert. Lady Muse and The Inspirations Play Amy Winehouse takes place this Thursday, October 31st at 7:30 at the Rady Jewish Community Centre.