Vancity Music Seen: An Interview with Tamara Nile

Local indie singer/songwriter Tamara Nile is a rising star to watch. Having firmly established a regular spot at the Railway Club, she is poised to take her music career to the next level. She recently performed with Robert Wilson and Aimee Mann at the Commodore and is now concentrating on finishing her debut CD. Check out her exclusive interview with BeyondRobson.

From her bio:
Tamara Nile was born on Galiano Island, where moss softened her mother's step and ferns laid their heads in her palm. Her one-man-band father Dan led her into the world of old time mountain music, zydeko and gypsies. Today, Nile writes and performs a kind of hard core sweet folk that has captivated audiences from Australia to India. Whether playing solo on the guitar or banjo, or with her four-piece ensemble, Vancouver-based Tamara Nile's music and crystal voice tingles spines, grabs hearts and holds on.

BR: What was it like playing at the Commodore?

TN: It felt like the first "real" gig i've ever played. We had our own dressing rooms with refreshments, special passes to get back stage,top-notch stage crew and sound engineers... Lights! Camera! Action!

Aimee Mann was in the back room wailing on a punching bag in preparation for her show... (that part was a bit surreal). I was totally blown away by the audience response. People were obviously having a great time... lots of glowing smiles and nodding heads... The Love Vibe.

After the show Amos Lee showed up with some of John Prine's band (they'd been playing at the Orpheum) and a bunch of us went for Pizza at 2 am. I was thinking: "I could really get used to this!"

BR: How's progress going on your debut CD?

TN: My CD is nearly half way done, and it's going very well. It's mostly acoustic with some of my friends coming in and doing some guest appearances. I'm recording at Rear Window Studios with Adam Popowitz. We work well together, and have a good intuitive understanding. He's very skilled at what he does.

BR: Who were your musical influences?

TN: I have so many...my early life was filled with Old Time, Cajun and Folk music, with a bit of Bob Marley thrown in there. My parents were folk musicians and music was always being played in our home.

As I grew up, I went through a number of musical "phases" starting with 1950's (Buddy Holly, and Doowop). Then I got heavily into bands like Zeppelin, Floyd, Supertramp, Fleetwood Mac, Bob Dylan, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, and all that late 60s and early 70s stuff. During that time, I was also influneced by singer song-writers such as Tracy Chapman and Sinead O'Connor. Soon after that I went through a big Electronica phase... Trance, Drum n' Bass, Trip - Hop...

Jazz was big influence during my years in Music School. In the past couple of years I've come full circle and have been really into Old Time Music, such as Doc Boggs, and lots of singer songwriters. Most recently, Iron & Wine, Gillian Welch, Sufjan Stevens, Vashti Bunyan, and Kings of Convenience.

I'm really excited with where music is at these days! The blossoming of indie folk and meaningful music....it's about time.

BR:What do you think of the Vancouver indie music scene? What local bands/artists are shining stars for you?

TN: Oohh... good question. Well, I think Vancouver is an amazing city and I feel blessed to live here. I'm from the Gulf Islands, and so it's nice that I'm just a ferry ride away from my birth place. I've got amazing support in this city, though I am looking forward to taking my music out to new cities and touring to support my new record.

As far as the indie scene, there are so many amazingly talented artists here, it's hard to narrow it down to just a few.

Here is a very short list of folks I admire: Skeena Reece, Mother, Kinnie Starr, The Minimalist Jug Band, Be Good Tanyas, Rick Keating, and so many more....

BR: What is motivating you in this "business"?

TN: I love playing music, writing songs, connecting with people through music. It's just what I do, what comes naturally. And it's what I've done all my life.

Tamara's next show at the Railway Club is Monday September 26th with J. Knutsen (of Spirit of the West), Lindsay May, and Sherise Valley.