Music/Entertainment 411 - January 2007

MP 3 Windows Media

I'm just a girl, like any girl
Look in my eyes
You'll see a different world
Feel my stare, touch you there
Boy you know
This could go anywhere yeah
I'm getting hot, watch me sweat
Feel me breathing down your neck
You got me hypnotized You keep me tongue-tied
You put me in a trance
Every time when you push me past the line
Tongue-tied
Just like putty in your hands
Boy you just don't understand Slide over here, don't be shy
It'd be a shame
To let this night go by
You call the shots, you're in control
Go start my car I'm feeling so exposed Give it to me what you do
I'm dripping wet
Just watching you
You got me mesmerized When you think that I'm falling
You know that I'm falling
So hard for you
For one taste of your lovin'
I keep on comin'
You got me tongue-tied
You got me got me… Give it to me give it to me
Oh baby I'm so tongue-tied
Just like putty in your hands
Boy you just don't understand
You just don't you just don't you just don't understand
You push me so high, I feel so alive
You keep me tongue-tied

The way she's belted out her fiery original songs opening for Boney M, Canadian Country Artist Adam Gregory and legendary Chicago singer/keyboardist Bill Champlin these past few years, it's hard to believe that Joelle still considers herself a shy person at heart. Fortunately for fans of edgy pop/rock in the U.S. and her native Canada alike, the Calgary bred and based singer/songwriter is no longer “Tongue Tied”—the title of the fiery opening track from Pillar of Stone , her upcoming disc on Gotcha Records, due to drop to retail and digital download outlets in early 2007.

Thanks to a remarkable, two pronged radio campaign, thousands of listeners across North America are already getting hip to Joelle's incisive lyrics and powerful musical vibe in two unique formats. The hook drenched rocker title track is on Hot AC/Top 40 stations all across the U.S., while the self-assured, blistering “All 4 Me” is quickly rising on the Active Rock charts; both are averaging over 200 spins a week in their respective formats. While every aspect of creating her first two projects were “all Maple” (i.e. done by Canadian natives), Joelle rises to the next creative level on Pillar of Stone thanks to her exciting new partnership with Nashville based producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Chris Omartian. Omartian, son of legendary pop producer Michael Omartian, has produced tracks with pop stars Pink and Hilary Duff, in addition to teen pop band Jump 5 and popular gospel group 4Him. Omartian, who co-wrote many of the songs on Pillar of Stone with Joelle, produced the majority of the tracks at his VZN Productions Studio in Nashville, while “Tongue Tied” was recorded MCC Music Studios near Joelle's home in Calgary.

Omartian may have played a key role in translating Joelle's vision to disc, but the life experiences and attitude driving the songs are all hers. The title track is about accepting one's own vulnerability in a relationship, the idea that she can't always be the strong one; i.e. one person can only do so much. “All 4 Me” take a tougher stance, and is a potential self-empowerment anthem. And “Tongue Tied” is the quintessential sassy, flirty song that reminds us that no matter how strong we think we are, we can still be taken in by an irresistible person whose looks and charm leaves us speechless. She still gets a bit shy on a personal level when songs from her albums are played at the salon where she supports her musical career as a hairdstylist, but onstage she's something else entirely. Her knack for wowing crowds came from performing in church choirs, as a soloist and in Christmas dramas (she was raised North American Baptist), but she cites her most powerful formative experience as the few years she spent as a teenager with The Youth Singers of Calgary; while a member of this secular choir, the singer performed everywhere from Vancouver to Australia.