Upper Lake >> For Lara Price, singing began with a ballet lesson.
“From a young age you learn that music makes your bones move,” said the San Jose blues artist who will be visiting the Blue Wing Saloon Monday night.
She’s been hooked on music ever since. “It leaves you or it doesn’t leave you,” she added. “I was just one of those kids who loved being on stage. I had to do it my whole life.”
When she was six, Price’s parents encouraged her to take music lessons. Her piano teacher just happened to be a then-unknown Howard Jones. Price and her family were living in England where Jones was a struggling musician and the guy to go to for lessons. It wasn’t until Price moved back to the states that Jones blew up on the music scene.
Years later Price attended one of Jones’s concerts. Hearing thousands of people sing her old teacher’s songs was a surreal experience, to say the least. “It was a trip,” Price said. “He was really the first one who plunked out notes on the piano and said, ‘sing this note.’ That was really my first voice lesson.”
Price’s music career — her numerous albums and worldwide gigs — has primarily been one dedicated to the blues, but it wasn’t always that way. When she first began singing, it was when 1980s rock was all over the radio. Then, after moving to San Jose in 1997, someone suggested she take up the blues so get her feet wet in the music scene. The genre stuck.
“I always tell people that the blues found me,” she said. “It did resonate with me. I feel like it’s because it’s raw and it’s all about body motions.”
She’s been heavily influenced by Donny Hathaway and Buddy Guy. On the contemporary side of things, Susan Tedeschi provides a nice dose of inspiration. “She’s like Bonnie Raitt meets Janice Joplin, as far as contemporary artist go,” Price said.
With seven CDs under her belt, Price has visited a number of different blues styles, but her most recent leanings have lead her down the road of soul blues. Her newest album, which just dropped last Friday, fits nicely into that ‘60s vibe. “My whole journey with the blues has been figuring out what I really want to say,” Price explained.
Part of that message stems from Price’s early childhood. Born in 1975 in Vietnam, she became part of Operation Babylift, a controversial mass evacuation of children from South Vietnam to the United States at the end of the Vietman War. It wasn’t until years later, when Price was asked about her past, that she realized just how much the experience impacts her music. “When you survive something like that it’s part of your story so you don’t really think anything of it,” she said. “So this year has been really enlightening … I have really been able to get my feet on the ground with where I came from and what that all means to me.”
She has plans to really tap into her newfound understanding of her childhood with her next album. She wants to record songs relatiing to veterans and her life as a survivor of Operation Babylift. “It can’t not affect you,” she added.
While the blues are known for their melancholy nature, Price insists it’s not always that way. “Blues doesn’t have to be sad, teary music,” she said. “Some of the best blues can be a celebration of something you went through that was really hard.”
Price’s show at Upper Lake’s Blue Wing Saloon Monday night isn’t any ordinary gig. It’s also a release party for her newest CD. Well-known guitarist Laura Chavez, who recorded a few songs on the album and plays currently with Candy Kane, will also be at the show. They’ll be performing songs off the new album as well as some of Price’s older work and a few covers of the blues greats.
Price has performed at the restaurant for Monday Night Blues before, and she’s always thrilled to go back. “For a Monday night it’s really well attended. Just all of a sudden everyone comes out of the woodwork,” she said. “Musicians will go a long way for music lovers. That’s why were traveling so far.”
Living in San Jose, the tenth largest city in the nation, it can be hard for Price to find supporters of her music. But Lake County has a just the vibe she’s looking for. “You go into these small towns and the feeling is amazing,” she said. “You get people unplugging and plugging into your music.”
Lara Price performs from 6:30 p.m. -9:00 p.m. Monday at the Blue Wing Saloon. There’s no cover charge but reservations are suggested. Call 275-2233 to make a dinner reservation.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
