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That Voice: Rachelle Garniez
by Joe Cortez

While at the San Diego Comic Con this past July, I took in a panel featuring New York based animator Bill Plympton. He was scheduled to show, among other things, a twenty minute clip from his new feature film, "idiots and Angels." He prepared the audience by telling us that the film was about "an asshole guy that wakes up one morning with wings on his back" and that it featured music by Tom Waits and Pink Martini. What he didn't mention was that another important, if commercially marginalized, musician was also featured in the film, Rachelle Garniez.

In the annuls of contemporary American singer-songwriters, there is but one that has been overlooked for far too long. Rachelle Garniez is a musician that has been compared to no less than a Tom Waits by keen eared listeners but has yet to reach the audience her music deserves. Do I fault the listening public for ignoring this "diva with a difference," as she as been called by Billboard? Not necessarily. Because her music features the most extensive and ingenious use of the accordion since either Yankovic burst onto the scene (Frank or "Weird Al," take your pick) there may be some that are turned off by what they hear but for the patient listener the rewards found in her work are limitless.

Over the course of four studio albums, sometimes accompanied by her backing band, The Fortunate Few, Garniez has created entire worlds that her music not only exists, but lives and breathes in. Her first album, "Serenade City" is the perfect soundtrack for a 1940's cocktail party. Her follow up, "Crazy Blood," is just as the title implies: creepy, crazy, nocturnal, noir. Her latest, "Melusine Years" is a long time coming, seeing a release five years after her previous, "Lucky Day." but is more than worth the wait. "Melusine Years" finds Garniez at her most low key, honest and direct yet. A true gift for fans that can't get enough of this singular songstress.

While watching Plympton's film, I was surprised by just how well her song, "Crazy Blood" fit the mood and feeling of that particular scene, which took place in a seedy bar filled with a quartet of lonely souls. After the panel, I had a chance to chat with Mr. Plympton and remarked what a surprise it was to hear her music in his film when the truth is it was a surprise just to hear music anywhere. My excitement and joy in hearing Garniez in the film stemmed mostly from just knowing that someone else out there was not only aware of her, but shared my appreciation for this woman's incredibly under-appreciated talents. That said person also happened to be a world famous filmmaker (and one that I admired at that) only sweetened the deal.

When asked what about Garniez's music really sets her apart and endears her to me, the one thing I keep coming back to is that voice. It's telling that on her MySpace page, listed under Influences you'll find Laura Nyro prominently featured. Nyro was famous for describing her voice as an instrument and perhaps there hasn't been another musician since Nyro's mid-to-late sixties heyday, aside from Kate Bush, to use his or her voice as an instrument to the degree that Ms. Garniez does. She transitions so effortlessly from sweet and beautiful to dark and menacing that you can really do is sit back and enjoy the ride.

As an artist, she is about as independent as you can get, releasing all of her studio work under her own label, Real Cool Records, touring rarely on her own schedule and crafting the kind of music that she wants to make without compromise. The results of which make for some of the most exciting and enjoyable new music I've heard in quite some time. Of course, I write all of this as a fan. Someone wooed by her sultry voice and sinister tunes. My journalistic non-bias is therefore thrown out the window in this regard but is no less an endorsement of Ms. Garniez's stunning songbook and back catalog.

For more information on Rachelle Garniez, tour dates or to purchase her albums, you can visit her official website and MySpace pages.