One of Canada's most accomplished singer/songwriters, Chantal Kreviazuk has once again raised the bar with her latest CD, Plain Jane. Joe Leary spent 24 Seconds with the Juno Award winner.
24: You are a classically-trained pianist. What kind of vocal training did you have?
CK: I did have classical voice-training, but I remember when I first started touring and I called my co-writer and said, "I can't do this - they want me to like get up and sing for an hour each night and I can't do this," and he said, "It's like a muscle." I didn't get it - now I do. It is a muscle and you find your voice. I don't think you have your voice necessarily on your first record. I think I'm finding it and I'm five albums in.
24: Was music forced upon you as a child and if so, or if not, how do you feel now as a mother yourself about music in the family?
CK: I've been a little lackadaisical about putting my kids in lessons. I sort of think that if they're showing a lot of talent or ability or desire in a certain area, you should probably guide that talent or interest, but forcing something on someone, not so much.
24: You have three boys and there's a lot of music in the gene pool between you and your husband. Are there any inclinations that any of your children are going to follow your musical path?
CK: They're all really already showing either a genetic predisposition or a circumstantial, like an influence that is undeniable. One's a great drum player and has great rhythm and is a cool dancer; he's my five-year-old. And then the singing of my four-year-old makes me cry and already my one-year-old is way into singing. It's exciting to watch that flower blossom but I'm also really respectful of how all the things that are happening to us when we're a child, while they may seem quite clear and tangible, what they're going to do on an abstract level later, that's what I'm more interested in. I think that language and music and exposing those things to the kids is only going to make a better person out of them later.
