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“I grew up in a cult. I’m an alien and I do not know your ways. I’m a jam session with friends, a secret show in an underground basement nightclub, a drunken dream of a campfire ghost story. I am a work in progress. ”
Calpernia Addams grew up in a musical Tennessee family, teaching herself to play a discarded fiddle at an early age. Her mother, father and brother were also self-taught musicians, playing the piano, banjo and guitar at church and family get-togethers. She was not allowed to listen to popular music or go to the movies as a child, and has only experienced the culture of her generation shifted twenty years forward in time.
“I grew up in a musical family, so playing and singing was just something everyone did. It was a life skill, like cooking or gardening, and we didn’t see it as anything particularly special. As the fiddle player, I wasn’t often asked to sing, so many years later when I was asked to write a song for my television show (“Transamerican Love Story“), I was quite nervous. Thankfully, I decided to let go of my fear and self doubt and just do it.
Every step of the way in my life, I have turned people’s expectations on their head by doing what they thought I never could. No one believed that I could be a combat medic in the military. No one believed that I could be a headlining showgirl. No one believed that I could successfully become the woman I am today. And no one believed that I could write and perform my own music live.
My voice is definitely not what people are used to from shows like American Idol, but the communication and storytelling is what I really value.”
Calpernia’s first album, “Stunning“, was her exploration of underground Los Angeles performance art and dance music. The title track appeared on episode five of her show. It’s a fun play on the Hollywood excess and vanity which she has encountered in her entertainment career. With outrageous lyrics like “I turn down three-ways with Brad and Angelina” and a humorously primitive music video, the song has become an underground hit with alternative clubs in LA and sells on iTunes, Amazon and Calpernia’s website. It has been remixed by Lucian Piane, Jer Ber Jones and Matthew McPeck following Calpernia’s own original mix.
“Stunning” was followed with the burlesque-inspired “Next!” from the film “Transproofed” and bitchy dis-rap “Miss Dis“.
Her next incarnation was as a bawdy cabaret femme fatale in her weekly live music/burlesque/performance art review “Stunning: Live“, co-produced by Jeffery Bowman, which continues to pack the venue every Saturday night. Inspired by Marlene Dietrich, Peggy Lee, Marilyn, Julie London and others, Calpernia nonetheless brings her own charachter to the front in every song. “I don’t do impersonations, I just disrespect dead celebrities by performing their music my own way.” You can see her performing her own songs alongside hand-made covers of Grace Slick, Grace Jones, Marilyn, Marlene, Helen Kane, Trent Reznor, Rick Astley, Shirley MacLaine and countless others.
Currently Calpernia is writing an album of acoustic, autobiographical songs that reflect her Bluegrass and folk roots without being a slave to any particular genre.
“I do all the initial recording, singing, instruments, mixing, mastering and promotion myself and from there I’ve had the opportunity to work with some amazing producers when I’m not doing it myself. I’m learning as I go, so the most polished tracks are the ones remixed by the professionals like Lucian, Jer Ber and Matthew. But I’ve learned that if you sit around and wait for people to do things for you, they may never get done. I like learning and doing myself. And I hope people can enjoy my work.”
Calpernia’s music can be heard on iTunes (Link opens iTunes) and on Soundcloud
