It may be her first official solo album, but Rhonda O’Connell is no stranger to music.
The Manitoba-born, Westlock-area singer/songwriter just dropped her studio album, The Butterfly Project, which is a compilation of her life’s work in music.
“The first song on the CD, Crazy Game, is from 1983,” she said. “It’s pretty much Rhonda O’Connell’s greatest hits.”
Drawing from a wide variety of influences, the album is oriented towards a folk/rock vibe. O’Connell noted that she was channeling Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac for much of the album.
“She was a big inspiration for me. I have a lower voice and often I couldn’t sing Heart or Pat Benatar songs because they were out of my range, but I could sing Stevie Nicks because we were both alto. Plus I loved her songwriting,” she said. “Beyond that, I love everything from Bonnie Raitt to Linda Ronstadt. I’m really crazy about the Ramones and the Clash too.”
She said she wanted to put together an album to honour her parent’s memory, whom she credits for fostering her interest in music.
While she did not record any new material for the album, she said she had more than enough over her music career, which dates back to the early 1980s, to fill an album and them some.
Her selections include songs she wrote herself as well as work she did with other bands.
“I was with a folk trio called the Triplicats and we won the Alberta music project and got a free recording,” she said. “Later, a few of us regrouped into the Hootin’ Annies and played for nine years. We did a full album where all three of us wrote songs. So I took songs that I wrote off those recordings and put them on this CD.”
Because she is a believer in sustainability, O’Connell said she wanted to make sure she wasn’t adding to world pollution, so the album has a paper covering instead of a plastic jewel case.
Though the album is available on iTunes and CD Baby, O’Connell is also selling physical copies through Fifth Meridian Coffee Company and in person. She added that she is not planning to go on tour to promote the album.
“I’m doing very selective shows,” she said. “I’ve done a lot of work playing all kinds of things, everything from pubs to folk festivals to even busking. I still have my teaching job with Pembina Hills school division. Currently I’m the backing vocalist for a band in Edmonton. We do three or four gigs a year and that’s lots.”
Music has always been a second nature for O’Connell. She started playing piano at age four and never looked back.
In her teens, she picked up a guitar and taught herself to play. Over the years, she has played in rock, blues, punk, folk and country bands.
Up next, O’Connell is planning to shoot a music video on her acreage this summer for her song Black Sarah.
“Black Sarah is a tune I wrote about the patron saint of Gyspies,” she said. “They have this big event in France where they carry this statue of her and it’s a big religious ceremony. I’m going to have some musicians playing, some dancing Gypsies, some shots of the ceremony. Then we’ll have a party after.”
For O’Connell, making music is a very personal act that she enjoys sharing… when she likes what she makes.
“It’s alternative folk. I’m not in it to make it big, I’m in it to express my creativity,” she said. “It’s like a painter. They’ll hang their art on the wall if they like it. I’ve written songs I don’t like that I don’t sing for anybody, but if you write a song you like, you want to share it. So it’s just a matter of sharing my music.”
O’Connell said anyone who wants to buy her album in person can call her at 587-783-3214.
