Michelle Kasaboski’s love for singing started on the home front with her siblings. At the age of 10 she entered her first local singing contest. Her big voice carried her through to the finals then and in future contests where she shared the stage with many who were years older. After performing a solo for “O Holy Night” on Christmas Eve, Michelle was asked to perform for a local black tie affair. This was the start of many future singing opportunities and venues that would display her talent. With her winnings she took the opportunity to record demo CD’s at the age of twelve, fourteen and a Christmas CD ‘For You at Christmas’ at fifteen years of age.
On December 17th, 2009 she released her first extended play CD, ‘Only One’ featuring 5 original compositions and one cover by Bob Dylan, ‘Make You Feel My Love’. ‘Only One’, illustrates her ability as a strong songwriter and shows her diversity to perform songs of different genres. Forever constant is her distinctive easy to listen to voice that leaves the listener wanting to hear more. The variety of music she performs and writes shows her talent as a cross over artist capable of singing standards, pop, jazz, country and easy listening music.
Michelle continues to make her mark on the local scene. She loves to perform live as a soloist at local fundraisers and enjoys the energy performing with her father’s band. In April 2009 she was the guest artist for Neeji and completed a show featuring songs from the 1920’s to 2009 including Taylor Swift. In November 2009 she performed to a sold out audience a tribute to Patsy Cline. Her choice of music ranges from country, easy listening, pop and jazz. She performs covers by artists such as Nat King Cole, Patsy Cline, Paul Anka, Van Morrison, Juice Newton, Frank Sinatra only to name a few. As spoken by Doug Gravelle (former drummer of ‘The Bells’, hit song ‘Stay Awhile’), “she moves the mood of the song, caressing the lyric as well as the melody. She allows the lyric and melody to have their impact on the listener, and excites the feeling of the song by her soulful delivery. Michelle has a beautiful full voice that inspires a huge amount of "feel", allowing the musicians to simply color the mood. She has learnt the fine art of letting the song speak for itself and delivers the "feel" with passion and maturity.”
Experiencing concerts of many great artists inspires much of her music. Paul Anka, Anne Murray, Avril Lavigne, The Wilikinson’s, Michael Buble and William Joseph, to name a few. The highlight of her career was a visit to Halifax in March 2008 for the David Foster Foundation Crescendo Fundraiser (www.davidfosterfoundation.org). Not only did she witness the great talents of Natalie Cole, William Joseph, Lionel Ritchie, Kenneth ‘BabyFace’ Edmonds but also she was given the opportunity to perform with David Foster and orchestra in front of 1400 people. This was truly a magical moment and she looks forward to similar opportunities in the future.
Over the past year (2011) Michelle has focused on Jazz Standards. She performed weekly from early winter until early September at Olivea Restaurant in Kingston. Pretty well from the start it was a full house every week. Guests came as far as Ottawa to hear her perform. It was a great experience and provided the opportunity to perform a variety of songs and tempo for the appreciative and enthusiastic audiences.
After a busy year of performing and university, Michelle has taken a break from her musical career as she travels across Canada. Despite her temporary absence from the music scene, her audiences have not forgotten her. They may just have to wait a little longer to hear her perform live again. But she will be back!
Michelle’s desire is to have a career as a singer/songwriter/entertainer. She hopes to continue performing and expand her geographical audience. Michelle states, “I really just want everyone to hear my music. Role models like David Foster, Paul Anka and Michael Buble have given me the determination and ability to want not ‘good’, but ‘great’. Any opportunity to sing brings me closer to my dream.”
Stay tuned!