Squamish residents might know Dana-Marie Battaglia as a musician who's been playing and performing covers all over Squamish for the past six years, but what about the music she calls her own?
After performing her own renditions of cover songs at local venues and events, Battaglia will soon depart on a tour of Western Canada to promote her debut CD "Songs of Utter Despair, Guilt, Empathy, Lust, Longing and/or Hope."
Though fans have been listening to her for a while now, Battaglia is fairly certain many of them haven't heard her like this.
"A lot of what people tend to say about my act is that it's unique," she said. "Every time I cover a song it's totally different from the original and it has my fun little quirky, weird style to it. There's a lot of myself and my personality in that but my original music is just more of me. There's no mistaking that this is a new sound and something people aren't familiar with.
"A lot of people in Squamish know of me. I was kind of a household name for a while, they know me as more of a cover act. They don't really know me as a dramatic singer songwriter. I really look forward to revealing that part of myself."
Battaglia started playing music at a young age but after a move to 小蓝视频, the amount she played declined. However, it was the lack of music in her life that inspired Battaglia to learn guitar and evolve into the artist she is today.
"I started playing piano by ear when I was a child; it wasn't until I moved out to 小蓝视频 when I was away from my piano for two years that I realized I didn't have any music influence in my life. I didn't realize music was so important to me until I felt that it was missing. That was when I picked up the guitar and started playing. I started performing within six months after I started," Battaglia said.
After performing cover songs around Squamish, including during the Olympics, Battaglia set up a recording studio in her house and started working on original tunes. Those tunes and that original sound were the beginning of what developed into the music that she plays today.
After initially arranging and recording all the instruments herself, Battaglia realized that if she was going to promote her music, there was no way she could do it alone. Thus she formed the trio with Tim Bartsch and her sister Tanya Battaglia.
"This is a new thing for me. I've always played solo my whole career, but because my music is so complex and there so much in it, there's no way I want to go out there as a singer/songwriter just solo. The songs aren't complete unless I have all the other stuff in it, so I started this trio and it's so amazing being able to play beside a real cello," said Battaglia.
With the tour approaching, Battaglia recounts the stresses of taking care of all the logistics that go into organizing a tour.
"Sometimes I miss the days when it was just me and my piano or me and my guitar, and it was just about music. Now there's all this business stuff, but it's all part of it and I wouldn't have it any other way."
For more info on Battaglia's album release including upcoming tour dates visit www.dana-marie.ca
