After spending most of her life on the road performing, singer Angela Fabian launches her debut album ‘Arms Opened Wide’ later this month.
Angela’s speaking voice is an oddity. The jazz/ soul/ blues singer speaks with a predominantly Australian accent mixed with a hint of her native American, cancelling out the harsh twang of her adopted home and giving her a pleasant timbre.
Angela puts her peculiar accent down to her extensive travelling, performing everywhere from China to The Middle East in her role as a United Nations ambassador singing for the troops. Having performed for 30 years, Angela is now ready to share her life story on her debut album, ‘Arms Opened Wide’.
Born in the midwestern US state of Nebraska, Angela began singing at age 14 at her local church services, despite not coming from the most religious family: as she puts it. “My mother would drop me off at my grandmother’s house, so I could go to church with her, but my mum would never go to church.”
It was these church services that led Angela to start singing. “Once I started singing at church, every time it was my turn to sing solo I was happy. I was getting happy because people in the church, all the mommas, would stand up saying, 'Praise Jesus Our Lord', and all that stuff.
"And I thought: 'Oh my God! Was that me that just made you jump up out of that pew, or was it really the Holy Ghost?' But once I figured that I could probably make someone happy with my singing, that’s when I figured I might have a gift here.”
It wasn’t long before Angela’s voice led to her getting gigs when a neighbour, who also happened to be a manager, overheard her. “I was jumping on my bed, singing when I should’ve been cleaning my bedroom,” admits Angela.
Impressed by Angela’s voice, the neighbour secured her first paid gig all the way to Canada, letting her indulge in her taste for the secular sounds of The Jackson Five, Whitney Houston, and Earth, Wind & Fire. Angela even got the opportunity to open for jazz legend Miles Davis; although, she admits she “had no idea who he was; just that it was our big gig”.
After travelling for so long, Angela has called Australia home for the past decade and, more recently, gained her citizenship to become a fully-fledged Australian. Despite settling her roots, Angela hasn’t put down the microphone. She has a special gig to launch her debut album backed by her nine-piece dream band, and support from Australian rock-legend Doug Parkinson.
What excites Angela most is being able to sing her own self-penned songs, including the bluesy-stomp aimed at her frustrations 'Bullshitalonia' and 'Butterfly', a sweet ballad she wrote in tribute to boxer Muhammed Ali before his passing. “I’ve sang a lot of covers: all musicians do. Sometimes when I talk to other musicians, they say they only do originals. I say to them: 'You must be in heaven not having to sing ‘Mustang Sally’.
"Nothing against it, but I’m just so over it. I’d rather someone come up to me and say, 'Hey, can you do your song 'Arms Opened Wide?'' But, music is my life and I have a happy life with music in it.”
Angela Fabian plays The Tivoli Theatre 21 October.
