Biography
Michele Lundeen, dubbed the "Queen of Steam," is a powerhouse, soulful vocalist based in San Diego, CA. Often described as "Janis Joplin meets Bonnie Raitt" (or think Lydia Pense, Bonnie Bramlett, Bette Midler, Etta James, Aretha Franklin), she blends classic roadhouse rhythm & blues, jump swing, Memphis groove, sultry jazz and funky soul. A veteran of the club, concert and festival circuit in both Northern Nevada and Southern California, she has shared stages with dozens of nationally known blues and roots artists.
After relocating from the Northern Nevada area in 1997, she formed her current San Diego, CA based band, Michele Lundeen & Blues Streak in 1998. They went on to win the coveted title of San Diego Blues Challenge winners 2000 and performed in the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN, in 2001. Michele is also a multiple San Diego Music Awards “Best Blues” Nominee (most recently in 2009).
Growing up in Oakland, CA, she was immersed in her mom's varied collection of albums like Harry Belfonte, The Righteous Brothers, Ray Charles, Mahalia Jackson and African and Hawaiian Island sounds! It was when she heard Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner that she was really taken in by that commanding, Gospel/Soul sound. Other early influences included Jimmy Reed, Janis Joplin, Linda Ronstadt. Michele began her singing career in 1980 while balancing the duties of a young, working mother. Her first gig was with a jazz combo doing standards and pop hits. Then onto Southern rock, rock & roll, country, rockabilly, blues always with underlying rhythm and blues roots.
Michele’s own musical expressions do exude attitude and confidence, but especially honesty. Known as a gifted interpreter of songs, her hi-energy, visceral live performances help tell her song’s stories, and one can visualize that intensity in her recorded work. With an honest, sometimes humorous look at the trials and tribulations of life, her lyrics can be poignant or tongue 'n cheek.
Michele’s was a co-founder and former editor/publisher of two blues societies for over a decade, and is current editor for the internationally distributed Blues Festival Guide magazine (recipient of the Blues Foundation's 2006 "Keeping The Blues Alive" award for Print Media). The magazine helps to promote, educate and inform readers about the history, tradition, and current happenings in the world of Blues music. In her homebase of San Diego, CA Michele is deeply involved in the local “Blues in the Schools” workshop programs providing live musical instructional and historical views into the blues as an American art form. She's appeared in a documentary segment on San Diego CH 4 TV "Insider" and is featured in a San Diego Dept. of Education film short.
Michele's full-length debut CD, SONG INSIDE ME, was co-produced by seminal California Bay Area guitarist/arranger/producer Johnny “V” Vernazza (Gold Record winning Elvin Bishop Band alumni). The CD was one of the Blues Foundation 2006 "Best Self-Produced CD" finalist and a 2005 San Diego Music Award's "Best Blues Album" Nominee. The CD features nine self-penned originals among 12 tracks and, along with her own band, luminaries such as Blues-Roots slide-master Roy Rogers guest. SONG INSIDE ME has garnered airplay on college and Triple A stations across the U.S. as well as in Canada and abroad. The CD has made Essential 100, Top 25, Top 10 and Roots-Blues Top 50 charts and has been reported to the Living Blues Charts by numerous stations around the world.
CD's can be purchased through the official website at www.michelelundeen.com.
Artist descriptions on Last.fm are editable by everyone. Feel free to contribute!
All user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.
