Renee Olstead, new chanteuse marks her territory
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
She is still a teenager, 15 years old. She has just branched out from an impressive acting career and embarked on a full-fledged singing career by releasing a self-titled debut album.
No, she is neither Hilary Duff nor Lindsay Lohan.
If anything, she is way ahead of that pack, blessed as she is with a seriously bluesy jazz voice and can mesmerize listeners with her renditions of beloved standards of the great American song book, the likes of old tunes from Neil Sedaka or Barry Manilow.
Renee Olstead, hitherto known as a star in CBS' series Still Standing and Jennifer Garner's lighthearted comedy 13 Going On 30, has now turned into a new chanteuse (concert singer) and has been dubbed the incarnation of both jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald and country singer Patsy Cline in one. And the hype is not far from the truth.
Teen pop stars launching their musical careers these days try so hard to cultivate a bad girl, punkish image (Britney's Joan Jett or Ashlee Simpson's Janis Joplin), however Renee modestly chooses to let the music speak for itself.
"I found this music four years ago and it made a huge impact on me, it really spoke to me ... these people played music with a lot of passion," she told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview from Warner Music's Los Angeles base.
Such is her approach to music, giving primacy to emotion and delivery over style or image.
With a voice she describes as unique and with different layers, Olstead will easily captivate listeners of all age groups.
Olstead stayed true to this spirit with her self-titled 2004 debut album. Is It You Or Is You Ain't My Baby is one of those songs that will make your fingers snap to the beat, while What A Difference Day Makes is a standard oldie.
And you will simply not believe that all these songs are sung by a fifteen year old.
Although her musical career was not the usual rags-to-riches story, Olstead had to work hard.
Born in Houston, Texas fifteen years ago, Olstead grew up with a multitude of musical influences.
"I also listen to Billy Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Patsy Cline ... aside from AC DC, the Rolling Stones and Janis Joplin. They had the biggest influence on me," she said.
After relocating to Los Angeles to accommodate the shooting schedule for Still Standing, Olstead found time to perform with a local jazz and swing band at a number of venues in Hollywood.
Olstead recorded several songs with the group that would later end up on the desk of Grammy-winning composer and talent scout David Foster.
Aware of her talent, Foster immediately offered an exclusive recording contract. The recording for the debut album was done in between and around her acting job.
When the album came out, praise was heaped upon her along with the inevitable comparisons with Fitzgerald and Cline. "It is extremely flattering to be compared with them, the ones I listened to when I was a child," she said.
Olstead believed that her music, although supposedly for mature audiences, would also gain currency among youth. "A lot of people my age who I hang out with -- between 15 and 19 years -- they like this kind of music and they will like it more if they are exposed to it," she said.