A storm is brewing ….

By Debbie Gardner
debbieg@thereminder.com

The word “Lover’ is tattooed across her shoulders, and she doesn’t care if you can see it through the open back of her cocktail dress. For some performances her hair has been a blaze of red. Lately, it’s movie star blonde. Mic in hand, she’ll melt you with a husky rendition of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” then rock your world with the lyrics to her latest song, “Stand Up for Me.”

Her language between sets can get salty. But when she sings, its always pure heart.

Storm Large – born Susan Storm Large and raised, for a time, in Southborough, Massachusetts – is a unique blend of the edgy Indie punk rocker of her youth and today’s polished, sophisticated chanteuse. She’s played in smoky clubs and on symphony hall stages. She can even say she’s made it to Carnegie Hall.

You’ll get a little of both when this 47-year-old force of nature takes the mic at CityStage May 4, performing cuts from her latest album, “Le Bonheur,” (French for “The Happiness”) with her band of the same name.

Her “fierce and fiery” performance draws from the album’s litany of tracks –classics like “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today “The Lady is a Tramp” and “It’s All Right With Me” to rock and roll inspired love songs like “Unchained Melody” and world music pieces like the Irish “A Woman’s Heart” and French “Ne Me Quitte Pas.” Large will also include some of her own pieces, possibly even the moving “Stand Up for Me,” which has become an international hit, with the goal of giving her audience an evening that envelops “an unrestrained and impassioned exploration of love, desire, and truth.”

Prime had the opportunity to ask Large – who has also gained notoriety as an author and playwright through her memoir ‘Crazy Enough” and one-woman show of the same name – about her life and work.

Here’s what she shared with us:

Q. Today you’re a multifaceted performer – a singer, songwriter, playwright, author and actor, but all this talent had to come from somewhere. What drew you to performing in the first place? Where and how did you get your start?

A. “I became a performer out of loneliness. Pure and simple. Luckily, I could always sing, and had a strong voice from a very young age. However, using my voice or humor or anything to get attention from my family, it had the opposite effect. TRYING to get attention was a big no-no around my house, especially for a girl. But later, in the outside world, among friends and fellow freakazoids ... people LIKED it when I sang, and were happy to have me around because of it. So, action/reaction, risk/reward.”

Q. You broke onto the national music scene in 2006 as an edgy Indie rocker on CBS’s Rock Star: Supernova, and your single from that time “Ladylike” is pretty hard edged. The cuts on your latest album, “Le Bonheur,” lean a bit more traditional. What has influenced your musical style from then to now?

A. “Oh I still scream my boobs off from time to time when the spirit moves me. I've always loved a wide, diverse span of musical genres. Pop, punk, metal, hip-hop, a little musical theater and classical. Now that I'm older I need to really protect my voice, so the big ballad-y jazz and standard style protects and strengthens my pipes. So when I DO want to rip some s**t up, I can.

Q. Have your life experiences had any bearing on your musical direction?

A. “Definitely. It took me forever to learn that you don't have to always be this tough, impenetrable badass on stage at all times. To be vulnerable is what draws people in and invests them into what you're doing. It's a radical shift from how I used to approach music.”

Q. What about your audience? Who are you singing for now?

A. “I've always had a bizarre mixed bag of everyone from everywhere ... gay bikers, lesbian moms, spiritual types, psychotherapists ... now and then I get some straight, married women who want to switch teams. But certainly no screaming teenage girls. God, my poor band...”

Q. Speaking of audiences, what should those who attend your May 4 concert at Springfield’s CityStage expect? Is this your first time in Springfield?

A. “I grew up in Southborough, so no, not my first time! You can expect me on my best behavior because my teenaged nieces will be there.”

Q. And of performing – you career has spanned early gigs in local bars with your own band to orchestra-accompanied events such as your performance at Carnegie Hall. Do you have a preference? Which performance shows audiences the real Storm Large?

A. “I'm always real ... (sometimes too much so for a few stodgy symphony goers ...) I do love singing with an orchestra, it's like slow motion lighting surfing on a moonbeam. F**king magic. Ocean strong and teardrop intimate. That being said, there's a lot of poetry in grabbing 150 people by the face in a dank, beer sticky club as well.

Q. Back to your latest album: where did you draw the inspiration for the original pieces? And when you write a song what comes first, the music, or the words?

A. When I write it's usually in collaboration. I'm always writing and James Beaton (my piano player) always has pieces of music to toss around. “Stand Up For Me” was different, though. It came out of my mouth, a-capella, finished. I barely tooled around with some words in the final product. In a way it feels odd to take credit, because I think some spirit pushed it through my skull and out my mouth. Nice work, if you can get it ... in the afterlife, I guess.”

Storm Large performs with her band, Le Bonheur, at CityStage May 4 at 7:30 p.m. For information and tickets call the box office at 413-788-7033 or visit http://www.symphonyhall.com/shows/storm-large/