artist Joanna Chapman-Smith

Winner of the 2010 Independent Music Award for best acoustic song, Canadian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist JOANNA CHAPMAN-SMITH begins her EU tour this May with Jaron Freeman-Fox. Since setting out as a solo performer in 2006, she has performed in over one hundred cities on four continents, while her critically acclaimed release 'CONTRARIES' has received airplay in more than fifteen countries. 

With echoes of accordion-driven French and Gypsy music, jazz, folk, blues and more, her music encompasses influences from around the world and from a vast array of musical forms. Joanna developed her cosmopolitan tastes growing up in multicultural Toronto in a family with Italian-American, New Zealand and Brazilian roots; a wellnurtured thirst for new cultural experiences is unmistakable in Joanna's music. Her songs show influences from klezmer and Balkan choral music to tango and flamenco. She is a skilled guitarist, pianist, and clarinettist, but her live shows also feature other, less conventional, instruments - many of her own creation. 

These elements all help distinguish Joanna from other talented young singersongwriters, but what truly sets her apart is the voice. It's an extraordinary instrument, crystalline and strong, which Joanna guides effortlessly through a nearly four-octave range.

Joanna's rare vocal skills are on full display in her upcoming album, 'Love Me Deeply', scheduled for release in October 2012. Ironically, the original inspiration for the album was Joanna's fear that she might lose her voice altogether. In 2008, she experienced persistent throat pain and for several weeks her voice was reduced to a whisper. With medical aid the problem was soon solved, but the experience inspired several songs on the theme of losing and reclaiming one's "voice," one's personal identity.

On tour in the EU she will be showcasing her spectacular voice and intensely beautiful songs, accompanied by Jaron Freeman-Fox. Jaron fuses his roots of Celtic and bluegrass fiddling with his study of Indian classical music and jazz, while playing the 5-string violins of his late mentor; fiddle pioneer Oliver Schroer.