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Volume CXXXIII, Number 16 |
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Aussie singer Butterfly Boucher flutters towards stardom
TED REINERT & KELSEY ABBRUZZESE
ORIENT STAFF & STAFF WRITER
Butterfly Boucher
Ted Reinert and Kelsey Abbruzzese
A girl gets up on stage, alone with her guitar, and asks the assembled thousands in the Cumberland County Civic Center whether or not she should keep her scarf on. She introduces herself as Butterfly Boucher from Australia and launches into her music. Between her five songs, Boucher, clearly having a great time, banters with the audience, drawing scattered "Oi!"s from the crowd. She leaves to applause and makes her way to the merchandise booth to sign copies of her CD for fans.
"I get music out there so people can listen to it in their cars and living rooms," Boucher (rhymes with "voucher") told the Orient in an exclusive interview backstage after her show. "Why I make music is very simple, really. I want to inspire other people to do what they want to do." Boucher, whose debut album Flutterby was released on Tuesday, inspires people through her incredible range of instruments and unique upbringing, which shapes the style of Flutterby.
Flutterby's first single, "Another White Dash," is a paean to the open road, something Boucher is no stranger to. When Boucher was six years old, her family, acting under divine inspiration, gave away their possessions and wandered the Australian outback. "There is something exciting about leaving everything behind," she sings over a driving beat. "Something about having everything you think you'll ever need sitting on the seat next to you."
Now on tour with Barenaked Ladies and Gavin DeGraw, and later with Howie Day and with Sarah McLachlan, Boucher, 24, sees her current adventure as an extension of her childhood traveling. "I like to travel. This is kind of an extension of what I've always done-it's just called touring," she said.
Though Flutterby marks her arrival in the American music industry, Boucher is no stranger to the business. At the age of 13, Boucher began playing bass with her sister's band, the Mercy Bell. Now, on Flutterby, she plays all the instruments on the album: guitar, bass, drums, and piano. Boucher finished making her album in 2002 and was able to sign with the label that wanted to change it least. She has come a long way since her first guitar, a tiny orange electric instrument purchased at age six with $100 found in a Sydney airport.
Boucher also wrote all the songs on her album herself, except for "Another White Dash," a leftover from her Mercy Bell days which she co-wrote with the band's guitarist. She even directs or co-directs her videos. Boucher had just received the final cut of the "Another White Dash" video before her set at the Portland concert on February 17 and was anxious to see it. A bridge in Los Angeles was closed for two days for the shoot and Boucher described the video as "mysterious."
Flutterby is a banquet of upbeat guitar pop. "Another White Dash," the pensive "A Walk Outside," the bubbly "Busy," and the first single in Australia, "I Can't Make Me," are highlights. Boucher's Aussie accent can be heard in her soft voice, which somewhat resembles Beth Orton's. A child of the '80s, Boucher counts such artists as the Cure, Culture Club, the Eurythmics, Cyndi Lauper, Elvis Costello, and her countrymen INXS as influences.
And yes, Butterfly is her real name. She is one of seven daughters, and someone suggested the name to her mother, who at first did not take it. However, after seeing her ballet teacher in a butterfly leotard, seeing butterfly pictures hung on an empty school wall, and having an elder daughter come home with a song called "The Butterfly Song," Boucher's mother followed the signs.
Boucher fondly recollected a moment from her "big break" around Christmas time, hanging out in northern Australia, sitting on top of a van watching the sunset. It could be the calm before the storm. With her talent, you may soon be hearing a lot about Butterfly Boucher.
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