When I spoke to Jackie Solomon on the phone a few days before our interview, I could tell she was not going to be the usual kind of guest we normally have on The Creative Exchange. She has enjoyed a colorful career a
s entertainer, actress, painter and voice-over artist.
We began our chat with her early years in Montreal in the 60’s. That’s where she claims to have acquired her joie de vivre. She married her college sweetheart, who now has turned out to be one of Canada’s top actors.
One thing stands out about her: she is a survivor and takes everything in stride. During a gig in Montreal (where she was in a lineup that included Oscar Peterson) she was hit by a 250 pound stage prop –whack – on her head during the first set. She came-to in the ambulance, with a broken jaw and some very serious injuries. Though she was still groggy and did not quite know where she was, all she wanted to do was go back on stage and do her second set.
She moved to Toronto with her then husband, formed a band and started doing various gigs –anything she can get booked for, supporting herself and her struggling actor husband. Night clubs, voice work, recordings. Things then picked up for her husband, they moved to LA, an experience she sums up eloquently: “I survived fires, riots –two major earth quakes… all the nuts and flakes in the LA breakfast cereal of life.”
It was then that she started painting to express herself. She worked her creativity on anything she could lay her hands on clothes, walls, canvases. During this period came her two children, who are now also musicians.
During the interview, we played 2 songs that Jackie co-wrote with John Sievert. “Pull me over” and “Body Talk”. These are from her first Toronto period in the eighties. Good 80's pop nostalgia. She told me that she did not realize at the time that the songs were a subconscious outlet for her, bearing veiled warnings on the state her life was in then. Her first marriage was falling apart, she saw the signs but was not dealing with them. Songwriting was the only outlet.
Her creativity has now found a new mode of expression. Her songs are now on walls, written in color and texture. She brought a book of her murals with her to our studio interview, this is now her current pre-occupation.
You’re probably wondering when she plans on releasing her comeback CD? You’ll have to wait a few more weeks to find out on the podcast at http://www.womenspost.ca/.
MORE INFO ON JACKIE SOLOMON:
http://www.jackiesolomon.com/
s entertainer, actress, painter and voice-over artist.We began our chat with her early years in Montreal in the 60’s. That’s where she claims to have acquired her joie de vivre. She married her college sweetheart, who now has turned out to be one of Canada’s top actors.
One thing stands out about her: she is a survivor and takes everything in stride. During a gig in Montreal (where she was in a lineup that included Oscar Peterson) she was hit by a 250 pound stage prop –whack – on her head during the first set. She came-to in the ambulance, with a broken jaw and some very serious injuries. Though she was still groggy and did not quite know where she was, all she wanted to do was go back on stage and do her second set.
She moved to Toronto with her then husband, formed a band and started doing various gigs –anything she can get booked for, supporting herself and her struggling actor husband. Night clubs, voice work, recordings. Things then picked up for her husband, they moved to LA, an experience she sums up eloquently: “I survived fires, riots –two major earth quakes… all the nuts and flakes in the LA breakfast cereal of life.”
It was then that she started painting to express herself. She worked her creativity on anything she could lay her hands on clothes, walls, canvases. During this period came her two children, who are now also musicians.
During the interview, we played 2 songs that Jackie co-wrote with John Sievert. “Pull me over” and “Body Talk”. These are from her first Toronto period in the eighties. Good 80's pop nostalgia. She told me that she did not realize at the time that the songs were a subconscious outlet for her, bearing veiled warnings on the state her life was in then. Her first marriage was falling apart, she saw the signs but was not dealing with them. Songwriting was the only outlet.
Her creativity has now found a new mode of expression. Her songs are now on walls, written in color and texture. She brought a book of her murals with her to our studio interview, this is now her current pre-occupation.
You’re probably wondering when she plans on releasing her comeback CD? You’ll have to wait a few more weeks to find out on the podcast at http://www.womenspost.ca/.
MORE INFO ON JACKIE SOLOMON:
http://www.jackiesolomon.com/
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