by Gayle Bird, March 26, 2002

Published in What's Goin' On, March 28, 2002

The first time I heard Arla Mrazek sing, she was in the ensemble of a Riverview High School production. I’d been dragged there unknowingly by a date, and for most of the night I was only mildly interested in the stage happenings. But then a small person stepped out of the chorus and opened her mouth, and I scrambled for the programme. I don’t remember who I was on the date with, but damn, I remember hearing Arla sing! I knew then that we’d be hearing more from this then-high-school student.

Fast forward to the last few months. Arla, who’s been singing at weddings and hockey games and family gatherings for years, has finally gotten her act together - literally, finding Billy Graham to back her vocals with guitar and some harmony, even singing some solo - and is playing almost regularly at the downtown Sydney bars. I caught them at Bunker’s on Saturday night, and what a show it was. Arla’s voice is something you really can’t call yourself a music appreciator without hearing: highly refined, powerful, controlled, satiny. Singing everything from Fiona Apple to Guns ‘n’ Roses, Gloria Gaynor to Bob Dylan, the girl with the golden voice brought the house down. There was even a group up dancing - in Bunker’s!

As beautiful as her voice is, there is definitely a somewhat stilted quality to some of her singing. I’m sure that will go away along with the slightly distracting music stand - I hear she and Billy learned something like 50 songs in two weeks for her first performance a few weeks ago. She’s obviously at her best with songs she knows and loves. You know how Jennifer Gray did the dance stiffly for the first time in “Dirty Dancing,” but nailed it fluidly at the end? Like that.

She’s most comfortable - and sings with the most feeling and character - with her original songs, of which I counted three. My hope is to see that number climb to ten or fifteen, and that they’ll collect themselves onto a CD which I can buy. And then I’ll have that voice in my living room whenever I crave it.

Arla Mrazek and Billy Graham play Chandler’s tonight, March 28, from 10 - 2.