Stolie spans many genres with new DIY release
A weekly feature devoted to do-it-yourself releases
No one will ever be able to accuse 30-year-old singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Stolie -- raised in suburban Deerfield as Rebecca Stoelinga -- of being unduly narrow-minded when it comes to the musical styles she embraces. On her third D.I.Y. release, "Between the Fake and Real," she flits from coffeehouse jazz ("Humpty Dumpty") to ill-advised rap ("Tendency") to alt-country ("Long, Long Way"), and the leaps can sometimes be jarring.
But when she focuses her prodigious talents (she played all of the guitar, piano and bass on the new disc, programming everything else with her computer) on endearingly skewed pop songs that keep the spotlight on her wispy vocals and literary eye for lyrical details, it's hard to deny that she's the real stuff.
But when she focuses her prodigious talents (she played all of the guitar, piano and bass on the new disc, programming everything else with her computer) on endearingly skewed pop songs that keep the spotlight on her wispy vocals and literary eye for lyrical details, it's hard to deny that she's the real stuff.
"We spent the night / In the back of the Target parking lot / And you kept me warm / In the back seat 'til the sun came up," Stolie sings in "15 Below." "Before long you wanted to go / It was nearly 15 below / And your car was completely covered in snow / I said, 'That's the way it is in Chicago.' "
"We spent the night / In the back of the Target parking lot / And you kept me warm / In the back seat 'til the sun came up," Stolie sings in "15 Below." "Before long you wanted to go / It was nearly 15 below / And your car was completely covered in snow / I said, 'That's the way it is in Chicago.' "
Stolie celebrates the release of her new disc at 10 p.m. Saturday at the Viaduct Theater, 3111 N. Western. Visit her on the Web at Myspace.com/stolie or Stolie.com.
Jim DeRogatis