Comfort Food
The New Orange Sheila
By Hektor D. Esparza

Like a gigantic bowl of ice cream, some girl singers have a way of making you forget your troubles. When you think of female singer-songwriters, names like Lisa Loeb, Michelle Branch, Tori Amos and others spring to mind. You can come to them when the world has kicked you in the teeth, and you need a soft, soothing voice to let you know it’s gonna be alright. I put Orange Sheila in that group. At least that’s the impression I get from her self titled EP.

It’s has a few cool little indie rock/ folk type songs that are easy to like. It’s all acoustic but some of the songs were written with electrification in mind. When Sheila recorded it, there was no band. It was just her, with production help from Village Industries. Today she has a band. Orange Sheila is now filled out by Chuck Posnecker on bass and Valentin Pulido on drums. So what will Orange Sheila sound like now?

“It’s a power trio, but not like a Rush, more like a Yo La Tengo power trio,” says Posnecker. Sheila concurs and ads, “Can you put Indie rock in there somewhere?”

Sure, I say and explain that I already had the term in mind.

To know where Sheila is coming from, it may be helpful to know her taste in music and her philosophical perspective. She has feminist leanings in what she reads and what she listens to. “Ok I am just gonna say it Ani De Franco,” she spills out as if she is more than a little weary of blurting out a name she has uttered a thousand times.

“Le Tigre, Sleater-Kinney, oh and the poet Alix Olson,” Sheila weakly recalls as if fighting off amnesia.

“Mother Jones, and Kathleen Hanna,” offers Pulido and Sheila almost jumps out of her seat.
Sheila is enthusiastic about her influences, when she can remember them. But ask about how these affect her music and she says,” My influences definitely shine through. I try to put myself into every song I write. If it doesn’t mean something real to me then I don’t want to do it.”
There are two worlds that Sheila inhabits. One is the record store Big B’s and all that that represents: There is an endless stream of new releases to check out and a cadre of music store geeks to discuss them with. Then there is her roll as a musician in the mega-microcosm that is Las Vegas. You can’t swing a pair of headphones without hitting someone who says the Las Vegas music scene sucks.

On the first topic she says,” The mainstream is trying to sell you cool in a package.” Then Pulido ads,”Yeah, it’s more about image than substance.” They both say that last month’s releases were not that good, but then rattle off a bunch of new bands they like, that I’ve never heard of.
On the second topic band mate Posnecker says the frequently heard, ”There is no culture here.” Sheila retorts optimistically,” I think it’s getting better. It just has to.”

With my own interests in mind as a music journalist, I agree with Sheila. Even though I’ve seen many ups and downs in Vegas, there is no chance of this town getting smaller. At some point the scene is going to hit a critical mass. With this many kids running around, something has got to happen. Success stories may not stop with the Killers. The industry knows we are here and Sheila has as good a chance as anyone. She is surrounded by people with taste and access. And with some good luck and the right timing, Sheila may find herself in the spot light.

Catch Orange Sheila Saturday November 20, at The Pride Factory (953 E. Sahara in commercial center) Door 6:30 pm Admission is free.