When life brings hard knocks, some just come out singing

Weekend!Nightlife

By Eric Bartels

The Portland Tribune, Dec 29, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

A vocalist who soars from standards to new blues, Shelly Rudolph’s out to make more of the talent that flows forth from “Water in My Hand.”

©2006 TROY THIES

Singer Shelly Rudolph gives off two vibes.

She is petite and well-turned out, with finishing school poise. But she also has an earthy, playful side.

“She’s sweet,” says pianist Tom Grant, who often performs with Rudolph, “but a little bit naughty maybe.”

The way it all fits into one package is what gives the 37-year-old Rudolph a unique appeal both on stage and on record. She proved the latter with her first solo album, “Water in My Hand,” earlier this year.

Apart from the the record’s artistic accomplishments – Rudolph’s supple voice gliding confidently through a range of musical styles – it shows Rudolph’s ability to create intimacy with her audience by channeling herself into revealing portraits based on her own personal peaks and valleys.

“I immediately loved her stuff and I could relate to it,” says Joe Woodard, one of two Santa Barbara, Calif.-based musicians who teamed with Rudolph in producing “Water in My Hand.” “It is a balance of strength and vulnerability that’s in the music and in her person.”

“She draws people in easily,” Grant says. “She gives off a very positive, warm kind of energy. People love her. They have a big reaction to her.”

Rudolph will put that drawing power on display tonight at the Blue Monk, fronting a band that includes transplanted New Orleans saxophonist Devin Phillips.

“We have so much fun together,” says Rudolph of the New Orleans transplant.

Rudolph, who was raised in Eugene by a single mom who ran an art gallery and has studied mythology and psychology, has faced some personal challenges in recent years.

Two years ago, Rudolph hit her head in a scary, middle-of-the-night fall, one that may have been caused by an allergic reaction. She was not hospitalized, but headaches continue to plague her.

And she is still dealing with the dissolution of a long-term relationship that ended after a short-lived marriage.

Clearly, both events still color Rudolph’s world, even as she moves forward artistically.

“It was sort of like a wake-up call,” she says. “Like I need to do my art. I make a leap, and usually it has to do with what’s been going on in my personal life.

“It sort of feels like the more stuff I’ve been through, it makes me stronger, which makes it possible to be vulnerable,” she says.

Songs get many shadings

In a town wealthy in talented female performers across a range of genres, Rudolph has a rich, agile voice that allows her to be many things: sensuous or urbane, vulnerable yet battle-tested.

On “Water in My Hand,” which was released in the spring, Rudolph’s stylings lean toward the jazzy pop grooves of the late ’70s. Parts of the single “Miles Away” could have fallen off a Steely Dan record.

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