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Michelle Tumes
A classical journey of a musician
by Michael Herman
 Two handfuls of M&M's dropped
from Michelle's hands and danced on the hardwood table between
us. Before I even had a chance to react, she had them divided
into colors and asked a simple and profound question, "Which
colors do you want?"
OK it wasn't profound, but it was
interesting that long before the green pile was collected and
pushed toward me, Michelle Tumes showed me a completely different
"pile of colors" through the release of her debut
album, "Listen."
As Michelle was growing up in
Adelaide, Australia, she began taking piano lessons before most
children go off to school for the first time at age 4. Her love
for music was birthed in her at that time. Her talent grew and
matured as quickly as she could learn the next piece, and after
attending music school for 2 years and graduating, she looked at
her future with mixed thoughts and chose to study dentistry for a
short time.
Despite her considerable talent,
Michelle never realized she might truly have a chance of making a
career in the music industry. But then her 11 year-old sister
saved up $40 for a demo tape to be produced, and that tape landed
in the hands of Christian music producers in Nashville … and
soon Michelle was on her way to the other side of the world.
Michelle's first opportunity came
shortly after arriving in Tennessee at age 22. A record label
wanted to sign her, but her spirit wasn't at peace, and she
declined the opportunity.
"We got to the stage where
you present the music to the company, and they asked me questions
about moving here and singing and performing to a certain style.
I just wasn't ready for that," said Tumes. "I told
them, I'm sorry, I can't do that because I feel I have a style or
anything, and I don't want anyone to influence me, I guess that's
an example of standing up for myself. It was hard, but I'm glad I
did it. The most important thing about all of this is the music,
and what's behind the music."
The story was different when
Sparrow Records eventually signed Michelle. She feels they really
took a chance on her and let her have a lot of creative control.
That has provided her with a peace about where she is now with
her music. She talked about how she has received letters and
responses from non-Christians who have told her that there's
something that they can't express, something that's drawing them
into the music and into a peaceful place.
Michelle's insistence on not
changing the message or the integrity of her music is now paying
off as a number of mainstream radio stations across the country
are playing her music. Other stations are initially hesitant to
do so because many of her lyrics speak openly about her
expressions of love for God, but Michelle doesn't see that as a
loss. To her, it's more of a gain as her devotion to her gifts is
solidified.
"Mike, how old are you?"
She caught me between questions and I looked up with a slight
surprise on my face. After answering her, there was another
question, and then a few more. They were all sincere questions,
and before I could accuse her of turning around the interview,
she told me how she always likes to know more about people and
understand them better. After a few more questions spaced
throughout the interview, I resigned to the fact that I shouldn't
be surprised if she wrote an article about me sometime in the
future. She learned a lot about me that afternoon as well.
To get a little more introspective
with Michelle, I asked her who she would like to be for a day if
she could be a person mentioned in the Bible and why. After
pausing for a few seconds to envision herself in the life of
another, she settled on Mary, mother of Jesus.
"It seems like she wasn't
perfect like Jesus, but I think she was a very nurturing,
beautiful, spiritual person," Michelle explained. "I
think she was young, and she was very courageous. She basically
had a baby in a barn and traveled a long distance while she was
pregnant. Just her character when Jesus died … I would have
been a bit angry I think. She had so much happen to her, but
seemed very strong."
Michelle's music is often compared
to the sounds of Enya, Sarah McLachlan, and Loreena McKennitt,
but she actually prefers listening to Gregorian Chants. And if
you listen carefully, you can definitely hear echoes of those
ancient melodies in Michelle's songs.
If you were able to catch her on a
rare, quiet evening, you would not find Michelle alone. Her
closest friends make evenings special for her … and so does an
"Amazing Creme Puff." Her hands went out to
approximately the size of a basketball as she described one to
me.
"I love to have people over
and cook for them, and to have people to taste my food,"
said Michelle with a big smile. "I always ask them, 'Is it
all right, is it all right?' and I love it when they just adore
the food."
None of this actually surprised
me. There are some direct similarities that I thought of shortly
after she began to describe life outside of her music. The plate
of music that she has so carefully procured presents a wide range
of flavors from the soft and reminiscent, "Life is
Beautiful" to the thunderous beat of the title cut,
"Listen." A simple comment to her about a lyric or two
that stuck out to me drew a smile in her eyes and on her face as
she sensed that someone else "liked her food."
After a good meal, actually any
evening that she's home, you can catch her peeking at her flower
box which seems to have become an ever-so-slight obsession with
Michelle.
"I'll go back to my flower
box to see if my plants are growing. It's the first time I've
ever planted any seeds," she laughed. "I have dreams
all the time about how far my seeds have grown."
Any fan of the music of Jaci
Valesquez, with whom she is currently touring and performing
along with 4Him, has heard the song, "In This World,"
which was co-written by Michelle with Tyler Hayes, Erik Sundin
and Mark Heimermann. Now on Jaci's new self-titled album, you can
hear another song Michelle wrote called, "You," with
her voice blending background vocals for the track.
For a former dental school
student, Michelle really wanted me to eat a lot of those
M&M's. There was no doubt in my mind, after sitting down with
her, that she has chosen the right career through many extended
nights of prayer through the years. And when you feel her album
for the first time, and when you truly Listen, I hope you
can see the colors that Michelle has shown me.
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