Poised and charismatic, Chloe Charles breaks black female vocalist stereotypes right away as she arrives on stage with her classical guitar, accompanied by violin, double bass, or other unexpected twists and turns of her musical imagination.
A singer-songwriter, drawing from many genres - Folk, Soul and Classical with hints of various ethnic inspirations - Chloe has been likened to a rougher Cat Power, Esthero but sweeter, Portishead unplugged, a depressed Nick Drake and the sensuality of Smoke City. Older listeners sometimes mention subtle resonances of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Cars", Janis Ian's "At Seventeen”, Joan Armatrading’s “Love and Affection”, even early Joni Mitchell.
Chloe's music is sweet and painful, melancholic, inspiring and sincere. As she opens herself to her listeners, Chloe tells a story of a sensitive, fragile, haunted soul always searching for understanding and her place in this strange world. This translates into an eerie, enchanting, engaging and frequently visceral sound experience. Vibrating with the turmoil of drawing together while simultaneously being torn between several disparate worlds, Chloe's lyrics offer endless possibilities for her listeners to relate to her pain, while her voice massages, gently tickles, or seizes them with her strength and capacity to emote.
Born in 1985 in Toronto, to a Canadian mother and Trinidadian father, Chloe was influenced strongly by her childhood as a mixed-race person in a unique rural environment where she learned to value nature‘s modest pleasures, foster her creativity and discover her inspirations.
"I grew up in a forest surrounded by the reverberating hum of frogs and the cries of coyotes. I am inspired by the quaint, love filled and unconventional life of creativity with which my Mom and Grandfather encircled me."
In 2005, Chloe created 11 songs and recorded her first album "Can You Hear Me?" with producer Eddie Bullen (Thunder Dome Studio) and lyricist Eric Mercury.
"Although the experience was wonderful and I learned much about the process and myself, I also realized that there was still a different kind of music I wanted to create, a message I wanted to promote that was not coming through on that album."
Nevertheless, Chloe regularly performed with Eddie Bullen (pianist/producer) and Andrew Stuart (bassist) at In the Mood Jazz Lounge in Toronto, polishing her performing skills for the following summer of 2006, during which she lived and performed her music in various venues on the island of Mallorca, Spain.
Later, in 2007, without any formal instruction, Chloe picked up the classical guitar for the first time and began to establish her musical identity as a singer-songwriter, very different from the earlier album and quite unlike most popular black female singers. That summer Chloe created a low-fi album entitled “Souvenir” (written in Weimar, Germany), and another, “A Quest for Imperfection“ (written in Toronto), which she either gave away or sold at her shows.
All the while a full time student at university, Chloe continued to write new compositions and fine tune the 12 Weimar songs. By January 2008, she began to book gigs around Toronto and has since performed shows with various artists at different venues such as The Cameron House, The Gladstone Hotel, Slacks, Free Times Café, Clinton's Tavern, the Drake Hotel, The Press Club, The Tranzac and Not My Dog, The Central to name a few. Chloe also studied classical guitar and piano at York University as well as an inspiring performance course at the University of Toronto with concert pianist Boyana Toyich.
Graduating from York University with honours in June 2009, she said, "I am exhilarated to now be able to dedicate all of my time to music." Shortly thereafter, she was also overjoyed to receive her first grant, The Popular Music Grant, awarded by the Ontario Arts Council. With this funding, Chloe created and fine tuned approximately 15 songs, 5 of which she recorded this past fall with producer Brent Bodrug at Slyfi Chapel (currently in post production). The fall of 2009 also marked the start of Chloe's Canadian touring future. Gigs in Ottawa, Montreal, Kingston, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Halton, Ottawa, Hamilton and other small towns in Southern Ontario, were complimented by her participation in the 4-day conference in October of the Council of Canadian Folk Festivals where Chloe was able to perform for several professionals within the industry. Around that time, Chloe began her residency at The Tranzac in Toronto where she has continued to develop as a performer and reach a new audience.
Accompanied by other young, talented musicians - Anna Atkinson, Sam McLellen, Neil Whitford, Mackenzie Longpre, Kelly Lefaive, Keyel Turner and Marie Goudie for example - Chloe has been able to translate her ideas into unique and elaborate instrumentations. Chloe performs her rapidly growing original repertoire around Southern Ontario, and Montreal with plans to expand her audience across Canada and through Europe this summer. Chloe's efforts to engage fully in a life of music have been recognized by fans in Canada and are beginning to be recognized by fans worldwide as her ability to charm her audience - to make them tear up, smile or giggle – transforms them into friends.
Coupled with her drive to cultivate her own career in music, Chloe insists on helping other performing artists build their careers as well by singing back up for local singer-songwriters such as Christina Maria, Joelle Turner, Matt Epp, Nathan Legere and Trevor Campbell. In addition, Chloe has written lyrics and sings vocals for a Toronto band called Sacred Balance, with music composed and arranged by Pouya Hamidi (band members Foad Hamidi, Neil Whitford, Mackenzie Longpre, Sammi Raine and Kelly Lefaive) and sings for a few Toronto DJ's.
Chloe is now working a new unplugged album entitled, A Death In Weimar, which will be released this summer as well as on post production of her EP, entitled Little Green Bud, with acclaimed producer, Brent Bodrug, which is scheduled for release early this Spring.