Album Notes

***Summer Sale for the Savvy Shopper!***
July & August 2009

In honor of the newly revamped CD Baby website the Parasols & Pekingese disc featuring 11 one-of-kind old-timey pop hits and a lovely eco-friendly cd jacket with art by Grammy nominated designer and illustrator Rick Whitmore is available for only $9.99 all summer long.

Happy days of sunshine ~ enjoy the music!!

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Originally from Baltimore and now based in sunny Oakland, songbird and solo uke-slinger, Tippy Canoe (Michele Kappel), made the switch from a 5-piece drum kit with the garage-pop princesses The Kirby Grips (Sympathy For The Record Industry), to a 4-stringed ukulele in 2003. Since then she’s been on a mission with her band the Paddlemen to bring sincere uplift in a severely down-slanted era by spreading her hook-laden pop-meets-roots music.

On her debut full-length album, “Parasols & Pekingese,” released in 2008 on Late Bloomers Works and recorded with her full band the Paddlemen, Tippy Canoe shows off her enchanting and dynamic sound. Her voice is a mixture of the 60's girl group sound and classic country with its own quirky nature shining through. Her songwriting highlights a variety of influences ranging from 20's and 30's acts like The Boswell Sisters and Jack Teagarden, to 50's and 60's performers like Brenda Lee and The Chiffons, and catchy post-punk bands like Squeeze and Blondie.

Tippy Canoe has shared the stage or completed coastal tours with artists including Martha Wainwright, Big Sandy & his Fly-Rite Boys, Mad Tea Party, and others. San Francisco shows Tippy Canoe a lot of love; she was included in an exhibition on the ukulele at the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Folk Art, featured in the first annual San Francisco Ukulele Festival, and aired on a segment of PBS’s Bay Area Arts program SPARK TV. Tippy Canoe also contributed original music to the animated children’s DVD “Music Time.”

You won’t want to miss Tippy Canoe as she continues to stomp the pavement and charm audiences with her solo act.

When in the Bay Area, she is often joined by her band of Paddlemen ---Mikie Lee Prasad -Heavy Petting Zoo, Maria Muldaur, Rick Quisol -The Frisky Frolics, The Royal Deuces, Atomic Cocktail, and Chris "T.G." Green -The Frisky Frolics, Atomic Cocktail, Minnie Pearl Necklace ---who conjure up a tight-knit mesh of rhythm to compliment her old-timey pop melodies. Additional assistance is provided at times by Yanos Lustig (sax/keys - Johnny Bones and the Palace of Jazz), and Christopher Fisher (drums - 77 el Deora/The Country Squires).

Quotes from the Press:
"Kappel’s switch from mainstream music to a more independent sound was a brave move that sets her apart from a lot of female musicians, Silva said. 'I think it’s more difficult, especially for a female, to do something different and still gain respect,' she said. Silva’s favorite female musicians include Joan Jett and Kathleen Hanna, who used to sing for punk group Bikini Kill. Women such as Jett, Hanna and Kappel are inspiring to young girls, Silva said." Angela Perez, The Orion (Chico, CA)

"From the rollicking rootsy country of "Mass Transmissions" to the dark sensuality of "Sleep, Sleep My Dear" and everything in between, Tippy Canoe and the Paddlemen prove that theirs is more than a passing interest in the treasure trove of the past. Tippy's voice can tap both Patsy Cline and Billie Holiday and the Paddlemen themselves are so good they're easy to miss in a sense. There isn't a self-serving note played with all focus on the songs and not the players."Bob Lange, Rock and Roll and Meandering Nonsense.

"Quirky country, sensual lounge music, call it what you will: Tippy Canoe & The Paddlemen's Parasols & Pekingese is an alternative to popular country acts and a challenger to alternative sensations such as Neko Case." Barrett King, SEN Baltimore (Any Given Tuesday Podcast/Blog)

“Reel after Reel sees Kappel sound as lovely as Erin McKeown and Champs-Elysee is another fine moment, a somewhat poppy song with Kappel echoing Debbie Harry. This is a lovely record all told.” Anna Maria Stjärnell, Collected Sounds.com