The Triple Door Presents

 

Thursday / March 10, 2016

 

7:30pm Show - 6:00pm Doors open and dinner service begins in the Theater {All Ages} 

 

$15 Advance

$20 Day of Show

Purchase tickets online or by calling our Box Office at 206.838.4333.

 

Suites are also available for private parties and special events. Call our Private Dining department at 206.838.4312 to reserve a private suite for the show.

 

While most DIY artists think locally and regionally when booking their gigs, Shelita Burke’s empowering, one gig at a time success story shows the impact a unique artist can have on a global level. Over the past two years – and without a commercial album release – the Seattle raised singer/songwriter has become a true musical citizen of the world, bringing her fresh indie folk-jazz and what she dubs “emotional art music” on self-generated world tours that hit France, Morocco, England, Ireland, Canada, Germany, Iceland, Japan, and Wales. Closer to home, in between overseas stints, she’s also done Seattle to NYC tours. So imagine the possibilities now that she’s releasing her debut EP Transfixed – and contemplating spreading the word and her music on social media for the first time!

 

A handful of years after she began busking on the streets of Seattle and launched her career playing metal in clubs, Shelita found a unique songwriting voice to help her tackle the wide range of emotions that came with becoming an adult in an increasingly complex life. While penning lyrics that reflected her deepening experiences, she created a sound which incorporated her fascination with polyrhythms and the Middle Eastern scale – fusing them with the traditional Western scale to create dynamic textures. Her discovery of a unique perceptual phenomenon called Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) – essentially a pleasurable, tingling “brain tickle” effect – led her to incorporate unique vocal runs that added what she calls “brain orgasms” to her songs. Shelita cites Joni Mitchell as an influence, and these runs are a bit like the high pitch vocalizing the legendary singer is known for.

She fuses all of these unique trademark sounds into the five tracks of Transfixed, all of which have provocative single word titles. “Swim” is a commentary about people who over-dramatize situations. “Pour” is a bittersweet romantic tune about “pouring” one’s whole emotional self into missing someone. “Gold” artfully blends the socially relevant theme homelessness with the personal/universal need to feel loved and connected to someone. “Else” explores the many alternative possibilities to being in love in a specific time and place, while the title track “Transfixed” pokes at our technological obsessions and compares our human brains to manmade computers.

 

One of Shelita’s key mentors the entire journey has been Jordana LéSesne aka 1.8.7, a top Drum and Bass producer, musician and DJ (and advocate for transgender people), who spotted the 16-year-old Shelita busking in Seattle’s Capital Hill and invited her to start playing music together. LeSesne says, “With the songwriting ability and range of Sia, the vocal gymnastics of Björk and a captivating stage presence, the various accolades Shelita has accumulated in her young career are definitely warranted.”