By NOEL MURPHY
VIKA Bull’s belting soul strains are a mirror to the soul that have underpinned her stellar vocal career as one of Australia’s best singers.
When she was asked to perform the songs of R&B great Etta James in a narrative concert, however, she was taken aback.
Bull was nervous and uncertain, by her own admission, at tackling the works of her favourite singer.
She needn’t have worried, though. Bull’s raw ability, not to mention her professional nous, held her in great stead, with sell-out seasons in Melbourne and Sydney to rapturous applause and rave reviews testament to her talents.
“I’ve been singing Etta for two years now, the first show was in 2013 and I was really nervous,” Bull told the Independent.
“It was hard to memorise the script and telling her life story then switching to singing and back to telling story again. I was, ‘How do I remember all this?’ It was quite stressful.”
Etta James’ life was problematic, to be kind. An extraordinary singer, she was riven by drug addiction, prison and rehab clinics.
But she was one of the first to bridge the gap between R&B, rock and roll and pop. She has inspired the careers of such contemporary artists as Christina Aguilera, Joss Stone, Amy Winehouse and Adele.
“She strikes me as a very honest singer,” Bull said.
“You can hear everything, she doesn’t over-sing. She sings with pure emotion, from her soul, and she can get her message across and, oh, the power of it – that’s why I like her so much.
“She certainly had her demons, I’m not sure why. Maybe she had no-one steer her in the right direction.
“She started on the road at 15 and there can be some pretty strong temptations, and of course you’d go for it.”
Bull said she and her illustrious sister, Linda, always had a strong guiding hand to keep them in line in their parents, who guarded them against the excesses of rock and roll.
“We might have gone off the rails a little bit but there’d be a family meeting to keep us on track,” she laughed.
Bull has sung alongside some of Australia’s most iconic voices including John Farnham, Tim Finn and The Black Sorrows. She has also supported world-stage musicians Bob Dylan, Sting, Joe Cocker and Billy Joel.
Bull has maintained a successful music career with sister Linda, helping The Black Sorrows to achieve multi-platinum status in the 1980s and releasing their own albums.
In her first solo headline show, At Last: The Etta James Story, coming to Geelong Performing Arts Centre’s Playhouse on 26 March, Bull has finally been given the opportunity to showcase the true depth and range of her soulful, gusty voice as she belts out the repertoire of one of the world’s most-powerful female singers.
“I’m just blown away by how well the show has been received,” she said.
“When this journey started less than a year ago. I was so nervous about being able to do it right. But the response has been amazing, it’s incredibly humbling.”
