Traci Nubalo - The Word

by Traci Nubalo

Metaverse Tribune - April 24, 2012


So there I was minding my own business at Stella Silvansky’s set at Merry Prankster’s when I was IMed by the ever-popular and mega-talented Second Life musician Mamaa Saiz, who was standing near me at the show. “If I had her intonation I would be as dangerous as a gay guy with a chipped tooth”, he jokes. {rimshot} I had written a piece on Mamaa for this paper, and the musician/musician trust level has grown between us. We quite often engage in “shop talk” at various inworld gigs.

Traci Nubalo: She has a very expressive voice.

Mamaa Saiz: Yes, and great pitch. She is a natural. I got to meet her in Dallas and she’s a very sweet lady. And her voice is a perfect extension of her personality.

TN: Yes, she’s a very honest performer.

MS: I think the 'voice as another instrument' thing is fairly new for her. She‘s coming along nicely as a guitarist. She is learning and she isn't afraid to try things; but it takes time to get seasoned. Stella rocks.

TN: Agreed.

At that moment, Stella is treating her audience to a right-on version of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” in which they are “singing” along: “p-p-p-poker face p-p-p-poker faaaace”. There’s never a shortage of good times at a Stella Silvansky show.

She reminds us that she’s streaming “live from western Maine” and playfully interjects that tonight she’s in her pajamas while playing, which of course brings a variety of hilarious responses from the crowd. Many of those present are members of Stella’s fan group and join her at multiple shows every week.

She very artfully transitions from Gaga to “I Think We’re Alone Now” - the Richie Cordell hit which was first piloted to #1 back in the day by Tommy James and the Shondells and later by Tiffany. Cordell wrote during that wonderfully-classic period in singer/songwriter rock history where a lean, hook-laden style of composition was all the rage. He also penned another chartbuster for James: “Mony Mony.” Then, before the audience can catch its breath Silvansky launches into a gorgeous “Poison and Wine” from the excellent Nashville duo The Civil Wars in which she backs her crystal-clear voice with some sweet guitar work.

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NOTICE: TECH TALK ahead!

Stella came to SL with an act which involved her singing to track, since at the time she didn’t play an instrument. It was just last April when she picked up a guitar for the first time and started to teach herself. As I mentioned, Mamaa and I both commented that we are blown away at the speed and quality of the learning curve she’s achieving on her Taylor 614-CE. She runs it through the built-in Taylor Expression system directly to an Alesis mixer where she adds “just a little reverb.”

For the vocals she uses, “a Shure SM58 Beta microphone, along with two pencil condenser mics, one aimed at the sound hole of the guitar and the other aimed at the 12th fret.”

END OF TECH TALK

** ** **

Back at Merry Prankster’s Stella glides effortlessly into Rihanna/Eminem’s ode to masochism “Love The Way You Lie”. She demonstrates excellent vocal control on this one, delivering at a steady, unhurried pace that’s perfect for the song. Another thing that I really like about her singing voice is that she’s able to vocalize with full tonal coloration even at slower tempos and when she’s using the soft, sweet, quieter side of her voice. The singers out there will attest to how challenging this can be.

Stella makes use of her excellent upper-register voice in covering Josh Ritter’s “Change of Time”. Once again, vocal sound quality and versatility rule. She reminds her fans, “If you haven’t checked out Josh Ritter you should.” Good call.

Silvansky, 39, found SL almost five years ago when she saw it featured on a TV episode of “The Office”. After being encouraged by stellar (no pun!) SL performer Maximillion Kleene, she was on her way. She and Kleene still team up to dual-stream inworld, much to the delight of both sets of fans.

She mentions Max during her set, when she performs a reprise of “Poker Face”. “Max Kleene sometimes repeats songs he likes in his set. And if he can do it so can I.”

After another audience participation segment (“p-p-p-poker faaaace”) she pulls a veteran stage move by downshifting into “Blue Jeans” by Lana Delray. It’s a delightfully passionate reading, highlighted by a gorgeous chorus of “I will love you till the end of time”, once again with the help of her ever-loyal audience singing along. I asked her about her fan group:

SS: Oh, there's no way I could do what I do without them. I’m still sort of awed that they come listen to show after show, some of them for as long as I've been playing in SL. I know most of them by name when they come to even just a few shows, and I'm so thankful that they do keep coming. Playing for an empty venue is no fun. And beyond that, my group is so warm and funny and supportive, it makes the shows more enjoyable for me.

TN: Excellent. What’s next for Stella Silvansky?

SS: Well, I look forward to continuing to learn more and more techniques on guitar, of course, but something I've just recently started to really embrace is dual-streaming with people like Voodoo Shilton and EricSteffensen Mistwalker, where they stream leads over me. It's helped me to think about what I'm doing as I'm giving them room to do what they do so well. They've been so much fun to dual with.

I found Stella to be a bright and fascinating person to interact with. She’s immensely talented as both her vocals and her recent rapid development on guitar shows. She’s also just a sweet, fun person to talk to.

I highly recommend that you add Stella Silvansky to your list of “must see” SL acts. Invest an hour on her - I promise that you won’t be disappointed.

You can reach Stella her on her website: www.reverbnation.com/stellasilvansky.


(c) Copyright Traci Nubalo 2012. All rights reserved.