Erica Werpetinski hates watching a band perform if all the members do is stand on stage and play their music. That’s why she enjoys Ember Swift’s concerts.
Swift and her Toronto-based band will perform at 8 tonight at the Creole Gallery, 1218 Turner St. in Lansing.
Werpetinski, who works at Goldenrod Distribution, 1310 Turner St. in Lansing, said Swift’s live performances are full of energy. The store sells the group’s music.
“There’s three people in the band, and they all play off each other really well,” she said. “They are really funny and tell good stories.”
The band consists of Swift on vocals and guitars, Lyndell Montgomery on violin and bass and newly added drummer Michelle Josef.
“(She’s) only been with the band for three weeks and she’s fantastic,” Swift said. “It’s been going really well.”
Swift uses the phrase “style-merging” to describe her band’s blend of jazz, funk, folk, punk and pop.
“We’re a really high-energy band,” Swift said. “Our music is very political, but it’s also lyrically driven and poetic music.”
Having played music since she was 10, Swift saw a career performing music as the most logical result of her passion. She also sees herself as an activist for various causes.
“The music becomes the vehicle for gathering our political beliefs on stage,” she said. “We’re not just flowery music, we’re a very political and opinionated band.”
Swift said she feels like she can make a difference through her music, Werpetinski said.
Werpetinski has seen Swift twice, and each show was different from the other.
“They’re really good about improvising,” she said. “What’s so different is that you can’t categorize her because one song can be so different from another song. She can play a thrashing song and then play an a cappella on the very next one.”
Swift is preparing to release her fifth and sixth albums on Few’ll Ignite Sounds soon and will head to Australia for a monthlong tour in 2001.
“It’s our first overseas tour, and I’m really looking forward to it,” she said. “Music has its own path like a creature and it grows as I grow. I just let it live its life and follow it along and it leads to new things all the time.”
For more information, call the Creole Gallery at 487-9549. Admission is $10.
