The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa kicked off The Tampa Bay Acoustic Music Festival, a month long festival which develops and showcases upcoming artists in Tampa Bay, June 1st with a special acoustic performance by Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter and guitarist Michelle Branch.
Michelle Branch is best known for her two top-selling albums The Spirit Room and Hotel Paper. She also won a Grammy for her collaboration with Santana for "The Game of Love".
The Hard Rock Cafe, located inside the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa was thrilled to have Michelle Branch kickoff the Tampa Bay Acoustic Music Festival. Branch has been singing since she was three years old, started voice lessons at eight, got her first guitar on her 14th birthday and composed her first song a week later.
She "made it" the old fashioned way, before social media or shows like "American Idol" or "The Voice". She has achieved massive success, toured the world, shared the stage with music legends, appeared on multiple TV shows, and of course, has that coveted Grammy. The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa was inspired by her story, her music, and her success and hoped this would also inspire the local artists participating in the festival.
Branch may be tiny but that didn't hold her back from belting out crowd favorites such as "Goodbye to You" and "Everywhere" at the intimate show held in the Hard Rock Cafe.
The crowd was singing and swaying to "Breathe" and everyone was dancing as soon as the first chords of "The Game of Love" were played. Other notable songs included "Crazy Ride" a song she wrote for her daughter and a brand new song titled "Knock Yourself Out".
After the show, I had a few minutes to "Breathe" with Michelle Branch. I asked her what it was like to get started at such an early age and she told me a few more details about how she was "discovered". She was 15 years old, living in Sedona, Arizona with her family, just playing local gigs. A friend of the family ran a timeshare and was giving a gentleman from Los Angeles a tour. She found out he was in the music business and told him, "You have to hear this little girl, she's my friend's daughter".
Turns out this man was Jeff Rabhan, then a writer for Spin Magazine and manager of a few bands. He eventually listened to her "tape", played it for the band Hanson and pretty soon she was scheduled to open for them. Her first show was at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.
But it gets better. As Branch says, "It was like I was in a movie", someone who worked for Maverick Records was offstage watching her perform and as she exited the stage, offered her a record deal! It was the beginning of a tremendous career and Jeff Rabhan is still her manager today!
Before signing her Maverick Records deal, Branch self produced an album titled Broken Bracelet. Its title was inspired from a very special bracelet given to Branch at a Lisa Loeb concert by the opening act musician, Steve Poltz. According to Branch, she met Poltz who said "I'm giving you this bracelet, Jewel made it, don't take it off because when it breaks you're going to be famous." Poltz put it on Branch and she didn't take it off.......until the day she signed her record deal when, literally, as she was signing the contract, the bracelet broke! She still has the "broken bracelet" at home in a ziploc bag.
One final piece of advice Branch had for the aspiring musicians participating in the festival was to "get out of your comfort zone". At one point in her career she went to London, the home of some of her biggest inspirations including the Beatles and Led Zepplin, and got "lost" just being in a new environment. It changed her writing, her sound and pushed her in ways she never thought possible.
Michelle Branch and her band are off to play a few shows in Japan and eats lots of sushi, udon noodles, and shabu-shabu. We wish you safe travels and thank you for a tremendous kickoff to the Tampa Bay Acoustic Music Festival!
"Goodbye to You" for now. Please come back to the Hard Rock Cafe soon! We promise we'll come hang out with you and your full band, anytime.
**Photography by 813area.com's Leonardo Arbonies Photography
