As the saying goes, old genre traditions are made to be broken, and Vancouver singer-songwriter Charm is doing just that with her refreshing new single release, The anti-blues. On this killer new song, Charm has thrown out the tropes of the blues genre and integrated elements of vintage jazz and soul music into her music, making for a colourful celebration of love. We caught up with the artist to find out more about her music – see how we got on below! You can also listen to The anti-blues at Charm’s Bandcamp page which is linked below the interview.
By Jane Howkins
How has your 2026 been so far? All good, I hope?
It’s been very busy just doing a lot of music – performing, writing, producing, getting my website up, getting a band together. It’s been quite incredible.
You recently released the single The anti-blues. How has the reception been so far? What can you tell us about the track?
This track was written about 30 years ago and, along with the other three songs which were also written back then, I just would sing them to people whenever I could get people to listen. In January of this year, somebody made me backtrack to these four songs that I wrote so long ago. Then I was like “I need to be doing music!” and these songs were just something that came into my head that I fortunately remembered, and I wrote them down and I remembered how to sing them – I can’t even say what the inspiration was, it was just something that came to me. I guess sometimes we imagine things that maybe we would like to be reality, and I think those songs were kind of like that – they were like the reality I wanted in my life I suppose.
Do you have any more singles planned for release soon?
I have three songs that are just about to be released and I’m getting ready to produce a blues album. The songs are already written so just need to produce them, and I also have a bunch of jazz songs. Also, I will be working on producing as well. I have altogether over 30 songs to produce right now.
The anti-blues is taken from your EP, also titled The anti-blues. What can you tell us about the EP?
This EP is really about turning the blues upside down. The blues have always been the ‘he done me wrong songs/she done me wrong songs’. And I just decided to write songs that were the exact opposite about a loving great relationship, but I did it in the style of The Swinging Blue Jeans because I like the genre, so that’s the style that I use generally. They’re all in the blues genre but with a jazzy feel. I like blues and I like jazz, so it was a fitting bunch of songs to match with the title of the album. They’re all songs of love, so it’s just creating a new conception of the blue rather than pain and misery – instead, they’re about love and joy.
Are there any plans to release a full-length album in the near future?
I will be releasing a full blues album soon. Yes, I already already have the songs. I just have to produce them.
What have you been listening to recently that you can recommend? Who are your main influences as an artist?
My main influences as an artist come from an early influence of hanging around musicians who are classically trained and mostly into jazz and blues, before spending 30 years listening to our Canadian radio station CBC, which for many years played blues, jazz, classical opera and big band music. I listened to that for 30 years and so that is my main influence – as to what I listen to today, I still listen to the blues. I still listen to jazz probably more than anything else, although I don’t really listen to the radio, so if we look specifically at the blues or jazz, I listen to Etta James. But also people like Diana Krall, for example
I still listen to some of the older blues artists, but I also listen to a lot of people that are into jazz standards and lot of males, whether it’s Louis Armstrong or Frank Sinatra or people like that – because my voice is so low, I can sing the songs that they sing (mostly).
I’m not a full baritone, but I have a very deep voice so I can sing those low notes. I can match the low voices of many of the guys, so that’s who I tend to listen to.
You’re from Vancouver. What is the local music scene like with you?
It’s interesting. I’m new to the music scene generally speaking, so it’s quite a journey sort of entering into the local scene. People don’t really know me so it’s a bit challenging, but it’s also a lot of fun. I really enjoy when I’m out doing music and I’ve met some really fantastic people along the way.
Do you have any side projects or other bands on the go?
No, I’m just focussing on the music. I also perform, write music and produce.
Do you have anything else exciting coming up this year or next?
Besides producing another 20 songs, I can’t think of anything.
Any last words for the fans?
I would just say do what you love- life is very short and I wish I’d started focussing on performing much earlier. I probably would’ve went full board on music if I had started young, I mean, I was writing and singing on the couch and singing a lot of other people’s music on the couch, but I never had the courage to step out and share my music with the world until January of this year, so that was a long time sitting on the couch, wanting to do something with music.
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