Olivia Millerschin recently came upon a keepsake from her childhood at her parentsβ home.
βI found this drawing I did in kindergarten,β she says. βIt said, βWhen I grow up I want to be ____________.β And I wrote, βA singer.β I took a picture of it. Itβs really great.β
Just now grown up at 21, Millerschin is a delicate, beguiling Rochester-based singer-songwriter who already racked up quite a string of accomplishments. They include a John Lennon Songwriting Award (for her attention-getting βScrew Valentineβs Dayβ); hundreds of live performances in venues from Radio City Music Hall to colleges across the nation; reaching the 2014 quarterfinals of the TV series Americaβs Got Talent; and completing her second full-length CD, Look Both Ways, released this fall.
βI think Iβve accomplished quite a bit for someone my age, I guess,β Millerschin muses. βBut thereβs so much more that has to be done and so many talented people who can do the exact same thing. A couple of friends were like, βAre you ready to get your record out?β I said, βNo, I am ready to make more music.β Iβve got a lot of work to do.β
The Rochester Adams High grad, proficient on piano, guitar, and ukulele, nominates her mother, Erin, as leader of her support group. βShe comes to every single show, even when I tell her not to,β Millerschin says, laughing.
Overprotective stage mother? Hardly. βSheβs been at this about four years now,β says Erin, who, with her husband, John, owns a PR firm in Auburn Hills. βWhen she was younger, a petite 17-year-old woman traveling to do college shows β¦ her father or I would go, just to be there. But sheβs got a good head on her shoulders. Now, we donβt go as much.β
Oliviaβs head has always been into singing: She began classical voice training by age 8. However, being chosen at 11 for the childrenβs chorus in a production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Whistle Down the Wind at the Fisher Theatre may have cemented her passion. βFor a while I wanted to be a Broadway singer,β she says, βbut that quickly passed when I realized that I didnβt have the voice they do.β
No, Millerschinβs voice is an enchanting, gossamer blend of vintage folk and modern pop (think Judy Collins meeting Ariana Grande) that floats her deep, often dark lyrics over listenersβ ears.
βMy older stuff is really bright and the newer stuff is still hopeful,β she says. βI just felt there were so many things that werenβt being talked about that are just as valid as happy feelings.β
After a year at the University of Cincinnatiβs College-Conservatory of Music, where classwork was being interrupted by an increasing tour schedule, Millerschin decided to concentrate on her career.
While she enjoyed the exposure from Americaβs Got Talent, behind-the-scenes realities taught her harsh lessons. Rehearsals were grueling, and producers made inexplicable demands. βI think the worst part was not really having much control over how you look or what music you create,β she says. Hence, one of the meanings behind her CDβs title, Look Both Ways, recorded in Detroit and Brooklyn, N.Y.
βIβm a young person in an industry that tries to make people this way or that way, and Iβve been struggling with that,β she says. βI started getting a little jaded and thinking of people in a negative light. But then I realized people are just trying to do what they think is best. I need to look at things from both ways, through someone elseβs perspective.β
Millerschin will be part of the Winter Wonderland Event on Dec. 30 at the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores; .
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