Caitlin Smith

Brass Publication, written by Helen Ravlich If there’s one woman you’d like to see draped over a grand piano whispering sweet nothings into a microphone whilst you swig the last of your martini, it’s jazz diva Caitlin Smith.  Partially blind, with a voice to rival the love child of Mariah Carey and Ricky Martin, and the looks of Shania Twain meets Britney meets Aaliya, what she lacks in perfect vision she makes up for in talent. The raven-haired beauty is the vocalist for local swingers the Fondue Set, as well as a great addition to the many musicians she jams with around town.  She says, “it’s really important to work with different musicians who can bring out a different style in you.  Every person you sing with makes you a different person musically.” She currently has a residency every Friday at Otto’s Bar in the Metropolis Grand Hotel in inner city Auckland, a late night cabaret-style show with all the requisite glamour, cheek and hot tunes.  The four year old Fondue Set also has residencies around town at Iguacu in Parnell Road, the Gables Pub in Herne Bay and Rakinos Café.  Caitlin just got back from singing across the Tasman at the Thredbo World Music Festival and is returning to Oz later this year for more gigs.  The Fondue Set also recently released their second CD, In a Blue Vein. Her mother was a trained opera singer who gave up her dream to have a family, “which I think is a real shame” she says, “she has the most incredible voice, I wish I had the same raw materials she does”.  Caitlin first sang in public with a school band whose other members included hip-hop lads-about-town Mark “Slave” Williams and Otis Frizzell.  She later sang with a punk band, then a few years down the track met Fondue member Steve Gerrish through a friend and started jamming.  Everyone told her not to give up her day job but she did anyway, believing “if you work hard and follow your heart you can succeed”. Ms. Smith is proudly a fulltime musician, but says a lot of people still don’t see it as a viable career.  When she is not singing or recording, she is teaching others the same tricks of the trade she practices. “People still think that musicians are kooky scum living on the peripheries of society, that it’s not a reputable profession, but the amount of work that goes into good musicianship, practicing and rehearsing, is bloody hard work,” she maintains.  “The thing about the music industry is that you can get into it for the wrong reasons, you start to think about money and you have to stop and reconnect with the reason that you’re doing it, and that’s gotta be the music itself.” Does she have groupies, men or women that approach her in the sultry aftermath of a gig?  “Yeah, I’ve had both.  It’s interesting, but the women are far more persistent.  You open yourself up when you’re in the public domain, you are very vulnerable and I’m a very wary person.  But I have met some really lovely people who started out as groupies or fans – but no, I haven’t slept with any of them!” In the interests of the discerning Brass reader and fan, I ask, is she single?  “No comment!  I’ll tell you my dimensions though – 34-24-36… it’s a winning hand!  Just like the disco hit Brick House.”