Punker, Soulstress, Jazz Chanteuse, Holiday Reveler Tina Schlieske to the Rescue

One of Santa Barbara’s favorite and most singularly gifted singers, Tina Schlieske might seem to have multiple musical personalities, at least on paper. The rootsy and soulful pop-rock vocalist makes an eagerly awaited return to the Lobero Theatre, a holiday-themed night on Thursday, December 11, following last year’s Lobero show in jazz chanteuse mode. 

Last summer, she cozied up to a looser night club vibe at SOhO, with her sister Laura, sharing the vocal duties in the Graceland Exiles band. In between these and other points on the music style map, Schlieske is also part of the feminist punk band Genital Panic. Add to the mix a résumé including work with Double Trouble (Stevie Ray Vaughan’s band), Stewart Copeland, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Telecaster master James Burton. 

Chalk it all up to the healthy, varied diet of a dyed-in-the-wool eclectic.

The Minneapolis native who has called Santa Barbara home for two decades still performs in the Midwest and has long presented a popular Christmas show in the Twin Cities, to be presented at the Lobero next Thursday. Her sister and Minneapolis musicians will be in tow.

Leading up to her second Lobero encounter, Schlieske recently discussed her musical ride so far.

Your last Lobero show featured you in more of a jazz mode, timed with your lovely album The Good Life. What can you tell me about the show coming up? Is this a variation on the holiday show you have done in Minneapolis for years?

The jazz show I did at the Lobero was incredible. That was quite a feat. I never thought I could pull that off. This one will be more of my regular rock show. I’ve been doing this holiday show in Minneapolis for many, many years, and I’ve always wanted to bring it to Santa Barbara, and this year, I have that opportunity. 

I’m getting my band from Minneapolis, and of course, my sister lives here, so she’ll be joining me like she always does. It’s pretty much the same show I do out there. Hopefully, with a few new spins, we’ll see. I’m trying to bring some snow.

Your SOhO show last July was loads of fun. I especially remember your killing version of Bowie’s “Heroes.” Is there a special feeling you get when playing in your hometown?

Santa Barbara isn’t my hometown, but it’s definitely become my “other” hometown. I’ve been here 20-some years, and so when I do play here, it is a special feeling because it’s taken a little while. Coming from the Midwest, the music scene is just a little different. I’ve had to work at it here. People know my band and me back in Minnesota, but here, no one did, so it’s taken some work to build an audience, and I finally feel like we have built something.

The actual test is when people see my last name and can pronounce it; then I know I’ve been around enough, and I’ve made it.

Your fine album Slow Burn is currently having its 20th anniversary. It’s a real strong and timeless blues and R&B project, showing off your powerful and soulful voice. Was making that album a turning point for you?

Making Slow Burn was a huge turning point in my life and my career. I was touring with the band Double Trouble, which was Stevie Ray Vaughan’s original backing band, and that was going really well. They had asked me to continue with them, do some writing and recording, and do more touring with them, but I had just come off a break from my band, the B-Sides, and I had this record in me that I felt I needed to get out. I thought it was essential that I did. 
That was Slow Burn, and I’m so glad that I did it. It was a scary thing because I was letting go of this enormous opportunity, and I had just stepped away from the security of a band I had been with for many years, but artistically, I just felt this was what I needed to do. I needed to do this, and this record just needed to come out, and I’m very happy that it did.

From another corner of your discography is the Genital Panic album Pussygrabber, which unleashes the punk side of your versatile musical personality, making a punchy feminist statement. Is that another side of you needing release? Have you always been very eclectic in your musical tastes?

I have always been very eclectic in my musical taste. Growing up, we got exposed to so much music. Our mother would play so many different artists and genres of music. Everything from Kris Kristofferson, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, and The Beatles, to Luciano Pavarotti and Barbra Streisand.

And Genital Panic, yes, those are my roots — that kind of punk-rock music. That’s how I found my voice literally and figuratively. It was downstairs in my mom’s basement, screaming over the amps, guitars, and drums. I think, like most teenagers, you get drawn to music because you feel like an outlier, and you are trying to find a place where you belong. The music led to David Bowie, Velvet Underground, T. Rex, and Iggy Pop. Then my sister brought home a cassette tape of Aretha Franklin, and my mind was blown again. Music really helped me find who I was and gave me my individuality.

Tina and the B-Sides has been a long-standing band of yours. What is the state of that project?

Tina and the B-Sides is still going. We took a hiatus back in 2000, then we got back together to do Barricade in 2014. We still get together periodically to play big shows, mainly in Minneapolis and the Midwest. I love the B-Sides and will always be so grateful for that band. To travel the country with my sister and my friends in a rock ’n’ roll band? It doesn’t get any better. We all have different projects now, and we’re doing other things, but when we come back together to do a show, we just pick up where we left off; it’s like no time has passed.

You’ve worked with a lot of notable musicians from the “world stage.” Do particular memories come to mind from that part of your musical life? 

I have had incredible opportunities to work with many artists whom I so admired. The one overall thing was that most of them were always so gracious, and to watch them work and be present with them is a feeling I can’t even describe. It’s just so cool. 

One of the best memories is working with Elvis Presley’s guitar player, James Burton. He played on a couple of tracks on Slow Burn, and on one song, he asked me what I wanted on it. I just said, “James, whatever Elvis wanted, that’s what I want.” That was pretty cool.

You have such a strong rapport with your sister, Laura. Is that a musical connection that goes back to your childhood?

The blood harmony is real. I love working with my sister, Laura, and as we’re both getting older, I feel it’s something I cherish and value even more. I don’t even know how to describe it. I love it. But I have to say, when we were younger, Laura was into classical music and jazz, and I was into punk and rock ’n’ roll music, and so we definitely clashed.

I feel we both keep getting better with our voices. We have almost twin-speak when we sing together. She knows exactly where I’m about to go in the song. We have an incredible relationship on and off the stage, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Does this feel like a good moment in the arc of your musical life, and what do you have coming up?

It is a very interesting moment in my life right now. The music business is such a young person’s game when you’re full of angst, and you really feel you have something to say. There aren’t many examples of older people writing lyrics and creating music for when you’re in menopause or when you’re retiring from your job, you’re just getting older, you’re getting wrinkles, going to bed early, and singing about grandchildren. There aren’t a whole lot of examples of that, but I do believe that it’s just as significant.

To go from writing songs as a queer 16-year-old punk rocker young girl to writing songs as a 59-year-old woman who’s just become a grandmother can be just as punk rock and can be just as significant to sing about. So yeah, I do feel I’m in a good moment in my life, and I’m gonna try to take advantage of it.

See Tina Schlieske & Friends on Thursday, December 11, at 7:30 p.m. at the Lobero Theatre (33 E. Canon Perdido St.). See lobero.org/events/tina-schlieske-band.