Casey Stratton
7:30 p.m. Oct. 25
The Intersection, Grand Rapids
http://www.caseystratton.com
Casey Stratton used to purchase a rental car when touring and turn the receipt into his record company.
"Those days are over," says Stratton, who moved back to Grand Rapids about a year ago.
"I like that my life is more about doing my laundry and going to the movies than martini parties," he says. "I got tired of all that."
Now as an independent artist, Stratton finds himself jumping many hurdles, including affording gas to tour and marketing himself.
"I can't afford to put listening stations in Borders or anything like that anymore," he laughs.
Although Stratton recently performed a successful Detroit gig, he'll take his show to The Intersection in Grand Rapids at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25. "It's one of the only cities where I get to play a really big place. It kind of lets me have that rock star moment."
After Sony records released his major label debut "Standing at the Edge," Stratton broke ties with them in late 2004 to pursue his own musical venture. Although he sacrificed the perks a major label provided him, the creative control he has now was worth the risk.
"I enjoy having the freedom and being able to call the shots," he says. "It's hard, especially when you're a songwriter, and you have a corporation trying to tell you what to do. Of course you're going to take it personally 'cause it's something that you wrote."
His self-released album "Divide," released late last year, boasts memorable melodies much like the album's predecessor. But Stratton's powerful falsetto definetly drives the album.
"It's actually very comfortable for me to sing that high," Stratton says. "It's just where my voice naturally wants to go."
When Stratton was young he couldn't reach those notes, but suddenly in junior high his voice changed. "I think people expect that I have a really high speaking voice or something," he laughs.
Stratton, who's performed during gay pride events, won't reveal whether he's gay. "I think my music is so personal that there are certain parts of my life that I don't want to discuss, and dating is part of it," he says.
Because Stratton's lush piano-driven musical textures resemble gay favorites like Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan, the label put advertising dollars in queer magazines like Out and Genre.
"They felt it was the community that would embrace (me)," he says.
But Stratton doesn't think it matters which gender he favors. "It's about being a human being," he says. "That's really where the problem lies on all sides. I don't think there's enough respect for people being able to live their own lives."
