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LOS ANGELES TIMES
October 30, 2009
ENTERTAINMENT – POP MUSIC
Orianthi plays through the pain
The Australian guitarist was
supposed to have strutted onstage
with Michael Jackson this fall. Now
she’s releasing a solo album and
trying to move forward.
ECHOES: Orianthi’s “Believe” CD
was to be released during a break in
the tour, but now coincides with the
opening of the Jackson film “This Is
It.” (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles
Times / October 20, 2009)
The woman with the electric guitar
has played this song before. It’s a
Michael Jackson ballad, and the
young guitarist is named Orianthi,
who leans back now to unfurl a solo
of smoldering melody before
stepping up to the microphone to
sing some torrid lyrics: “Love is a
feeling / give it when I want it /
’cause I’m on fire / quench my
desire. . . .”
Orianthi’s eyes are closed beneath
her blond bangs as she wails “Give
In to Me” in a North Hollywood
rehearsal studio, her four-piece rock
band swaying behind her. The 1991
song (co-authored by Bill Bottrell)
appeared on Jackson’s 1991 album
“Dangerous” and was one of at least
20 that the guitarist spent two
months rehearsing with Jackson as
a member of his band for a series of
planned “This Is It” concerts in
London.
She had been drafted to re-create
signature guitar parts originated by
the likes of Slash and Eddie Van
Halen, to stand beside Jackson
onstage at the O2 Arena and deliver
real playing ability through 50 sold-
out nights. Then, on June 25, just
weeks before opening night,
Jackson was dead of heart failure.
Soon, footage of the striking 24-
year-old guitarist and Jackson
dramatically playing off each other
in a windblown rehearsal at Staples
Center was seen across the hungry
media-sphere.
“It was a huge shock for all of us.
Our hearts just sank,” Orianthi said
of getting the news at Staples,
where the band already had
gathered for another full day of
rehearsals. “It felt like he hadn’t
actually gone. It was too much of a
shock. He was with us the night
before and he seemed so full of
energy.”
The guitarist (full name: Orianthi
Panagaris) expected to be well into
the “This Is It” concerts by now,
while preparing to release her debut
solo album, “Believe,” which hit
retailers this week.
She began writing and recording the
album for Geffen Records after
arriving in Los Angeles from
Adelaide, Australia, three years ago.
Its release was supposed to happen
during a break in the O2 schedule,
but now coincides with the theatrical
opening of the posthumous
“Michael Jackson’s This Is It”
documentary, drawn from 120
hours of rehearsal footage.
“He was a big kid who wanted to
have fun, but he was so serious
about his music,” Orianthi said. “He
was a perfectionist and wanted to
make sure it came across really well
for his fans. He wanted to put on
the ultimate show for them.”
She auditioned for Jackson in late
April on a Burbank soundstage. “I
was so nervous and he was staring
right at me,” she said, still excited by
the memory. “Afterwards, he was
really happy and he grabbed my
arm. We started walking up and
down the stage area, and he asked
me if I could play the solo while
walking with a real fast pace with
him.”
Orianthi got the job — as guitarist
and sometime vocalist — and joined
a band of veteran R&B and pop
players, picking up funky
instrumental bits she hadn’t known
before. Jackson and director Kenny
Ortega also had her stretch beyond
the recorded songs, she says.
“They actually wanted me to add
my own flavor to it,” Orianthi said.
“So I added some extra stuff . . . I
use my tremolo bar a lot, so I
incorporated that. It’s hard to solo
when you’re walking around,
especially when you’re in Michael
Jackson’s presence. There are easier
things in life to do.”
Some of what she brought to the
mix also can be heard on “Believe,”
an album of bright pop tunes with
flashes of virtuoso rock guitar. It
opens with the tough commercial
pop of “According to You,” the
album’s first single and a song of
youthful self-worth brought to her
by producer Howard Benson.
She wrote or co-wrote most of the
tracks, mingling fiery riffs with
breathless pop hooks to land
somewhere near Avril Lavigne and
Paramore (minus any shades of
punk).
“I aim to inspire a bunch of female
guitar players, to get out there and
take it seriously and never give up,”
Orianthi said. “I’ve seen some
female players, and they get up
there and play an A chord and
leave . . . and it’s not a good
representation. You can take it
seriously and love it as much as a
guy loves it, not just to get up there
and pose.”
Growing up in South Australia, she
first picked up her father’s acoustic
guitar when she was 6. She studied
classical guitar initially, then became
obsessed with the electric at 11 after
seeing Carlos Santana perform, and
memorized as many of his solos as
she could from VHS tapes. Her first
professional gig came when she
was a 15-year-old rock prodigy,
playing to a backing tape as the
opening act for guitarist Steve Vai.
In 2003, Santana brought her
onstage for 40 minutes in front of
her hometown crowd. Both veteran
guitarists have remained
supporters, and the new album
includes the instrumental “Highly
Strung,” as Orianthi trades riffs and
leads with Vai in a quick, archetypal
duel to satisfy the most obsessive
guitar-head.
In recent years, she’s jammed with
Prince at his house and soloed on
“Last Name” with Carrie Underwood
on the Grammy Awards in
February, when Orianthi was first
spotted by Jackson’s team. She was
found through her MySpace page.
The final song recorded for “Believe”
was a last-minute addition, inspired
by the deaths of Jackson and her
friend and collaborator, drummer
Dianne Grainger, 24. On “God Only
Knows,” she sings over layers of
guitar: “I can’t seem to find my way
out of this low / It just don’t seem
right / didn’t have a chance to say
goodbye.”
“My outlook on life is to keep looking
up,” Orianthi said. “If you’re looking
down, you don’t see the light. For
me, it’s all about embracing that and
thinking positively.”
calendar@latimes.com
Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles
Times
She’s Gonna Be a Famous Artist!