Meet Sandé Lollis of Enter the Blue Sky in Bay Ho

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sandé Lollis.

Sandé, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I had been involved in music my whole life but took 22 years off to raise our daughter. Once she was off in college I caught the bug again and started hitting open mics out in east county late 2013. I met so many wonderful, welcoming musicians and started jamming with them at the open mics. Eventually, I was invited to play my own show and handpicked additional musicians to join me, none of which remain with me, yet for the second gig in late 2014 my harmonica player John Seever came on board. Other musicians came and went.

Bass player, Jodie Hill, joined us for a few months and helped to create that fork in the road that became a clear and defined turning point for the band and its sound. I decided to let the drummer go and utilize the inherent percussive and timekeeping nature of the bass instead. Our style and sound became much more organic and approachable, full of nuance and feeling. It is no frills but full, with strong, meaningful lyrics, touching topics, dreamy at times, melodically explosive at other times. The instruments and my voice play a game of interweaving to create atmospheres, or environments that fit each song.

After other eventual changes, our current lineup stands (since late 2015) with me as the songwriter, and lead vocals and guitar; Karen Childress-Evans on viola and backing vocals; Alberto González on upright bass; and John Seever on harmonica.

We are busy playing out a lot and released a CD (Re-Entry) in November 2016.

My band and I find such joy in playing together. There are times I am overwhelmed with elation for the opportunity, I feel so fortunate.

They are each so willing to work together to create what’s best for each song. I just love them. I know I mentioned elation before, but it’s so much bigger than that. Playing together, creating together, is so vulnerable and intimate, it’s just so fulfilling. Getting to share, to perform what we’ve created is the icing.

This year, I won Best Female Vocalist and Best Female Entertainer of the Year from the West Coast Country Music Association and will compete in March in Tennessee for the same titles nationally.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My own dream-it-and-it-will-happen attitude hurt me for a long time because it lacked action. I spent the last 17 years doing marketing and promotion for a company, which has transferred over to the band. As an artist, I just didn’t have the head for the business end of it all those years ago. Now I can separate the two sides out and focus where I need to at the right times. I have met with people successful in music as musicians or the business to gain insight into what more I need to do. They have been so forthright and helpful, I’ve appreciated their guidance.

Another issue is that because Enter the Blue Sky performs almost all originals, there is a learning curve for the audience as they get to know our songs. We hear nothing but good responses and we do have people coming back to our shows, they are even singing along with us and that’s amazing! I know it will keep building, it just takes time.

Please tell us about Enter the Blue Sky.
I am the lead singer and I play rhythm guitar, and I write all the songs for the band. I’m singing all the time, just walking around humming and la la la-ing, so stuff just comes out of my mouth and sometimes I think I’ve got to record that for later. Other times I have something definite in mind that I go for. I’ve got a list of one liners that have sparked my interest somehow just waiting to be turned into full songs. I remain open to the flow of ideas from within and without, news stories, kids, people I overhear talking, really just anything that strikes me and I take note and think about it and then it forms into something. I am diligent about maintaining the truthfulness of the characters in my songs, like an actor, I am always asking myself, “How would this person be in this situation?” not how would I be.

How I would be might not be very interesting, I’m just one person. So I’ve got the whole of humanity to draw from, or at least my perception of it.

Then I present the songs to the band. I’ll start off alone singing it for them but they never just listen, they start playing along right away trying to fit something in. Then we fool around with it for a while, till we get it just right.

When we perform, I am looking for that connection to the audience. I want them to have been moved, to have felt something profound, to have remembered something. We have often witnessed people in tears and so thankful for having heard us. That’s what I’m most proud of: to have reached them and made a difference.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I’ve always loved music and my childhood home was full of it. My parents both grew up in singing families, so I was singing as soon as I was talking. While I was growing up we all sang in the church choir and also listened to music at home. They each had very different tastes, such as jazz, Dean Martin, show tunes, Janis Joplin, classical, Neil Diamond, but somehow, I always seem to be able to enjoy all of it. My first real love was Cher; I liked the bigness of her voice. Then Barbra Streisand, I really appreciated the exactness and earnestness of her voice. I spent a lot of time with my amp and microphone singing to all their records; I like to say I trained with them, hours and hours. It didn’t make me very popular with my peers though, I can tell you. But those hours were the best, my favorite memory.

Pricing:

• $400 per hour, plus meals if applicable

Contact Info:

• Website: enterthebluesky.com
• Phone: 619-316-0808
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enterthebluesky
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EnterTheBlueSky
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/enterthebluesky
• Other: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/enterthebluesky

Image Credit:
Jeff Lollis
Sandé Lollis
Jokie Tolentino
Steve Covault

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