Amelia Merhar, better known in the Yukon music scene as Big Mama Lele,
ended her Graduation Tour on May 10 in Fairbanks. The occasion? She’s finally
graduated university. Those familiar with her “FOMO Song” know why her
graduation warrants an international tour.
“I’ve been changing the major of my bachelors since 2004,” she jokes. “Ten
years, six universities, three countries, one piece of paper.”However, finally
obtaining her degree is only one reason for the tour. Merhar also has new songs
to promote. During her tour she played eleven new songs, from two different
new albums.
Why break 11 songs into two albums?
“GDFC seemed like a natural fit, and these are older songs. Singles are my
newer songs that I wrote last summer and fall when I was living in Alaska,” she
says. “They just didn’t conceptually work together in my mind for one full
album. They’re a totally different story.”Still, there are some commonalities
between the two albums. Merhar is known for playing raunchy, blues-inspired
songs on her metallic resonator ukulele, and these songs are found on both
CDs. “Big Jugs”, “High Bush”, and “Whiskey Dick Blues” are worthy of classic
country blues vocalists Lucille Bogan and Lil Johnson. “Whiskey Dick Blues”
features a nice blue riff not usually heard on a uke.Her other songs contain
comic observations from a feminist perspective. “My Green Cabin” infuses the
romance of the simple, stripped down life of the Yukon myth with harsh, rude
reality. ”Do I Look Fat in This?” is popular at Big Mama Lele shows. It teases
that dreaded question of male-female relationships with a uniquely feminist
and self-affirming answer, “YES!”
Merhar repudiates our culture of body-shaming, replacing it with acceptance.
“I call myself Big Mama/Because I’m done with being ashamed/Of who I am
each and every day.”Accompanying her on these songs are singer Ashton Grey,
who worked on Merhar’s previous CD, Letters are Better and co-wrote “Whiskey
Dick Blues”; and guitarist Alex Machidon, who adds some body and low-end to
these ukulele-dominated tracks. Machidon is also part of Merhar’s new group,
Big Mama Lele and the One Night Band, with Patrick Docherty from The
Midnight Sons. Merhar is releasing GCFC, named for the ukelele chords that
make-up most of her songs, in a limited edition, with handmade covers, each
with a different collage image and title.
“Collages are a really fun, spontaneous medium. I like art-forms that are
limited.” She lists a few of the titles: “Great Day For a Cycle”, “Good
Decorating with Feng-shui Comfort”, “Generating Discourse in a Feminist
Context”, “Grimy”, and “Dashing Francophone Coeur-de-bois”.Although the
Graduation Tour stopped in Fairbanks, Big Mama Lele and the One Night Band
will be back for an extended end-of-tour gig in Whitehorse. They play the Gold
Pan Saloon on May 23.Both albums are available at Dean’s Strings, and online at bigmamalele.bandcamp.com, where GDFC is listed as Good Ditties, Four
Chords. Outstanding Tracks: “Do I Look Fat In This?” & “Don’t Walk In Between
the Tracks.”
