Five Minutes with Bluehouse

Tonight, Burnsville will welcome Bluehouse, a pop-folk act composed of Jacqueline Walter and Bernadette Carroll. The two Australian songstresses first met in a pub in Melbourne in 1995. Since then, they have released four full-length albums and graced the stage with musical heavyweights such as Neil Young, Cowboy Junkies, UB40, Elvis Costello, and Neil Finn (of Crowded House). They have toured extensively in Europe, the United States, Canada, and New Zealand in addition to their home country.

They have been praised for their vocal stylings, which Bruce Elder of the Sydney Morning Herald described "some of the best harmonies you’ll find this side of heaven.” Rolling Stone magazine also lauded the duo's solid song writing, writing that “They write powerful radio-friendly tunes and twist them with a quirkiness which keeps them outside formula pop.”

We spoke with Carroll shortly before the show.

Q:  How would you describe your music?

A: Our music is pop-flavored folk. We’re an acoustic group and we use a lot of harmonics. People often compare us to k.d. lang. We’re lively entertainers who sign a lot of beautiful harmonies. Some have said that our concerts are a roller coaster of emotion. We’ve been described as rambunctious. We love a good laugh.

Q: What are your musical influences?

A: Absolutely everyone and everything, from one end to the other! We might do a big Irish ballad one minute and a rockin’ anthem the next. Right now our favorites are the Weepies. If you looked on our iPod you’d find Everything But The Girl, Adele, old school and Lucinda Williams, Beyonce and bluegrass.

Q: How is the definition of “folk” different in Australia as compared to the United States?

A: It’s similar. In both places ‘folk’ tends to be whatever doesn’t fit into other genres. It’s so wide and encompassing.

Q: You’ve performed together for over 10 years now. What’s it like to work together for that long?

A: We made a promise to each other that as long as it stayed fun we would keep doing it and it has been enjoyable.

Q: How has your act changed over the years?

A: When we first started I had no pedal and my guitar was out of tune. We’re a lot more in tune now.

Q: What do you write about in your songs?

A: We write about a lot of stuff: Love lost, issues in the world, and being on the road.

Q: What’s your most memorable concert experience?

A: I think that would be in Edinburgh (Scotland) at the Festival Fringe. It was then that we really started to go full-time. It was incredible.

Q: What did you do when you still had a day job?

A: I was an elementary school teacher, once upon a time. Jackie had lots of jobs — real estate agent, travel agent — a lot of stuff that helped our musical career.

Q: What’s next for you? Are you working on a new album?

A: We are. At the moment we’re in pre-recording in Australia. We plan to release it a little bit at a time online so that people can hear it as soon as possible. We’re ready for it to be out. 

The show begins at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the BPAC. Tickets are $14 each.