Last friday at Aurora I introduced some new songs to the set and I was pleasantly surprised at the result. Those of you who have seen me perform will know that I 'live' my music but I was told that I had 'reached into the heart' of one of my audience and had 'caressed their soul'. Strong stuff and thank you babycakes (you know who you are) - Now all I want to do is get back in there and strut my stuff again.
Friday can't come soon enough.

Pop: Kristin Kapelli
Kristin Kapelli is dreaming a big dream of Mama Cass in Dublin, says Mick Heaney
When Kristin Kapelli declares her musical preference for "big mama singing", it comes as no surprise. With her tousled hair, Rubenesque curves and loose-sleeved hippie chic, Kapelli projects the image of a feisty rock and soul diva. Add her predilection for the blues and her determined positivity and the Irish-American singer would seem to have all the clichéd attributes of counterculture earth mothers from Janis Joplin to Mama Cass Elliott.

Little wonder, then, that Kapelli is about to take centre stage in a new run of a show about the short life of Elliott, the big-voiced, full-bodied vocalist with the Mamas and the Papas, the archetypal 1960s Californian pop group. The Songs of Mama Cass is a souped-up version of the acclaimed tribute show which was first performed at last year's Dublin fringe festival and which highlighted Kapelli's impressive vocal affinity to Elliott.

Kapelli seems ideal for the Mamas and the Papas' sunny hippie anthems, both in appearance and voice, but until 18 months ago the 29-year-old had never sung any of Elliott's material.

Her musical inspiration lies not in her Californian birthplace, nor even in Denver, where she was raised, but in Kansas, home to her paternal grandparents. It was there, as a child, that she first saw The Wizard of Oz. Kapelli was so enchanted that years later, when she played her first professional gig as an 18-year-old, she opened with an old Judy Garland number.

"It was my first gig, and it was the best one ever," says Kapelli. "It was at a gay nightclub in Denver, and I didn't even know that Over the Rainbow was a gay anthem, I just happened to like the song. I was petrified, because they hadn't listened to any of the other singers, and I thought they're going to throw things at me, but when I started singing everyone just hushed and then afterwards I got a standing ovation.

"After that I started to do it every weekend, and began learning more; I found out who they really liked on the gay scene. They love the divas, so that's where I got my style from."

Soon Kapelli had quit her job at a daycare centre and was singing in the gay nightclubs of Colorado and beyond in a camp cabaret troupe. Even allowing for what Kapelli calls the "more appreciative" audiences of the gay scene, it was an unusual career path for a wannabe pop star reared on the Rolling Stones and John Denver by her American father and Cork-born mother. But discovering "the big massive singer women" so beloved of the gay scene better allowed Kapelli to be herself. Ever since she appeared in a church musical aged seven, Kapelli had loved performing; but from her teens, her desire to look like a pop star led to weight-related illness.

"There was one time, when I was 14, that I weighed about 5½st — anorexia and all that, unfortunately. But when you're that age you have no idea, you think that's the right way to do it. I went through the bulimic stage as well, and ended up in hospital twice. So I wondered, why am I doing this? I knew I didn't really want to be a pop star anyway, which you have to be really skinny for. And my body won't let me do it, I've put it through enough."

If Kapelli steadily came to terms with her body issues, her musical vocation was less sure. She learnt a lot about stage presence during her first two years performing on the Colorado gay scene ("I don't have to flail my arms in the air or look like I'm passing a gallstone when I hit a high note," she says), but was soon looking for fresh musical opportunities.

Nine years ago, drawn partly by her Irish ancestry but mainly by her interest in U2 and Sinead O'Connor, Kapelli arrived in Ireland, and has divided her time between Dublin and Denver ever since. She found herself drawn to the tiny Irish blues scene, eventually ending up with her own band and performing at the Cork jazz festival. Meanwhile, old habits d

Kristin Kapelli has been working internationally for several years and has made her base in Ireland. She was Tina Turner in the highly successful tribute band I Can Tina where the band performed around the country and at noted festivals including the Cork jazz festival on a regular basis. Kristin also had leading roles in the musicals toy boys and a fringe festival favorite Kahoogaphone. She also had the starring role in The songs of Mama Cass produced by Bill Hughes and with musical director Ronan Jonston and received rave reviews from Gay Byrne and Pat Kenny to name a few. The show was screened for american television in the U.S.Kristin is currently the "voice of the tassel club" a classy burlesque cabaret show enjoying national acclaim. She also has played with numerous blues,jazz bands and dance music producers. Kristin enjoys performing in different genres. She can perform old style jazz and standards with piano player all the way up to a 20 piece swing band. She also enjoys performing in nightclubs as a dance floor diva vocalist. Kristin Kapelli is a consummate professional in all genres.