NEWBEATS
The guy’s about 45, a classic born-andbred New Yawk City street tough, and a publisher of music magazines more likely to feature Motley Crue than anyone like 30-year-old Canadian composer/performer Jane Siberry. But after Siberry’s “coming out” concert in Manhattan, all his usual swagger evaporates.
NEWBEATS
JANE SIBERRY, CANADIAN WOMAN
The guy’s about 45, a classic born-andbred New Yawk City street tough, and a publisher of music magazines more likely to feature Motley Crue than anyone like 30-year-old Canadian composer/performer Jane Siberry. But after Siberry’s “coming out” concert in Manhattan, all his usual swagger evaporates.
“Are you going back there to say hello to her?” His face and voice are vulnerable, anxious. “You just gotta tell her, you just gotta—she’s the most sensitive person I’ve ever seen. She’s...she’s...” Finally he can’t say any more. “She’s a mystery.”
Yes, Jane Siberry is a mystery. But there are clues.
Clue one: She grew up in the suburbs of Toronto. Formal piano lessons were ditched early; the real learning on piano and guitar was done by ear and instinct. And away from the instruments: “I wasn’t a cheerleader, but I wasn’t a bookworm, either. I guess I was a sort of normal cigarettes, drugs and boys type.”
Clue two: She laughs. A laughs that floats like chiffon, a grin that makes her slanted eyes almost disappear into her cheekbones.