Michelle Willis (born November 6, 1986) is a British-born, Canadian-raised singer/songwriter and keyboard player. She performs regularly as a solo artist and as a side musician with

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (August 14, 1941 – January 18, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He first found fame as a member of the Byrds, with whom he helped pioneer the genres of folk rock and psychedelic music, psych ...

and

Becca Stevens Becca Stevens (born June 14, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist who draws upon elements of jazz, chamber pop, indie rock, and folk. Early life and education Stevens was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the youngest of ...

. She has also worked with

Iggy & The Stooges The Stooges or Iggy and the Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexander. ...

Laura Mvula Laura Mvula ( Douglas; born 23 April 1986) is a British singer. A native of Birmingham, England, Mvula gained experience as a member or leader of a cappella, jazz/ neo-soul and gospel groups and choirs. She was classically trained. In 2012, sh ...

Snarky Puppy Snarky Puppy is an American jazz fusion band led by bassist Michael League. Founded in 2004, Snarky Puppy combines a variety of jazz idioms, rock, world music, and funk and has won five Grammy Awards. Although the band has worked with vocalis ...

The Parachute Club The Parachute Club was a Canadian band formed in Toronto in 1982. They released three top 40 hits in Canada between 1983 and 1987, including "Rise Up", "At the Feet of the Moon" and "Love Is Fire" (which featured guest duet vocals from John O ...

, and the

Zac Brown Band Zac Brown Band is an American country music band based in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup consists of Zac Brown (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy De Martini (fiddle, vocals), John Driskell Hopkins (bass guitar, guitar, baritone guitar, banjo, ukulele, ...

Career

After graduating from

Humber College The Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, rebranded as Humber Polytechnic since 2024, is a public Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1967, Humber has three mai ...

's Jazz program, Willis became a regular performer in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

's piano bars. In 2009, Three Metre Day, a modern roots band was formed with Willis on pump organ and vocals, Hugh Marsh on violin, and Don Rooke on slide guitar. In 2012, the band recorded the album ''Coasting Notes'' and wrote the score for the film

Still Mine ''Still Mine'' is a 2012 Canadian romantic drama film. The film had a limited release under its original title ''Still'' at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival;Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

. Marsh and Willis also recorded on Iggy & The Stooges final album, 2013's ''

Ready to Die ''Ready to Die'' is the debut studio album by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released on September 13, 1994, by Bad Boy Records and distributed by Arista Records. The album features productions by Bad Boy founder Sean Combs, Sean "Puffy ...

''. After building her résumé through a variety of collaborations and work as a session keyboardist and background singer, Willis signed a recording contract with groundUPmusic. Her debut solo album, ''See Us Through'' was released in Spring 2016. In a very positive review of the album, Cashbox Magazine Canada's Lee Fraser commented, "The fact that it’s her debut is pretty surprising, given the fact that Michelle has toured Europe, Canada and the US, and that every show she plays in her hometown of Toronto is filled to capacity with her adoring fans." Willis was featured along with Laura Mvula on Snarky Puppy's ''

Family Dinner – Volume 2 ''Family Dinner – Volume 2'' is an album by American jazz fusion group Snarky Puppy that was released on February 12, 2016. Track listing All songs arranged by Michael League. Bonus DVD and digital download tracks Personnel * Michael Leag ...

''. Among others also featured on that album were David Crosby and Becca Stevens. Producer

Michael League Michael League (born April 24, 1984) is an Americans, American composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the bandleader of instrumental band Snarky Puppy and the international music ensemble Bokanté. He also founded the band Forq wi ...

then used himself, Willis, and Stevens to back Crosby on the Crosby-Stevens song "By the Light of Common Day" on Crosby's 2016 album ''

Lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

''. The quartet reunited as a real performing band on Crosby's 2018 ''Here If You Listen'' album, then toured for six weeks in late 2018. When speaking about "Janet", a song Willis wrote for that album, Crosby praised her as a singer:

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Michelle Living people 1986 births GroundUPmusic artists Canadian keyboardists Canadian women songwriters 21st-century Canadian women singers Singers from Toronto Canadian women keyboardists Humber College alumni