Michele Solberg has been performing and recording music for over 30 years in Austin, Tx and surrounding areas. Early on, her career was marked with recognition and awards, including numerous honors at the Austin Music Awards. (#1 Best Tape 93-94, #2 Female Vocalist 94-95, #4 Singer-Songwriter 94-95). She also performed at the 11th Annual Austin music awards. She recorded and released seven albums.  The critics describe her voice as one of Austin’s most distinctive voices; grounded in the night- lifts the disheartened from malaise; voice hangs in your memory long after the music has stopped; a sharp, distinctive voice, making good use of strange phrasings and odd turns in pitch to create an intriguing and original style that makes her instantly recognizable.

During a long time residency with her husband and musical partner Oliver Steck at the Evangeline Cafe in South Austin, she has developed a repertoire of songs that include the Great American Songbook, and highly revered songwriters: Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, and others.  Since 2016, she has been the featured vocalist of the Austin Benny Goodman tribute ensemble: Sammy’s Satin Sounds.

After living in Denmark in 1999 and 2000, Michele had new sense of music as a community service.  When she returned to Austin in 2001, she formed “Heart Gigs” and booked musicians into non-profit venues like SafePlace’s shelter, Hospice Austin’s Christopher House, and the University Baptist Church’s soup kitchen.  This allowed musicians to directly perform and interact with non-profit communities and their clients. From 2006 to 2011, she played music at Hospice Austin’s Christopher House once a week. In 2006, she released Christopher House Songs, a CD that raised over $54,000 in donations for Hospice Austin. She was awarded the Greenlights’ Nonny Award in 2007 for her dedication to supporting Hospice Austin.

Since 2007, Michele has been living in South Austin with her husband Oliver Steck and daughter Eleanor.  She has spent 24 years working as the Operations Manager at the University Writing Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

“In the early Nineties, Michele Solberg was one of Austin’s hottest new talents. Just past 20 years old, the singer-songwriter was featured prominently in the Austin Music Awards from 1992-95. She moved to Europe late in the decade, but returned in 2001 to release the sultry Beyond the Blue. Her first set of original music since then, Harvest Time presents a challenging concept as Solberg follows the fool’s journey of the tarot. One doesn’t need to understand that bit of arcana to appreciate Solberg’s return, however. Harvest Time is at times jazzy; at others noisy. “Sometimes” is intensely introspective and “Dogs Are on the Loose” appears to be defiantly political. Musically eclectic and lyrically adventurous, Solberg emerges somewhere between Tom Waits and Suzanna Choffel. Her partner Oliver Steck, perhaps best known for his work with Slaid Cleaves, adds an unlikely combination of trumpet, keyboards, and accordion. All told, Harvest Time is a welcome return for someone who remains one of Austin’s most distinctive voices.”- Austin Chronicle-Jim Caligiuri, FRI., SEPT. 7, 2012

Albums

  • Skin (1992)
  • Shrill (1993)
  • Michele Solberg (1994, Chocolate Records)
  • Liquid (1996, Crystal Clear Records)
  • Floating (1998, self-released)
  • Beyond the Blue (2001, Chocolate Records)
  • Christopher House Songs (2006, Hospice Austin)
  • Harvest Time (2012)