Sass Jordan does not sit still …

“I just got back from Las Vegas …” She says. ” I was helping out Jake. E. Lee on his new album. He is such a fantastic player who has massive legions of rabid fans! It was an honor to sing with him!”

Who is Jake E. Lee? Sass explains…

” Jake was in a band in the late eighties called Badlands and is probably most known for playing guitar on Ozzy Osbourne’s very successful ‘Bark at the Moon’ album. He replaced Randy Rhoads and was on two albums with Ozzy. I had such a good time working with him. Robin Zander from Cheap Trick is doing a song and the producers are Ron Mancuso and Kevin Churko . It will be a great album when it is finished as each song will designate a different singer.”

Sass is currently preparing to leave for L.A for the album launch of her latest project with S.U.N ( Something Unto Nothing). Whitesnake’s drummer and bassist Brian Tichy and Michael Devin join Sass along with Tommy Stewart from Godsmack as they officially launch their c.d on the 20th of November. They are playing at the Key Club and Jordan is hoping for the best …

“We have done two live shows so far …” Says Sass. ” The Viper Room. and another club called Vamp in Los Angeles.The reception we received was very good considering it’s a new band and no-one is aware of us. One gig, there were fifty people but you have to start somewhere …”

Jordan hooked up with Brian Tichy following a long period of not seeing one another. Tichy was the drummer on Jordan’s album Rats – way back in 1994. Sass admits it was long overdue …

“We had a connection even back then and always said we should do a record. We ran into each other in 2011and said – ‘Let’s do it!”

They recruited the other members and off to the desert in New Mexico they went. The video for the song ‘Nomad’ was filmed in a similar setting in California. Jordan loves the openness of such places.

“It is such s freeing experience. It does something to your soul being out there – alone with nature. It makes you write and come up with ideas from a very pure place.”

The foursome of musicians believe they have recreated a sound from the early 1970’s and purposely avoided music which was ‘trendy’. For Jordan – easy to do since bands like Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones were her favourites growing up in Montreal.

“Obviously – we (S.U.N ) would love to embark on a huge tour playing to as many people as possible. Unfortunately, it does not work that way. People have to like us first and then instill a demand for us. It is up to agents and promoters where we go … not us.”

At forty – nine years young, Jordan does not get nervous before a crowd and really – never did. She does admit that every once in a while, anxiety does get the better of her and she does not know why …

“I guess I am no different than anyone else.”She says.” Everyone suffers from panic attacks once in a while. You just go with the flow and ride it out …!”

It’s hard to believe anything would make Jordan nervous. She has worn many different ‘masks’ and performed on a variety of different stages since her first album in 1988. It’s been a long journey since leaving Montreal in 1992.

She has released seven solo albums and charted as high as #9 with the song ‘High Road Easy’ in 1994. She was a judge on Canadian Idol from 2003-09, she sang in front of 500,000 people at the S.A.R.S concert in Toronto in 2003 and she has opened for or played with everyone from Cheap Trick to Aerosmith.

Her songs have also been featured on numerous television shows, including Melrose Place, Party Of Five, Baywatch and Knightrider.

That’s just her singing career …

Sass starred in a Broadway play titled Just Janis. It was a tribute to the life of Janis Joplin and Jordan played the singer as the world knew her. Jordan had the vocal capability to pull it off yet it almost ruined her vocal chords.

“I had to sing every night for six nights a week. It was very hard on my voice.” Explains Sass. “Luckily – I hooked up with a vocal coach by the name of Don Lawrence. I was referred to him by Dimo Safari – a photographer who works with the Stones and U2. He was able to train me to sing in a way which not only allowed me to sing longer – he also made me a better singer in the long run. I am lucky to have got to know him.”

Jordan had also dipped info the acting world. She made guest appearances on NBC ‘s television show Sisters and starred in Winnipeg’s version of The Vagina Monologues.

In 2010, while performing for the Canadian troops in Alert, Nunavut – Sass was asked if she wanted to be an honorary Colonel in the Canadian Air Force.

Normally, RCAF honorary colonels were ceremonial titles handed out to retired Canadian military officers to foster “esprit de corps” within the unit. Now, the titles are handed out to people in the position to increase the exposure of what the military does.

Sass recalls her response when the title was offered to her …

“I said sure —what is an honorary colonel?”

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Stay tuned for part four …