Daddy-daughter duo is One Street Over
LOREN BENOIT/Press Bridgette Lewis and her dad Michael Lewis make up the band One Street Over. Bridgette has been performing with her dad, a guitar player and local producer, since an early age and auditioned for “American Idol” in Boise.
Photo by JORDAN LEWIS Bridgette Lewis, 28, and her dad, Michael Lewis, perform in the Jacklin Arts and Cultural Center on Thursday evening. The daddy-daughter duo make up the band One Street Over. They have been performing together since Bridgette was 13.
Before she even entered the world, Bridgette Lewis had a passion for music.
Her dad, Michael, was doing a show with Christian musicians Michael Card and Bob Bennett when Bridgette decided it was time for her grand debut, fashionably three weeks late.
“I interrupted the concert,” Bridgette said last week, sitting next to her dad in their living room recording studio. “I said, ‘That’s enough. I hear music.’”
The young vocalist was destined to be a singer, discovering her natural pipes from the get-go.
“They said when I was born and the nurses first put me in the nursery, they could hear me all the way down the hall,” Bridgette said with a grin. “I was the loudest baby.”
Loving music is a Lewis family tradition, if not a genetic gift.
Michael, a career musician, studio producer and session player, has credits on more than 60 albums and original music currently airing in more than 30 countries worldwide, with many endorsements and his own line of electric guitars,
He caught the music bug early, too.
“I was strumming the guitar at age 5,” said Michael, who began performing in church at age 11 and got his first bar gig when he was only 16.
The dynamic Rathdrum daddy-daughter duo comprises the pop/rhythm and blues band One Street Over. They perform original songs as well as unique covers of longtime favorites like Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” and America’s “Tin Man.”
Bridgette was 13 when she first performed with her dad, but has been an active part of his musical world her whole life and is following in his footsteps.
“I grew up in the studio,” she said. “I loved watching him perform. And my mom would always sing to me. I love her voice.”
Bridgette’s mom, Marjie, doesn’t peform with her family, but she’s always behind the scenes, engineering music and giving her superstars love and support.
“I really enjoy it,” she said. “And you know, I think it’s not just mom’s pride, either. I think they’re both amazingly good.”
Bridgette dreams of someday going on a big-time talent show, like “The Voice” or “American Idol.” She auditioned for “American Idol” when the show came to Boise, but didn’t advance to the next round. She was pretty bummed when it came to Coeur d’Alene earlier this year for closed auditions.
“When we did the auditions (in Boise), it was an open room, so they had three audition tables and you could hear everybody sing,” Bridgette said. “There was one guy that when he sang, the entire room stopped and listened. And then when I sang, the same thing happened. When I got done the guy at the door was like, ‘Wow, you were incredible.’”
Stardom was just out of her reach another time when she and her dad auditioned for “The Voice” in Seattle five years ago. They made it through the first round, but never got to pursue more.
“I got bronchitis the week before our second audition, so we didn’t make it any farther,” Bridgette said. “That was disappointing.”
Disappointing, yes, but not discouraging.
Bridgette continues to deliver her velvety alto voice with sparkle and panache, whether it’s accompanying her dad on an album or performing for a gala in North Idaho. One Street Over already has several bookings well into 2019 at locations in Washington and Idaho, and little brother Jordan, 22, who has done a lot of video work for the band, will be joining as a keyboard player.
Michael said it’s a “tremendous joy” to perform on stage with his talented daughter.
“You know, we’ve been doing this a lot now. We’ve played hundreds of shows in the last 10 years,” Michael said. “We just look at each other and there’s a rapport, there’s a comfort level, there’s an enjoyment level and we’re looking at each other like, ‘Yeah, this is happening, now we’re having fun.’”
Bridgette, who also works as a vocal coach, said she loves the personal aspect of music.
“It really affects people. It affects them emotionally, physically, everything,” she said. “It’s like telling a story. You can affect them emotionally when you do it. It’s really fun. You can bring someone to tears or make them laugh just by how you sing a note. It makes me happy.”
Visit www.reverbnation.com/onestreetover to check out music samples and learn more about One Street Over.