From the Journal Gazette

Indianapolis native Karen Irwin grew up with a love of musical theater and a voice unsuited for it.

"The sounds my voice naturally makes are not sounds that are traditionally considered attractive to listen to," she says.

Irwin had a "whiskey and cigarettes" voice long before she had tried either of those adult pastimes.

A dozen or so years ago, when she was in her early 20s, Irwin went out for one of those fateful karaoke nights that performers sometimes talk about – a night when she just wanted a few laughs and discovered her calling instead.

Irwin sang Janis Joplin.

Irwin will bring her Joplin tribute show, "Take Another Piece of Her Heart," to the Wagon Wheel Theatre in Warsaw on Saturday.

Lots of husky-voiced female singers can do a credible job of interpreting Joplin, but Irwin’s show is something else entirely.

Judging from a sample Irwin gave during this phone interview, her Joplin must raise gooseflesh on anyone with more than a passing interest in the short-lived rock icon.

"From the very first moment, the response was so overwhelming," Irwin says of her decision to perform Joplin’s music at clubs and onstage. "There was no getting around it. People were freaked out from square one."

One of the things that separates her from other interpreters of Joplin’s material, Irwin says, is the ability to sing forcefully at higher registers without sounding as if she’s screaming or straining herself.

That ability didn’t come naturally, she says.

"The first time I (did a set of Joplin’s material), I lost my voice for two weeks," she says. "The second time, I lost my voice for a week. The third time, I only lost my voice for two days. The key is to keep doing it. If I stop, I am screwed."

Lest anyone think Irwin is a Joplin impersonator, she hastens to explain that her show is just as much about her as about Joplin.

Between songs, Irwin discusses her own career as a performer and Joplin’s influence on her.

Irwin says telling her own story seemed natural given that every one of Joplin’s songs tells a story.

"When she was singing, above all else, she was telling a story with everything that was in her," she says.

Irwin says Joplin is "an easy sell."

"There is just so much happening in her music if you allow yourself be consumed by it," she says. "I feel lucky that I sound like her. I wouldn’t have a show if I sounded like Helen Reddy."

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