Butterfly Boucher - Biography

Biography

Butterfly Giselle Grace Boucher was born on 2 June 1979 in Adelaide, South Australia, and is the fourth of seven daughters. Her first name, Butterfly, was a suggestion from a friend of the family. Her parents are Vivienne "Vivi" and Rodney Malcolm Michael "Rod" Boucher. Rod had a career as a professional vocalist during the 1970s and 1980s specialising in Christian and easy listening music. Vivi had danced ballet. Boucher's sisters are Danielle (later a film director, actor, production designer), Rebecca Katie "Becca", Sunshine, Eden (born ca. 1981, later a member of electro pop group, Lovers Electric), Angelle (later a fashion model), and Harmony (later a model, then singer-guitarist for post punk group, Vuvuvultures). Her family travelled outback Australia during Boucher's early years.

From the age of 15-years-old Boucher played bass guitar for Eat the Menu (later renamed The Mercy Bell), which was had formed in Brisbane in 1992 by her sister Becca on lead vocals, and Josh Thomson on guitars and backing vocals. In June 1996 Eat the Menu issued an album, Whoosh, with a line-up of Boucher, Becca, Thomson on acoustic guitar, and Dale Rankine. Whoosh was re-released a year later under the band's new name, The Mercy Bell. In 1998 The Mercy Bell relocated to the United States – Nashville and Los Angeles – for six months and then the United Kingdom. They had signed with Polydor, but Boucher became disillusioned working with the major label, "I don't think they did any promotion for that first record. There weren't even posters. It was like suddenly we were signed, but it didn't change anything". Plans for a second album were shelved amid wrangles with the label. While The Mercy Bell was in hiatus, Boucher was working on her solo material, initially in Stockton, UK. By mid-2000, she had returned to live in Nashville. Thomson returned to Australia and Becca remained in the UK, where she later married Benjamin Burns and by 2011 performed a travelling "lo-fi pop event", Burns Bistro.

On 7 October 2003 Boucher released her debut solo album, Flutterby, on Universal and A&M Records. She co-produced and co-engineered it with Robin Eaton, Ron Fair, and Brad Jones at Alex the Great Studios in Nashville. AllMusic's Robert L. Doerschuk described Flutterby as " low-key tour de force, reflects an uncommon maturity and breadth of talent, particularly for a debut effort. Boucher commands all the essential instruments; more than that, she layers her parts with an ear toward sounding like a solid backup band, as opposed to showing off. Her lyrics, which adhere to the confessional/heartache model, can revolve around unanswered questions". The album peaked in the top 40 of Billboard's Top Heatseekers. In the next month Boucher issued her first single off the album, "I Can't Make Me", and followed with "Another White Dash". The latter track had been written by Boucher, Becca and Thomson of The Mercy Bell, which appeared on Billboard's Adult Top 40. During 2004 Boucher toured the US and Europe, opening for Barenaked Ladies, and then for Sarah McLachlan on the latter's Afterglow Tour.

Boucher started work on a second album, Scary Fragile, in 2005 and it was delivered to the A&M label in January 2006. In February 2007 the track, "A Bitter Song", from the album, featured on an episode of the TV series, Grey's Anatomy, it was available on iTunes for digital download on 27 February. After various delays due to producer, label and legal concerns Scary Fragile was released independently on 2 June 2009. Boucher reflected on her problems with major labels, "hat’s what was so frustrating. I had been there before and I managed to do it again ... I wasted those three years and lost my love of music in the process, trying to figure out what other people wanted". To promote the album's appearance Boucher issued a single, "Gun for a Tongue", in May and toured the US from May to July that year. In 2008 different Boucher family members contributed to the film, The Burial: Butterfly Boucher and Becca co-wrote two tracks which were performed by The Mercy Bell; Rod had the role as 'The Priest'; Vivi was a catering manager; Danielle co-directed, co-designed, acted as "The Mother' and co-wrote; Sunshine, Angelle and Harmony were catering assistants; and Eden co-designed production, acted as 'Nurse' and designed costumers.

Boucher is part of the musical collective, Ten Out of Tenn, which formed in Nashville in 2005; since 2008 Boucher appeared on various compilation or Christmas albums including, Ten Out of Tenn Compilation (Vol. 2), Ten Out of Tenn Christmas (both 2008), Any Day Now (2009), We Are all in This Together (2010) and Ten Out of Tenn Compilation (Vol. 4) (2011). In July and August 2010 McLachlan invited Boucher to perform on the renewed Lilith Fair tour, where Boucher met fellow Australian singer-songwriter Missy Higgins, the pair share songwriting for a number of tracks including, "Unashamed Desire". In 2011, Boucher and Brad Jones, co-produced Higgins' album, The Ol' Razzle Dazzle (June 2012), at Alex the Great Studios, Nashville. Both Boucher and Higgins recorded their own version of "Unashamed Desire": Boucher's appeared on her self-titled album which was released 13 April 2012, Higgins' version was issued as a single and appeared on The Ol' Razzle Dazzle. In 2011 Boucher toured with McLachlan, playing bass guitar and singing vocals. She also performs and records bass guitar and vocals as part of Elle Macho, a Nashville based trio she formed with guitarist David Mead and drummer Lindsay Jamieson. In August 2012 Boucher supported Higgins on an Australian tour and they followed, in September, by a tour of the US with Katie Herzig (fellow Ten out of Tenn member) added to the bill.