Yvette Coleman
Yvette Coleman was born and raised in Corner Brook. Although she now spends much of her time in Toronto and Los Angeles as a singer/songwriter, she is always drawn back home.
Yvette started her music career at home in Corner Brook. She started working with the late Dr. Gary Graham at a very young age, and continued to perform with Gary for many years. Yvette remembers her first big role in a musical, which Gary pushed her to audition for. At age 12, Yvette got the lead role in Annie, which was being produced by Theatre Newfoundland Labrador. She remembers being terrified on opening
night, and even considered running off the stage. Instead, she opened her mouth to sing, and felt all her fears wash away. When thinking back on how she felt about being on the stage for the first time, she said “I loved it so much, I just knew I’d never get off the stage.”
Once she graduated high school in Corner Brook, Yvette moved to Toronto to pursue a Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance Voice from the University of Toronto. It was here that Yvette realized that her passion did not lie in classical music. Instead, after discussing song writing with a friend, Yvette wrote her first song. She performed this song at a show at St. Pat’s and was the most nervous she’s ever been to perform.
Now, Yvette spends much of her time in Toronto and Los Angeles working with producers and friends to write new music. Some of this music she keeps for herself, but some of the music is also written for other artists. While she originally started off wanting to write pop music, she says her sound has really evolved over the past few years, adding that the music she writes now has more of an R&B, soul, folk-infused sound. There are days where she may spend 12+ hours working on a single song. She says that for some of her favourite songs that she’s written, the idea for the song may all come out in just a few minutes. These are the songs that are written when she is most inspired. She loves these songs the most because they’re not overthought or manipulated or edited. They reflect real, sincere experiences.
When asked if she could ever be fulfilled in her life without music, Yvette said no. For her, music is spiritual. It also allows her to give back to her community through her work with children, which also fulfills her. Music is one of the most important things in her life, and she can’t see herself giving it up any time soon. She adds, “I think that’s why people don’t give [music] up, because we shouldn’t give anything up that sets us on fire.”