Pontiac musician Michaela Cahill unveiled her new song Only Exception last Friday at the Café Downtown in Fort-Coulonge. The Café was packed with Michaela’s friends and family for the first single in what is planned to be a full album by spring 2024.
Michaela has been singing since she was eight years old, according to her friend and manager Jessica Forgues.
In 2020, Michaela made it to the finals of a Quebec-based singer competition La Voix though her nascent singing career was put on hold due to covid-19 restrictions. After the covid restriction began to lift, she decided she wanted to get back to work which brought her to her most recent release.
“From Miami to Toronto to Montreal, we have been traveling pretty much everywhere trying to make this dream come true and trying to let the world see how talented and special she is because we always knew that it was going to happen,” Forgues said while introducing Michaela on the stage.“I always believed in her, her family always believed in her and convincing her to believe in herself as much as everybody else did was part of the journey.”
“I think it’s awesome. I am really proud of her. She’s been working exceptionally hard in the past year so this is well deserved.” said Michaela’s mom, Monique Fleury, at the launch event. “Her first little public appearance was at an elementary school with a karaoke machine and everybody loved her then. So we just pursued it with guitar and singing lessons. She’s always had a passion for it.”
“Words can’t describe the feeling I have. I’m super proud of her. I’m glad she’s where she wants to be,” Michaela’s father, Chris Cahill said at the event.
“What’s special about her is the intention she puts behind every note that she sings. I felt it the first time I met her and I couldn’t shake it off,” Ghislain Brind’Amour, the Montreal-based music producer known as Gee working with Michaela to produce her album. “I was like, I have to do something with Michaela and we found something that we’re both very passionate about, and we put it together and today’s the christening of that moment.”
Michaela performed the Only Exception with her frequent collaborator Rene Bertrand, who played the guitar during the performance. The song was a country song about young love.
“Whenever you’re waiting for something to knock on your door to change your life, if you pray hard enough, it does. So, thank you to my beautiful family who has never ever once said that I could not do something, my beautiful friends who picked me up more times than once and to my best friend (Jessica Forgues) in the entire world who has put in hours and hours and hours that nobody sees because it is behind the scenes in trying to make the Michaela Cahill name possible,” Michala said the crowd during the event.
You can find her new song and follow her progression at Michaela Cahill Music on Facebook.
Brett Thoms
Fort-Coulonge May 26, 2023
