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Sheena Berkley has an interesting resume that includes being a nightclub singer, songwriter, ceramics teacher and bodybuilding champion.
She hopes to build on that with a new stroke of good fortune -- a collaboration with Norman Connors, the Philadelphia drummer, composer and producer who wrote such hits as "Betcha by Golly Wow" and "You Are My Starship."
In April 2006, a pianist friend told Berkley that Connors was in town auditioning singers at Treelady Studios in Turtle Creek with producer-promoter Tyrone Wilson, and she got in just before Connors left town, doing her versions of "Betcha by Golly Wow" and "Home" from "The Wiz."
- Where: Toby's Lounge, Braddock Hills Shopping Center.
- When: Saturday. 8 p.m. dinner show ($20 person; $35 with CD); 11 p.m. late show.
- More information: 412-271-8330.
"I was like the last person in for that day and we just hit it off," Berkley says. "He told me I sounded like 'his girl Phyllis' and that was very complimentary to me."
Connors was referring, of course, to Phyllis Hyman, the Philadelphia-born, Pittsburgh-raised singer he discovered in the mid-'70s. Berkley, from Dravosburg, grew up admiring Hyman, along with other great female vocalists.
"I love Phyllis, I love Whitney Houston," she says. "I jump all over the place, because I love Whitney and Patti LaBelle, but you throw in Barbra Streisand. I love anyone who has a really rich good voice. I'm not into the pop tarts that just get up and do their thing. I like really good voices."
Connors was impressed enough with Berkley's voice to take the next step toward what would become her debut CD, "Paradise."
"She stuck out from everybody else," Connors says. "What I liked about her was her strength and confidence. She's a consummate professional. She had all those great elements I look for in a singer, plus she's a good writer, a hard worker, very ambitious and a nice person."
Connors brought in several songs from Nick Martinelli, who wrote hits for the likes of Hyman, Stephanie Mills and Gladys Knight. Berkley brought in a handful of originals and they added covers of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" and the Barbara Mason hit "Yes, I'm Ready."
They started recording in Pittsburgh, then moved to studios in New York and California, where Berkley saw gold and platinum records by Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi and Celine Dion on the walls.
Berkley did her part, laying down vocal tracks that recall the cool elegance of singers such as Sade and Anita Baker. Connors and the musicians give it a warm, jazzy old-school touch.
"That's kind of where Norman comes from, and if you listen to Alicia Keys, she does a lot of old school. We wanted to stick with that 'cause I'm not high-tech, I'm just like your classic vocalist. You can put in a few little tricks and some bells and whistles, but I'm more into some solid gold music."
For the project, Berkley -- who won the Pennsylvania State Bodybuilding Championship in 1998 but was "never bulked up" -- is going by the name her friends call her: Sheena B.
Is she concerned the name will create confusion with similarly named pop stars from the past?
"No," she says, with a laugh, "because they had their 15 minutes of fame. It's my turn."
