Storm Large: Award-winning musician, actor, playwright, and author. Storm has been one of the hardest working, genre fluid poly hyphenate performers in showbiz for more than 30 years. She shot to national prominence in 2006 as a finalist on the CBS show Rock Star: Supernova. Though it built her a huge fan base that still follows her around the world to this day, Storm prefers straight-up, raw dog performing, without screens between herself and the audience.

Storm began singing around the age of 5, much to the annoyance of her conservative, waspy family in small town New England. Luckily for us, however, she never learned to shut up or shrink, as she was so constantly commanded to.

She officially got her start performing in rock and punk bands in San Francisco throughout the 90s, where she performed with George Clinton, 311, Nina Hagen, and Fishbone…to name a few. Then, after the shock of 9/11/01, Storm quit singing altogether and moved to Portland, OR to start a new life. The music industry felt vapid and sexist, so she decided to go to culinary school to become a chef. With plans to eventually start a meals on wheels program, or maybe teaching people how to create healthy meals using only food stamps.

While applying for school, she bartended at Dante’s, whose owner, Frank, (a friend and a fan) kept bugging her to sing at his club. He finally got her on stage when a long-standing weekly act canceled at the last minute, and he needed someone to step in. Thus, The Balls were born. What started as a joke act, quickly became a cult phenomenon, and reignited Storm’s love of performing. Plus, her voice and presence at nonprofit and political fundraisers proved that music was indeed a powerful force for good in the world. She’s still a kickass cook, but Storm’s service to her fellow human, is very much her big, beautiful voice.

And that call to service is exactly how Storm ended up singing with Pink Martini. Storm and Thomas Lauderdale worked together for years on multiple fundraisers and political campaigns together, so when China Forbes needed vocal chord surgery and had to hang up the mic for 6months, Thomas insisted Storm sing for Pink Martini, while China recuperated. Storm learned 10 songs in 5 languages in 4 days, before four sold out shows at The Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra. That was in 2011, and 15 years, four albums and thousands of shows later, Storm is still happily singing, part time, with the little orchestra of good cheer, and has never looked back.

On her own, Storm has performed several command performances at Carnegie Hall as well as singing with symphonies throughout the United States and around the World with her own band, as well as solo performing Kurt Weill’s “Seven Deadly Sins”, for which The New York Times called her “Sensational” and dubbing her a brand new star for the classical world.

In her long, wild and twisted career, Storm has sung with k.d. lang, LeAnne Rimes, Angélique Kidjo, was in a show celebrating Randy Newman with Michael McKean and Katey Sagal. She isa friend and favorite of American Songbook champion, Michael Feinstein, performing with LizaMinnelli, Joel Grey and Michael himself. With Pink Martini, Storm has been thrilled to meet and perform with Googoosh, Paul Reubens (Pee-wee Herman), Charro, Rita Moreno, RufusWainwright, Ari Shapiro, Edna Vazquez, Jimmie Herrod, Doc Severinsen, and had the incredible honor to perform for the legendary Carol Channing’s 90th birthday.

Storm often signs off her own social media posts and updates with, “I will see you out there, love.” And she’s not wrong, she is definitely out there, and she loves it.