Michelle Lambert is a fiddler, singer, dancer and inspiration to her students.  As a Round Valley music student and a Northern California entertainer, she works diligently creating music and building her repertoire of songs - bluegrass, country/rock, and pop originals. Keyboard, drums, electronic music-making and recording equipment are her tools. ARTS ALIVE! has sponsored Michelle to  share her skills and knowledge with Round Valley students in the classroom and after school.  She has learned from her students, patience, joy and accomplishment and they made music together.

Michelle was born and raised in Round Valley, the youngest of 6 children.  She learned her music from local artists:  Donna Lim, violin; Mildred Pinkham, voice, piano; Kevin Wells, drums, songwriting; and Gary Bowman, bluegrass band.  She took what she learned and worked persistently with it.  Her inspiration?  Just trying to keep up with her brothers and sister.

At two years of age, Michelle picked up her brother’s old, tiny 1/16 size violin and wanted to pack it off to violin lessons with her older brothers.  That was the beginning of Michelle’s music education.  She eagerly began lessons with Donna Lim and forged ahead learning songs through the Suzuki Method books.  At five she joined a children’s chorus led by Mildred Pinkham and was introduced to the delight of learning new songs and singing in harmony with other voices.  A year later, Michelle, with her brothers, Kenny and David began private voice lessons with Mrs. Pinkham, learning classical songs and 3-part harmonies.  All three of them also began studying piano with Mrs. Pinkham.  Michelle continued for seven years learning classical pieces.

Michelle joins brother Kenny for a fiddle encore for his senior recital at San Francisco State University.

To improve her rhythm on piano, Michelle, at nine, began studying drums with Kevin Wells and discovered great fun with the drums. Her practice on the drums has instilled in her a solid sense of beat that carries into all of her music.  As she studied drums, Kevin introduced songwriting and Michelle began to write her own songs.

At ten, she played second fiddle to her older sister, Heidi, as they both contributed fiddle and vocal harmonies to the bluegrass sound of the Round Valley Hogcallers.  After a year of performing alongside her sister in the band, and learning a wealth of old-time American and Celtic tunes, Heidi left Round Valley and Michelle stepped up to first fiddle.  Not sure at first, but knowing the tunes, and with the kind command of bandleader Gary Bowman, his concise arrangements and countless gigs across Northern California, Michelle learned to play, improvise and hit the road with a band.  Band members Gene Cox and Bob Helme enriched the experience with subtle friendly help and lots of musical fun.  Michelle played with the Hogcallers for four years.  It made her a musician.