GETTING HER ACT TOGETHER

Portraying Janis Joplin onstage for seven months in Love, Janis didn't just provide a steady gig for Dana Fuchs.

The singer/songwriter -- born in South Plainfield, raised in Florida and a New Yorker since 1999 -- learned a thing or two about vocal restraint and dynamics from the experience.

"When I first started singing," Fuchs tells Sounding Off, "I wanted to fill every bit of space and felt I had to club people over the head in order for them to hear me -- and I'm pretty loud. Janis had a way of making songs simmer. It was brooding and haunting -- mind-blowing. That style really spoke to me because my songs tend to be a bit on the darker side."

After Fuchs' Love, Janis stint, director Julie Taymor contacted the play's producers looking for a strong singer. One thing led to another, Fuchs recalls, and she landed the role of Sadie in the recently released film Across the Universe.

"Funny how the music door I'd been knocking on since coming to New York City and starting my band almost 10 years ago might just now be opened on the acting side of things," says Fuchs. "Especially since I decided upon arriving in New York City that I should focus only on the music, even though acting was something I had always had a true longing for and had done all through childhood and school."

Music is on the front burner these days. Dana Fuchs Live in NYC, recorded about a year ago at Manhattan's B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, is now available via iTunes. An official, tangible release is expected early next year, says Fuchs.

"I actually just finished a studio recording this summer that will come out next year," she adds, "but the live CD really shows who I am as a singer, writer and performer. I am all about live performance -- it's what has gotten me every great opportunity I've had thus far."

Fuchs' next gig is at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 23) at Joe's Pub in Manhattan. For more information, go to www.joespub.com.

Visit www.danafuchs.com to learn more about Dana Fuchs.