Meet Tahoe Jackson

Our first Most Mesmerizing Person, Portland rock diva Storm Large, named soul singer Tahoe Jackson as the most fascinating person she knows:

"Tahoe nearly died from a rare lymphatic disorder and underwent a dangerous surgery that had only been done ten times before. Out of those ten times, only three people have survived it....Tahoe being the third. She lost three hundred pounds and now has such a raging glory around her, it is impossible to not love her immediately. She attacks the stage with a drunken freedom that sucks you to your feet and shakes you out of your old self."

Welcome, Tahoe.

1. What motivates you to get up in the morning?

The fact that there is a possibility to live the life that I want. The fact that I create my own reality...and coffee at Extracto..doesn't hurt.

2. What keeps you awake at night? What obsesses you?

I am a poet/ songwriter
Words..and the human condition.

..but a good S.V.U. marathon (Ed. Note: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) and Tabitha Take-Over on Bravo...getting lost in Powell's: "Where is that damn Rose Room?"

3. What do you struggle with most?

Balance of my life, letting go...letting someone love me.. in due time. no patience and when I am hurt to let someone help and take care of me.

4. What is the most valuable lesson you've learned?

That I am not this body...I am not my color, I am not just a woman, these are the things that house me but they are not my home...I am spirit, that will always define me. There is no space and time...nothing can hold me back, only if I think I live in that house, because it means I have to live in a world that's manufactured for me...No sir not for me.

5. What is your personal philosophy or motto?

I am busy, I 'm partying...whoa

Love in the deep creases of your soul you will find solitude and peace.

Try to wake up and say "I am perfection..." therefore I can shine on everyone I meet...
let it be known... everyone is of worth..

You have this idea: then you're not going around "I 've got to work on this and that".. you can say" i am polishing what' s under all that guckey of life"...still got to put elbow grease in your life, but now instead of thinking "what will i find",.. you can say, "i clean up pretty good"..and extend your hand to another...I am still polishing....can you help me, got one of those polishing rags...

Miss Tahoe Jackson originally hails from a musical family in the Bay Area. Her brother Paul is a bass player with Herbie Hancock and the Head Hunters, and sister Joyce is a flautist with such groups as Tower of Power and Weather Report. Tahoe has been gracing Pacific NW club and concert stages for almost a decade with her distinctive, (and instinctive) voice and passionate live performances. Many have compared Miss Jackson’s voice to the plaintive growl of Etta James mixed with the majestic grace of Ella Fitzgerald and Nina Simone. Known mostly for her powerhouse vocals and brash stage persona, Tahoe is currently writing songs for a solo project, tentatively titled “The Love Bully Diaries.”

Meet Storm Large

Our first nominee for most fascinating person in the world--who speaks English--is Portland rock star Storm Large. 

Sure, Storm is fierce—an Amazon warrior who makes slaves of her audiences by dint of a talent so ferocious that fans Googling her name after she appeared on national television crashed weather.com. And, yes, she’s outrageous—the kind of thoughtful dinner guest who pulls off her shirt to show you her boob job. And, of course, she’s beautiful—so arresting you can’t stop staring at her, even more so when she’s not wearing make-up.

But what fascinates us most about the aptly monikered Storm Large (her real name, by the way) is her completely original mind. No matter the topic of conversation, you can guarantee that Storm will reinterpret it with a rock ‘n roll perspective that’s equal parts sex, violence and the edge of insanity.

“Everyone has a mouth cop,” she says, “but I think mine was killed in the line of duty.”

We chose Storm to inaugurate the Mesmer Project because this rock star orbited in and out of Marc’s Do Something New Project as his muse, an inspiration in the audaciously unapologetic way she lives with the volume turned up to eleven.

Welcome, Storm.

1. What motivates you to get up in the morning?

To get up and be awesome .... strong coffee and good ideas are also motivating.

2. What keeps you awake at night? What obsesses you?

I didn't do enough. I didn't do it well enough. I hurt someone's feelings. I let somebody down. I'm running out of time.

3. What do you struggle with most?

Laziness and worrying about others.

4. What is the most valuable lesson you've learned?

I'm a lot stronger than I give myself credit for.

5. What is your personal philosophy or motto?

"I fucking rule , thank you very much."

Storm Large is an entertainer of Wikipedian proportions. Before her turn on the stage as Sally Bowles in Portland Center Stage's "Cabaret," she strutted through America's living rooms on CBS's "Rockstar:Supernova." Previous to her television debut, Storm was already a Portland icon of song and horribly inappropriate stage banter. With her band, The Balls, she has rocked, rolled and ruffled feathers all around this great country, all across Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, The Philippines and Singapore. She is currently working on her one woman show, "Crazy Enough," slated to open March 31st in PCS's Studio theater.