Michelle Footz lost her position as a teacher this fall.
"I got bumped," she said. "So I'm going on a tour as a solo act."
The 26-year-old University of Victoria grad has been a music teacher for three years, the first two in Victoria and the last on Mayne Island.
"A big part of my act is also story-telling – drawing from experiences such as travelling in Mexico and teaching middle school," she says.
Her tour, which she's dubbed East My Friend, North American Tour 2014, will take her from Salt Spring Island and Victoria to Montreal and hopefully beyond. "I've got Edmonton, two shows in Saskatchewan, Ontario, Montreal and I'm still working on finding somewhere in the Maritimes," she says.
Performing as Shelder the Electric Clamfish, Footz says her act is no joke. "I play a lot of original compositions. Some are really pretty quirky and some are more serious, more melodic and deep and I also do a lot of spoken word and cover some obscure folk music."
She grew up here and has been performing for five years. "I've been performing as long as I can remember," she says.
Footz performs at a house concert at 1311 Point St. Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. tickets, by donation, are available at the door.