We check in with Lisa Lofthouse half way through her time tickling the ivories at the new Crystal Champagne Lounge.

So what is it exactly that you do? We’ve been told you’re not a ‘lounge singer’. . .
Well I play the piano and sing. I never have a set list; I do whatever the energy is with the guests. I try to keep it very current, from The Fray to Coldplay, James Blunt, all that kind of stuff. But if my demographic is from 50-70, and it’s a guest that I want tto feel comfortable, I’ll do a little Frank (Sinatra), but it’s always my version! I just go by the vibe of the room, to make everyone happy. I really love pop alternative. Last night I did some Snow Patrol and just drove it out the door. Coldplay, I do for all the English people because they love it, and because I love it.

That’s quite the range: who inspires you?
I grew up on Anne Murray, that was my big influence. I grew up in church; I was adopted by a white German family and grew up on a farm, so I grew up on country music, so that’s really my heart. But at the same time I’ve evolved into all this other stuff. I was trained classically for 13 years at the Royal Conservatory in Canada. So I sight read and I play by ear, but having the classical foundation has allowed me to play every genre. But country was my heart. And then Lawrence Welk was a big influence because that always came on before Hockey Night in Canada. I’ve been performing professionally since I was 14.

That’s a long time in the biz —how did you get started?
It just started happening through my classical training. The voice just kind of came. My mom says I was rocking in the cradle singing at three years old.

You’ve been all over the world now—what’s the coolest thing you’ve gotten to do?
I write my own stuff, and that led me to open for Seal, I did three or four shows for him, just me and my piano. And I also opened for Huey Lewis and Michael McDonald. The Emirates Palace was the next step. That was a great run, a year and a half, and then I came to Doha.

How does Doha compare?
I love it, it’s very forward thinking. I love the energy here—it’s very very cool, very hip. I find it’s like a New York in the Middle East. Or a Toronto of the Middle East. Everyone’s just like young, energetic, they just want to make it welcoming and the latest thing. They want the latest thing, they wantAlicia Keys. That’s kind of how they labelled me in Abu Dhabi, the Alicia Keys of the Middle East. I try to do a little bit of everything, but people from London and people in Doha, they just get it.

What’s one of your shows like?
Whenever I play I always pretend I’m in concert. There’s times where you’ve got to hold back, because people just want to talk amongst themselves. Bu there’s a time by maybe the third or fourth set where people just want to be entertained. And I always say I want people to come in, hear, see, smell, and listen to art. Because this might be the only two minutes in their lives that they have this experience. So give them a concert, give them a moment to remember, walk away with a memory. And so I always try to make every song, even if it’s commercial, my own. And they’ll be like ‘oh wow, there’s an artist’.

What sort of reaction have you gotten so far?
I feel like we have to train a little bit here, but the people are very open and very hungry for culture here, like they were in Abu Dhabi when I was playing there. So I’m excited. My niche is to build awareness and to train and teach, I love that side of everything. I had dancers last night. They were dancing. I mean I played Piano Man and they got up and they danced. I want to see more of that in Doha!

Lisa Lofthouse plays Tue-Thurs from 7.30pm-11.30pm at the Crystal Champagne Lounge and Sundays from 8pm-11pm at Spice Market at the W Doha. For more information call 4453 5353.