*Editor's Note: this was written on 3/10/08 for a previous blog by Katie, "On Shuffle" but has been updated for Kharmonious and the Big Easy is now the Knitting Factory.
On Sunday night Joshua Radin, Ingrid Michaelson, and Alexa Wilkinson performed at The Big Easy in Spokane, and it was one of the best concerts I'd seen in quite awhile.
If you have the chance to see any of these three artists live, take it. Each artist is great in recorded form, but on stage they each brought their unique personalities, stories, and improvisations, which only enhanced their beautiful music. Alexa, who is still fairly unknown, was able to captivate a fairly large crowd with her amazing voice, cheeky lyrics, and abundant energy. Ingrid is a true performer, breaking between her own cleverly written songs to cover Radiohead's "Creep" and the theme song from Fresh Prince of Bel Aire. Between songs, Joshua would tell the stories behind their creation (often about a bad breakup he experienced about six months ago and still is dealing with), opening up new meaning in songs you thought you had all figured out.
Also, if you've ever been to The Big Easy before, you probably know that the crowd can be a bit rude and obnoxious at times. The combination of a bit older crowd and a slightly less packed house than normal made enjoying this concert easy. Especially when mellow artists play at the Big Easy, they can often be drowned out by the chatter of the crowd at the bar. At this show, that wasn't a problem at all. When one of the three artists spoke or sang, the audience hushed. How refreshing!
The show's finale was a pair of duets between Joshua Radin and Ingrid Michaelson. The second of the two was "Sky," and I have included a clip of the performance below. Their voices are beautiful together, and if the little sample below isn't enough for you, you can download Sky, along with three other new releases from Joshua Radin's teaser album, Unclear Sky, on iTunes (more information on Joshua's site). He has said he expects to release a new, full-length album this summer.
Also, if you've ever been to The Big Easy before, you probably know that the crowd can be a bit rude and obnoxious at times. The combination of a bit older crowd and a slightly less packed house than normal made enjoying this concert easy. Especially when mellow artists play at the Big Easy, they can often be drowned out by the chatter of the crowd at the bar. At this show, that wasn't a problem at all. When one of the three artists spoke or sang, the audience hushed. How refreshing!
The show's finale was a pair of duets between Joshua Radin and Ingrid Michaelson. The second of the two was "Sky," and I have included a clip of the performance below. Their voices are beautiful together, and if the little sample below isn't enough for you, you can download Sky, along with three other new releases from Joshua Radin's teaser album, Unclear Sky, on iTunes (more information on Joshua's site). He has said he expects to release a new, full-length album this summer.
Alexa will also be releasing a new album soon (this spring according to her website). Ingrid's music is popping up everywhere these days--from Old Navy commercials to Grey's Anatomy. Her second album, Girls and Boys, came out in 2007 and has been playing on repeat in my car since I purchased it two weeks ago from Target (check it out here).
If you only pick one song from each of these artists, these are my recommendations (though, by all means, I suggest getting much more than one):
1. Joshua Radin - "Today" (the version from First Between 3rd and 4th is my favorite, but We Were Here's version is good too)
2. Ingrid Michaelson - "The Hat"
3. Alexa Wilkinson - "Hitchcock in the Afternoon"
Happy listening!
If you only pick one song from each of these artists, these are my recommendations (though, by all means, I suggest getting much more than one):
1. Joshua Radin - "Today" (the version from First Between 3rd and 4th is my favorite, but We Were Here's version is good too)
2. Ingrid Michaelson - "The Hat"
3. Alexa Wilkinson - "Hitchcock in the Afternoon"
Happy listening!
1 comment:
great post! nice job with the video and links and everything, I will definitely have to check out Alexa and your recommended songs!
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