Bess Rogers, Lelia Broussard, & Jack Rabbits of the Yucatan Live @ Rockwood Music Hall

So...a couple weeks ago, I went to check out Jenny Owen Youngs & Emily Wells at City Winery (you may have read something about that somewhere). Anyhoo...after the show, I had the chance to chat with Jenny and found out about this little something going on at Rockwood Music Hall, and how Bess Rogers would be playing, and how she is so awesome, and so I should go. So I went! Bess was supposed to go on at 9pm, but I got there a little early and caught the end of the preceding act. The AS-IS Ensemble...sounds like: some of the best jazz you've ever heard. seriously, cruise by their myspace and show them some love. It will be time well-spent.

Moving on. Rockwood Music Hall...is really like a smallish music room. It's a really nice room though. Actually, there are two rooms. One main room with the big, full bar where the stage is; and another room of equal size with a big screen t.v. so you can watch the music you're listening to if you didn't get there early enough to be in the other room. Also, the acoustics are stellar. If you can find a reason to go, please by all means, go.

So, Bess Rogers! Before this evening, I only had a peripheral knowledge of Bess Rogers and her musical oeuvre, as it were. I had seen her play with Jenny Owen Youngs once or twice, and thought that she was a guitarist who also happened to do back-up vocals. Nice girl. Cool hair. But wait! There's more! What I didn't realize was that she is a talented artist-singer-songwriter in her own right. I love it when people are full of good surprises. I did do a little homework on her myspace beforehand, so I was familiar with a couple of the songs she played (Bulldozer & I Don't Worry). Between songs she chatted with the band (Chris Kuffner on guitar, Dan Romer on keys, Allie Moss on backing vocals and gorgeous harmonies, and not one, but two drummers - Elliott Jacobson and Adam Christgau). She even told the story of her shiny new ukulele. Apparently, she got to go to the factory where they make them and pick it out when it was just a little "ukulele fetus" - a slab of wood; and they made her a ukulele from scratch! Then pause just long enough to launch into the next song. Everything To Lose, for instance.

The banter was fun and all, but Bess' voice was the real main attraction. She definitely gets my award for sweetest vocals of the evening. Bess' sound is something I didn't quite expect. She rocks , yes it's true, but when she sings her tone is so clear and so pure. It's like a bell ringing. And with assists on the tightly woven harmonies from Allie Moss and Chris Kuffner, it was the icing on the cake. She did also treat us to some tasty little nuggets of as-yet unrecorded goodness (she's releasing something new in the springtime...I've only heard two songs and I'm excited! It's that good). Hey look! Here's one now! Check it out:

Bess Rogers performing When You Lose @ Rockwood Music Hall

I also had the good fortune to catch up with Bess after the set...and by "catch up", I mean I hunted her down to get a copy of her latest EP. Aaaaaaaaannnnnd, she gave me a free sticker!

Next up was Lelia Broussard, whom I'd not only never heard, but never even heard of until I just happened to turn up at this show. Well, let's just say I'm glad I finally got caught up. My general first impression of Lelia Broussard is that she is all little and cute and plays guitar. If adorable British crooner Adele and alt. country/alt. rocker Bonnie Raitt had a baby, it would probably sound something like Leila Broussard. Yes, she plays a mean guitar. Yes, she rocks pretty frickin' hard. But this belies the fact that her voice has this guttural rip to it, and her vocal transitions from the very low to the very high are sublime and something that everyone should experience at least once in his/her lifetime. She was backed up by the ubiquitous Chris Kuffner on guitar, Elliott Jacobson on drums, and Dan Romer on keys. She even got Bess Romer back up on stage for a minute to help out with harmonies on one song...have a look-see:

Lelia Broussard performing Shoot For The Moon @ Rockwood Music Hall

She also has a wicked sense of humor as evidenced in her song Hipster Bitch - apparently, we share similar sentiments about hipsters and Williamsburg...Who knew? You can see some of that right here...

Last to take the stage was Jackrabbits Of The Yucatan. Now, if you paid attention in school, you'd know that in Elizabethan England (Shakespeare's time), Jackrabbits Of The Yucatan was often used as a colorful euphemism for Jenny Owen Youngs. Jenny was also supported on stage by Chris Kuffner on bass, Dan Romer on keys, and Elliott Jacobson & Adam Christgau on drums. What I love about this is that, even though each singer-songwriter-asskicker performing has her own voice and her own style, they all get together and support eachother like one big musical family. And everyone sounds awesome and leaves you with a unique impression. From an artistic/creative standpoint, it's kinda beautiful. Awww....hugs, everybody! But, I digress...As she was performing under an assumed name, it was only fitting that she perform covers...of some of her own classic hits. And for this, Jenny takes the award for best surprise of the evening. She opened with Nighty Night with an assist from Dan Romer breakin' it down on accordion (y'all know how I feel about accordians...and the men who play them). She did a mellowed out version of Secrets, a bossa nova version of Voice On Tape, and Clean Break got broken down. She also did some more standard-ish versions of some of my favorites. What Beats Within being one. Check it out:

Jenny Owen Youngs performing What Beats Within @ Rockwood Music Hall

I was also able to get some sweet cell phone video of Jenny & Co. performing Dissolve. It's one of my favorite tracks to see and hear her do live, and it was made all the awesomer with Dan Romer rounding out the sound on piano. Hope you like it, too!

Jenny Owen Youngs performing Dissolve @ Rockwood Music Hall.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was Jenny's cover of Toadies' Possum Kingdom. Un-f*cking-believable! Rocked it! For this reason, Jenny also takes home the award for best Rock Hair of the evening. It jumps up and down. It swishes all around. It punctuates guitar licks. It is the stuff that rock legends and shampoo commercials are made of. And she didn't stop there. She did Transmitter Failure (which I always love), and ended her set with Start+Stop...which, I suppose, is a good place to stop. So, she did. Raucous applause all around. Aaannnnnd.....scene. See you at the next show!

p.s. for more videos from this show (and others) go check out my youtube channel here.