Jenn Grinels

My very first assignment at the Indie Music Reviewer, was to review Jenn Grinels' latest album release, "brokenHEARTbreaker." Well, I think I know why I've had so much fun working for IMR so far...because Grinels' album was right up my alley. I fell in love with her music instantly. Unfortunately, I couldn't write in first person, because I had so many personal thoughts I wanted to add to my review, but we have to write in third person. Anyway, as I wrote in my review, I felt like Jenn was a mix between Sara Bareilles and Fiona Apple with a lot of emotion conveyed in the lyrics and lots of piano in most of the tracks.

One of my favorite tracks (although I really liked every single one) was "Don't Wanna Be Happy." This song had a very "old school" feeling to it...I couldn't really figure out what decade, but it sounded like it belonged in the music era many decades ago. So, even though it had an older feel to it, I thought it was very refreshing because there really isn't much music out there right now that sounds like this song. I also really enjoyed how predominate the clarinet is in "Don't Wanna Be Happy" because I used to play clarinet for about 5 or 6 years back in elementary school, middle school, and part of high school. I think it adds a true beauty to the song. Everything about this song is refreshing and I could listen to it all day long.

Overall, "brokenHEARTbreaker" is one of those gem's that you can actually listen to straight through and not skip any songs. Jenn Grinels' has the gift of conveying every kind of emotion through music perfectly. I dare you to find a song on this album that you cannot relate to. I go into a lot more detail about the album on my review for IMR, so be sure to click on the link below for my review. As always, I'd appreciate it if you could show some love by FB "liking" the review at the bottom of the page! :-) I also included Jenns' official website, her ReverbNation website address, and some YouTube videos I found of her performing.

My review of "brokenHEARTbreaker" on IMR
Jenn Grinels' Official Website
Jenn Grinels on Reverbnation
Jenn performing "Don't Wanna Be Happy"
Jenn Grinels performing at the APCA Nationals '09
Jenn performing "Right From The Start"

Sara Bareilles

The first time I saw Sara Bareilles perform live was in the summer of 2007 when she opened for Maroon 5 and Counting Crows. That was the same year her first major album was released, "Little Voice" which featured her single, "Love Song." While Sara is best known for that single, she has so many more fantastic songs on that album and her most recent album, "Kaleidoscope Heart." For me personally, I can go through both of her albums without skipping any songs. The music is amazing as well as the lyrics. Her songs are very relatable, which is something I really enjoy in any musicians I follow. Anyway, last Monday, October 17, 2011, I saw Sara Bareilles at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia. Her two opening acts were Elizabeth and the Catapult (their music was very similar to Sara's) and Ben Lee. I enjoyed Elizabeth and the Catapult more than Ben Lee - Ben's songs that he performed kind of bored me a bit. Sara performed a lot of her songs from her first album as well as her recent album. In between songs, she chatted with the crowd and joked around. She's got this funny, quirky side to her, so I enjoyed the banter. She also has a bit of a potty mouth, so be careful if you're taking a kid to her show (I thought it was funny, but some parents might not lol). One of the performances that really stuck out for me was the first song after the encore. Sara came out on stage by herself and started singing the song off her first album, "Gravity." It was nothing but her voice and it was amazing. It's a very sad, haunting song, so it was very fitting the way she performed it. Overall, she did not disappoint at all, and I would gladly go see her again when she comes back to Philly. I wasn't able to take any video or pictures at this show because I wasn't close enough to get a good video, but I found some videos that someone else put up on YouTube from the exact same show I went to, so I included those instead. I also included the set list below.

Sara Bareilles' Set List - Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA - Monday, October 17, 2011
Uncharted
Vegas
Gonna Get Over You
Machine Gun
Many the Miles
Breathe Again
Basket Case
Bluebird
Little Lion Man (cover by Mumford and Sons)
Love Song
Come Round Soon
Bottle It Up
King of Anything
-Encore-
Gravity (a cappella)
New Song (not sure of the title...something like beautiful girl)
Let the Rain

Sara performing "King of Anything"
Sara performing "Gravity"
Sara performing "Let the Rain"
Sara performing her new song, "Beautiful Girl"
Sara's cover of Mumford and Son's "Little Lion Man"