Photo courtesy of KCRW and shot by Jeremiah Garcia
KCRW returns to Century Park in Century City this summer for FREE all-ages outdoor concerts inspired by theAnnenberg Space for Photography’s newest exhibit,“Country: Portraits of an American Sound,“which will be on display through September 28th, 2014.
On Saturday, July 26th, KRCW welcomes “the greatest female country singer since Patsy Clin”, 5 time grammy award winning recording artist Wynonna Judd. To have her grace the stage in Century Park will be a can’t miss treat for all southern California country fans.
Also performing on the pier, opening for Wynonna, is singer songwriter, Nikki Lane. With her sophomore album “All Or Nothin” produced by The Black Keys’ frontman Dan Auerbach, her sound is a throwback to the nostalgic sounds of country music. I’ve only had a little sampling of her music, but from what I’ve sampled, it’s a fun romp through country music.
On the second day of the BET Experience at L.A. Live, I decided to watch the various acts performing on the main stage of the convention center. Each of the acts performed short sets to give the audience a sampling of what their music was all about.
The last act I was able to catch at the BET Experience music festival was Lecrae; a Christian rapper who has amassed quite a loyal fan base through his crunk beats and his verses on Christ.
With a new album scheduled for release on September 9th, his 7th album titled “Anomoly”, there little doubt that he will soon be charting on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart before the year’s end.
On the second day of the BET Experience at L.A. Live, I decided to watch the various acts performing on the main stage of the convention center. Each of the acts performed short sets to give the audience a sampling of what their music was all about.
The fifth act I was able to catch was Elle Varner; an R&B artist who emerged during the early 2010s, whose single “Refill” charted in March 2012. Her debut album, “Perfectly Imperfect”, was one of the only female R&B albums that I purchased that year.
Currently working on her sophomore album, she recently released a single titled “Don’t Wanna Dance” featuring A$AP Ferg. If her follow up is anything like her debut, I’ll be sure to pick up a copy of it to add it to my collection.
Headlining the second concert of the County In The City concert series, inspired by The Annenberg Space for Photography’s newest exhibit, “Country: Portraits of an American Sound,”was Grammy Award winning, country recording artist Shelby Lynne.
I found out about her and her music when she gave her now legendary Grammy Award acceptance speech in 1999 for Best New Artist. “13 years, and 6 albums to get here,” she said. It still gets me everytime.
A prolific recording artist, she has recorded 13 studio albums, and a handful of EPs, her latest effort being a 5 track EP released on December 10, 2013 through her own independent record label Everso Records. With so much music under her belt, her set consisted of music covering her entire career.
Opening her set with the heart-wringer “Your Lies”, then performing the first song she ever wrote, “Leaving”, covering a tune by Dusty Springfield, to performing “Life Is Bad” and “Where I’m From” (off her seminal album “I Am Shelby Lynne”), it was a concert filled with her “greatest hits”, and the crowd ate it up.
Perhaps the most poignant moments of her performance was when she sang songs for the heartbroken. The emotion espoused through her impassioned lyrics, sung with her seemingly delicate contralto voice, left the audience moved. It may have been the lighting, but I could swear I could even see her eyes well up during several of the songs.
As an added treat, Shelby was able to get Jonathan and Zach of Jamestown Revival to come onstage to join her for the last song of her set (a cover of Neil Young’s “Are You Ready for the Country”). Reading lyrics from an iPhone, it was a light and carefree performance that brought the stellar acts of the evening onto the stage to bid the crowd goodnight.
Set List
Your Lies
Leaving
Life is bad
Easier
I Only Want to Be With You
Gotta Get Back
Why Can’t You
Look’n Up
She Knows
Should’ve Been
Dreamsome
Black Light Blue
Wind
Where I’m From
Call me up
This Road
Walking
Are You Ready for the Country — Neil Young cover with Jamestown Revival
It was a joy being in the pit shooting Shelby. I hope you like the the pics that I snapped. I sure like ’em.
Opening for Shelby Lynne at the second concert of the County In The City concert series, inspired by The Annenberg Space for Photography’s newest exhibit,“Country: Portraits of an American Sound,”was Jamestown Revival.
Founded by Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance (best friends since the age of 15), Jamestown Revival is a band whose music blends tight harmonies with west coast melodies and a southern twang.
Their most recent album, “Utah” (which was, in fact, recorded in Utah!) is a solid debut album, with tracks that are skillfully written and reveal their heady grasp of a vast array of musical genres. Country. Folk. Rock… the 11 tracks on their album suggest that they have what it takes to break into the mainstream. Their live show proved it.
Backed with full band, Jonathan and Zach dazzled the audience with their upbeat music, and their grateful personalities. In between songs, reaching for the beers at their feet, they seemed to revel in being able to perform in front of a large audience, and for being given a chance to be a part of the KCRW family.
“I remember when our manager called and told us we’d be on morning become eclectic,” Jonathan said shaking his head side-to-side as if he was still in disbelief, “Zach and I have dreamed about doing this since we were 15.” The crowd’s cheers brought him back to reality.
Before the last song of their set, Jonathan told the audience that though he and Zach are from Texas, California had become a second home to them. In a fitting end, as the sun set in the west, they started into their song inspired by their life in the Golden State with “California (Cast Iron Soul)”. It really couldn’t have been more perfect. Hopefully, they don’t go home too soon, though (<-you should pay attention to lyrics!) I want to see them play more shows in Los Angeles.
Set List:
Fur Coat Blues
Revival
Medicine
Golden Age
Wandering Man
Heavy Heart
Trouble Is
Born on the Bayou (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
One of my favorite female rock vocalists is Nina Diaz. Usually the front woman for the punk rock band Girl In A Coma, she’s decided to take a little hiatus from the band to record some music solo. The results are a set of music that is wrought with emotional expressions of melody that act as confessional. Continue reading →
On the second day of the BET Experience at L.A. Live, I decided to watch the various acts performing on the main stage of the convention center. Each of the acts performed short sets to give the audience a sampling of what their music was all about.
The fourth act I was able to catch was Tiara Thomas; a singer-songwriter who had a hit as a featured artist on Wale‘s 2013 single “Bad“. Currently signed to Interscope Records, she is currently in the process of putting together debut, full-length album, tentatively titled “The Bad Influence”. To get updated on the progress of her forthcoming album,
On the second day of the BET Experience at L.A. Live, I decided to watch the various acts performing on the main stage of the convention center. Each of the acts performed short sets to give the audience a sampling of what their music was all about.
The third act I was able to catch was Roman GianArthur; a singer-songwriter who is a member of Janelle Monae‘s Wondaland Arts Society collective. His performance was quite impressive. His music was an infusion of soul and funk, reminiscent of Stevie Wonder (he did cover “Superstition”) and D’Angelo. His guitar skills were on point, and the way he played reminded be a bit of Prince.
Donato Sardella/Getty Images for Annenberg Foundation
Headlining the inaugural concert of the County In The City concert series, inspired by The Annenberg Space for Photography’s newest exhibit,“Country: Portraits of an American Sound,”was Gregory LeNoir “Gregg” Allman, an American rock and blues singer-songwriter who was the founding member of the The Allman Brothers Band. Inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, and named one of the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time” by Rolling Stone magazine, Gregg Allman brought his vast catalog of music to the adoring Century City crowd
Dressed in a jeans, a t-shirt and a leather jacket, Gregg stepped onto the stage with his eight piece band and sat behind his now-trademark Hammond organ, his waist-long pony tail swaying from side to side.
Gregg has had a tough go at it this year. He’s been hospitalized on several occasions due to a variety of ailments (bronchitis, a wrist injury, and other undisclosed health issues) and he did look a bit gaunt to me has he perched himself atop his organ bench. I noticed in between songs that he’d quickly reach for tissues from a box perched on his organ. He even took a break midway through his set, I’m assuming to catch his breath and recharge.
Donato Sardella/Getty Images for Annenberg Foundation
He may have been under the weather, but his performance was not noticeably effected by it. With his right foot steady on the organ’s pedal, his left foot vigorously tapped to the beat of each song throughout the set. His voice still had that soulful blues tenor rasp that got me interested in The Allman Brothers Band in the first place. Was he ill? I doubt anybody really noticed.
Being a fan of his repertoire, I was just thrilled to be able to see him performing live. “Black Hearted Woman/Hot Lanta”. “Melissa”. “Midnight Rider”. Those songs, especially “Melissa”, made my night.
The only letdown for me was when he performed “Whipping Post”. Maybe it was because he wanted to use the full sound of the band, but the arrangement of it was a little to nouveau for my tasted. In my opinion, “Whipping Post” is supposed to be raw and gritty. This version was more sass and flash. The chorus (“Sometimes I feel / Sometimes I feel / Like I’ve been tied / To the whipping post / Tied to the whipping post /Tied to the whipping post /Good lord I feel like I’m dyin’) is supposed to wail. The arrangement that was performed that night was a bit anticlimactic.
That’s not to say that I did not love his performance. “Whipping Post” aside, I have no other complaints. Any chance to see a rock legend perform is a privilege. Any chance to hear one of the greatest voices in rock and roll live is privilege. I was privileged just being there.
Set List (actual order might have been slightly different)
On the second day of the BET Experience at L.A. Live, I decided to watch the various acts performing on the main stage of the convention center. Each of the acts performed short sets to give the audience a sampling of what their music was all about.
The second act I was able to catch was Jonathan McReynolds; a contemporary gospel artist who ministers through music. His music is a fusion of R&B, jazz and gospel.
His set seemed shorter than the others, but he was still able to able to touch the audience with his message and, as he joked, made them feel okay about missing church that Sunday.
#DKLPHOTOS 