Well We'd LIKE To Claim Her As Our Own...

The one and only Jill Barber

Chauncey, The Taskmaster, and I went to see Jill Barber last night. She's just come out with a new album. Please go buy it.

Jill was, as usual, extraodinary. There's something very pleasant about listening to her. Her voice seeps into you and tickles the back of your skull. When she sings you can't help but want to watch her move around. She has the most unusual way of gesticulating - as though she needs to coerce her songs out of her by wriggling them free.

I enjoy it immensely.

Jill sang many of her new songs from her new album. They were delightful. She also took requests, and when asked to sing my favourite song of hers, she quickly complied. Thank you Spencer Evans, for beating me to the request punch. Here are part one and two of that song. Blame my camera's three minute max length for the division...

The show was very intimate. People gathered around the stage and sat cross-legged on the floor. It was quiet and calm. Jill would frequently speak with people in the audience and give us back story regarding how a song came to be, or why she wrote it. I find my favourite concert-going experiences are the ones where the artist make it feel like they are making an effort to get to know you.

I feel like Jill had a lot more fun at this show than her last appearance in Kingston. I know I did. She related that she used to live here for a short while. I believe she did her undergrad here.

She also had her first underage beer in Kingston. It was part of a story she shared with us about performing at Open Mike Night. Each performer -back in that hedonistic decade that was the 90's - would receive a beer for performing at Open Mike Night. Well when she first attended Open Mike Night (while visiting her brother Matt Barber - whom I mention to fulfill my obligatory sibling referencing) she was only 16. The bartender wasn't sure if he should give her the free beer or a coupon for a free breakfast because she clearly looked underage. He decided to give her both. And so Jill had her first underage beer.

See? Isn't that a lovely story? (she tells it much better). But it's these little details that make the show. Another of Jill's stories featured a woman in Halifax regarded as a patron saint of the arts. Her name was Rebecca Cohn, and Jill wrote a song for her. It's called Legacy and I think you might like it.


Later Jill asked a brave volunteer to come up and help sing a song someone else had requested. A woman in the back came up and shared the stage for a song. It was great fun.

Check out the video of that song.

Spencer Evans played piano for the last two songs. It really added to the spontaneaous homey feel of the concert.

The finale, with a little help from Spencer Evans.