Ventures in the Slipstream: Mat Kearney & Diane Birch

On Tuesday, KH and I went to go see Mat Kearney at the Fillmore at Irving Plaza, a small and relatively intimate venue. My sister Mimi actually introduced me to Mat many years ago, and I've enjoyed his tunes ever since. He's somewhat of a rhyming lyrical savant - for a white dude, if you don't mind me saying. He calls himself the hip hop kid and blends beautiful melodious choruses with the occasional lite rap verse.

One of my favorite songs that showcases this versatility has always been "Renaissance." It's chilling to actually listen to the fun rhymes of the first verse and realize he's talking about a horrible car crash. I was so happy when he performed "Renaissance" and many other favorites on Tuesday night. Give "Renaissance" a listen - you have to sign up for lala, but I highly recommend the free music service for one-time streaming full songs (unlike imeem which often only allows 30 second previews):

Renaissance - Mat Kearney

As much as I love Mat, I didn't expect him to be a great performer. He seemed like one of those guys that just sounds great on an album thanks to heavy production, but I am happy to say that he sounded incredible live. No gimmicks or tricks - he was pure and talented, and his voice sounded just like it does on his albums. He was backed by an awesome band, and all in all they gave a non-stop, high-energy performance. It was over too soon.

But to backtrack, before Mat took the stage at 9:15, there was an opening act that took me by storm. Diane Birch didn't keep the crowd waiting and walked onto the stage promptly at 8pm. I was immediately struck by how pretty she was, with a heavy fringe of bangs and long tumbling brown hair crowned with a flower headband, big doe-like eyes that were reminiscent of Twiggy, and a cool hipster outfit right down to the best Chloe Sevigny for Opening Ceremony wedges that I have loved forever.

But it was her voice that would blow me out of the water.
She immediately sat down at her piano and began crooning the honey-, smokey-smooth "Forgiveness," overflowing with soulful Hallelujah's but hardly religious. It was the perfect set-up for her story: the daughter of a South African-born pastor father, Diane was born in Michigan but spent much of her childhood following her father's mission from Zimbabwe to South Africa to Australia, finally settling in Portland, Oregon when she was 10 years old. Here's a video of Diane performing "Forgiveness":

The more Diane played, the more she had me utterly riveted. As a master of the piano and with a timeless voice that sounds like it could have been from the 1970's belting out gospel-y sweet songs, Diane and her band injected the performance with the most concentrated fusion of passion, talent, and heart I have ever witnessed in live music. I became an uber-fan in a matter of an hour.

During Mat's encore set, he invited Diane and her band back out on stage to perform all together. But the entire crowd became part of the performance too, joining in with the chorus as soon as the musicians blasted into an energetic Bruce Springsteen classic, "Dancing in the Dark." It was a fantastic way to end the set, especially since I had shown up to see Mat but it was Diane who ended up knocking my socks off.

I have not stopped listening to Diane's album, Bible Belt, since I got home from the concert. And while I have fallen love with every song, you absolutely have to see this girl live to fully understand the power of her voice and the electric energy that can be only understood from live music. That's why I'm including a video of a recent performance on Craig Ferguson. The amped-up energy that went into Tuesday's performance isn’t even captured in this low-key Craig Ferguson appearance, but you do get the gist of her absolute talent: