Not a Love Story

I’m still reeling after an amazing night of performances last night at the Kerrigan and Lowdermilk concert, Under the Influence, at the Birdland. As I’ve raved about this songwriting duo before, the night was an incredible combination of some sweet tunes. I was impressed with the kind of narrative they set up through their song selection—an amalgam of their well-known songs with stories of the pop music that influenced them, as well as some covers of songs that impacted their musical style.

Perhaps the thing I loved most about the concert though was their decision to re-orchestrate and rearrange their most popular songs. In fact, the highlights included a (gasp!) male version of “Two Strangers,” a revamped version of “Runaway With Me” with the eclectic and whimsical Spring Standards, and a re-orchestrated “Not a Love Story” with Kait Kerrigan at the violin. There’s something very admirable in a musician’s willingness to play around with their music, and the beautiful new creations that came out of that play showed how malleable their music is.

Hearing their influences was also powerful. I’ve always felt that their music has such a distinct female voice and has a contemporary sound that is distinctly theirs. Ironically, this comes from the fact that they borrow from contemporary pop musicians, building a musical theatre reflections of popular hits.

So, through the power of youtube, I leave you with some videos of my favorite performances of the night: Jay Armstrong Johnson, Morgan Karr, and Matt Doyle singing “Two Strangers,” Katie Thompson singing “Five and a Half Minutes,” and Jenni Barber, Kait Kerrigan, and Brian Lowdermilk singing "I'm Sorry."










EDIT: Got a few more!

"Run Away With Me" with the Spring Standards:


"My Heart Is Split" with Vienna Teng:


In fact, go watch them all here.

Back to Bunked!

I know I just wrote about the Bunked! A Camp Musical, but to share in the experience, I thought I would share some of the videos from said concert, now up on Bunked's youtube channel. Personal highlights from the concert include:

Morgan Karr singing "Selfishly" (and looking quite tan at the concert, may I say):



Morgan Karr and Autumn Hurlbert trying to out riff one another in "Leave It All Behind":



Eric Michael Krop delivering a bluesy and empowering "My Time":



And Nina Sturtz sparkling in "Working Towards Tomorrow":

It's Not About Me

I had a great time tonight at a concert at the Duplex that featured selections from Bunked! A Camp Musical. Never having had a summer camp experience myself, but having heard about it from those lucky enough to have done it, I know that summer camp is an environment ripe for drama, hilarity, and teen angst. This musical focuses on five camp counselors who, as the venn diagram on the programs illustrated, cross paths through varied relationships of love, lust, and unlikely friendship.

The concert featured a lot of familiar faces, but what I loved was that it really brought out the best in everyone’s voices. The songs that were presented were fairly mellow, but offered room for long runs of impressive rifts, the occasional falsetto, and belting where necessary. I thought that it fit the subject matter well—the music was sweet and optimistic, which I feel sets a good stage for a musical about the possibilities of summer. The mood was further enhanced by the presence of lanyard/friendship bracelet making materials at the tables and a couple of rounds of camp-related trivia.

I also have to say that I really loved the vibe of the musical’s writers, Alaina Kunin and Bradford Proctor. Their fun anecdotes about their process made the creation of this project seem very carefree and rather effortless. They cast their demo (as well as the concert, by extension) through performances in youtube videos, which I find rather apt and hilarious.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable evening of songs that I honestly can and will listen to over and over again. I look forward to seeing how this musical develops and hope to be around when it gets its first full production. With music as strong as it is, I can only wonder what the book is like. Check out the demos here. I highly reccommend Morgan Karr going to town in "Selfishly," but pick almost any of them and I promise it will be worth your time.