Rachele Eve and Singer-Songwriters at Uncommon Ground on 7/23/11

Last minute, my husband and I walked over to Uncommon Ground on Clark and Grace at 10pm for a little music and a beer (having the grandparents in town allowed us this rare freedom to part with our children on the spur of a moment).

The line up this night in the singer-songwriter showcase included Jessica Robbins, Jennifer Hall, Rachele Eve, Gabe Leibowitz, Matt Crews, Adam Hitchell, and Ty Maxon. I sat next to Jessica Robbins who had a lovely voice and coincidentally happened to be the roommate of Rachele Eve. Sometime in 2010 I was listening to an interview that Rachele did for XRT and her voice reminded me of some of my favorite artists (Rachel Yamagata, Feist and Melody Gardot). I wrote her name down on a piece of paper and lost it somewhere. Seeing her perform was on my list, even pre-blog. Tonight she did back up vocals for Ty Maxonl and did not do any of her own songs. This was really just a tease. See her video below for the real thing.



I particularly appreciated Jessica Robbins, Jennifer Hall, and Ty Maxon as talented singers and writers. Jessica's vocals are feminine and demure. Jennifer did a duet with her and clearly had a strong voice with great range. I would like to see her in a solo performance. Lastly, Ty was a talented guitarist, writer, and vocalist. The back room at Uncommon Ground is a very small room with great acoustics. The intimidation factor should be as low as it gets. The performers tonight did not do well with eye contact or great story telling (which I realize is a skill that needs developing for most folks). Adam came close, telling a funny tale of flooding in the lobby of his building but did not connect to the audience with any eye contact. Just my observation and hopefully meant as constructive criticism. It is tough to get up in front of an audience especially if you are generally shy.

Here is a song videotaped at a previous Uncommon Ground gig by Ty Maxon:



I found this video of Jessica Robbins singing an Iron and Wine song with Adam HItchell (Adam was not seen by me live tonight but worth seeing in the future):



Jessica will be performing at SPACE in Evanston on August 9th. Check her out!

Note to self: Do not forget about the local singer-songwriter scene easily enjoyed in an intimate setting at Uncommon Ground for low to no cover. Great food, drink, music, in a relaxing atmosphere. It is also great to support the local music scene and singers trying to make it in a very competitive music world.