Photo By Ryan Eckman
By Becca Marx
If there was a show worth waiting eight years for, last night was that show. Brianna Lane released her outstanding record The Navigators Club at Icehouse to a standing room only crowd.
Chris Koza and Linnea Mohn of the band “Rogue Valley” opened for Lane. Koza possesses an easygoing charm and humor that captivated the venue. He and Mohn won the audience over with thought provoking lyrics and lush harmonies. The ballad “Onward and Over” from “Rogue Valley’s” album “False Floors” was a sensory triumph.
Photo By Justin Schenk
Of course, the night belonged to Lane whose beguiling folk vocals were backed by her Americana band. She was clearly excited and appreciative of her admirers whom had come to support her CD release. “Real Love” was a real show stopper with its plaintive vocals emanating from deeply within. Lane is a skilled guitar, banjo and ukulele player, and she’s equipped with the skill of writing intensely personal lyrics that resonate universally. On the stripped down ukulele tune “Oh Boston”, she exhibited a delicate restraint that was mentioned again and again by audience members as being the night’s standout. Violin phenom Jillian Rae joined Lane on the ode to Lane’s hometown in the aptly named “Minneapolis”.
Every good show must end, but this one didn’t go without a fight. The crowd got to its feet and demanded an encore from Lane, prompting an amusing story of how she’s not a fan of encores. Fifteen years ago a very young and inexperienced Lane played her heart out at a show in North Carolina and left the stage only to be beckoned back for an encore. Having completely exhausted her setlist, she froze up. To Lane’s complete mortification a friend yelled from the audience, “She doesn’t know any more songs!” Oh how 15 years and a lifetime can change a woman. Certainly no worries of running out of material now. The title of her new record The Navigators Club is telling: it speaks of life experience and of being exactly where one is supposed to be. Navigating a life and making a seminal piece of work is what Lane’s accomplished, and she gloried in the sharing of it.
http://www.briannalanemusic.com/
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