»Essie Jain was among the many people sorry to hear that singer-songwriter Ed Harcourt had called off his appearance at IOTA last Sunday (plans are afoot for him to make up the date in April), but she had more reason than most -- she was scheduled to open for the British star.
"I'm sad he canceled," said Jain, who would have been making her Washington area debut. "[It] would have been a good opportunity for me."
British-born singer-songwriter Essie Jain makes her area debut this weekend at Galaxy Hut. "The singer's demos nearly glow," said Time Out New York.
(Alina Taalman)
|
|
Luckily, the British-born, New York-based musician had another local show in her day planner -- this weekend's gig with the Mercy Seat at Galaxy Hut.
Having received recommendations from Time Out New York ("the singer's demos nearly glow") and the Village Voice ("heartfelt expression that tastefully avoids preciousness"), Jain is determined to expand her regional base and will return next month to appear at the District's DC9 club.
Jain, a singer-songwriter, was raised in London and moved to New York City to pursue her musical career. Over the past year, she has earned regular gigs at a Lower East Side club called the Living Room, the same place where Norah Jones first started attracting a buzz. Those frequent appearances, supported by a lineup of musician friends who play in her shape-shifting band, have been captured in studio demos of her quietly emotional material, which she describes this way: "I write music about the people and the things that keep changing."
On her East Coast mini-tour, Jain is performing with her longtime guitarist-producer Patrick Glynn, occasionally adding other members as logistics allow. A self-released five-song CD, "Dalliance," will be on sale at the shows, or you can cop a listen at www.essiejain.com.
In an e-mail to Galaxy Hut's booker that expressed the Mercy Seat's desire to play the cozy venue, drummer Jesse Martin announced the band's determination to travel north, "regardless of weather, from St. Petersburg Florida to NYC," leaving the band's home base in hopes of finding "magic and wonder. We would love to stop at the Galaxy Hut for a taste of the south before surrendering to the Union forces." Given the area's unpredictable weather, Martin and band mates James McFarland (singer/guitarist) and Johnny McCarthy (bassist) may find a bit of a Yankee chill in the air, but not, one imagines, in the audience.
The Mercy Seat -- no relation to a side project with the same name led by the Violent Femmes' Gordon Gano -- acknowledges an intriguing blend of influences from rock, bluegrass, punk and country, and it draws comparisons to a musical quilt of Tom Waits, R.E.M. and the Cramps. To get a preview of this low-fi alt-country sound, visit www.shotgunwedding.co.uk, a Web site built around a previous band appellation.
-- MARIANNE MEYER
Galaxy Hut is at 2711 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. Admission is free. For more information, call 703-525-8646, or visit www.galaxyhut.com.
Send Live! suggestions to mariannemeyer@comcast.net.Please e-mail before sending any material via regular mail.
