Way back during my Lilith Fair fan days, I was a big fan of Paula Cole... mostly because of her wild stage presence and interesting "mouth sounds" that she makes while playing live...
and one day I was reading some messages on a Paula Cole email list and somebody wrote that we should check out this new obscure Canadian singer named Emm Gryner. She said that Emm does the same "mouth sounds."
So I mail-ordered her first self-recorded cd and... well, there were no "mouth sounds"... but I loved it and played it all spring-time-long... I don't know what it was exactly, but something made me like it enough to write her a letter to tell her so...
Fast-forward to the summer and I found out that she'd be playing at the Philly Lilith Fair date... and she'd also be playing beforehand at the nearby Starbucks Cafe...
So I went and said hi to her while she was setting up and she asked my name and where I'm from... and when i told her, she asked if i was the one who sent the letter... this was like several months after sending the letter...
Then during the fall, I found out that she'd be playing in Woodstock, NY... so I saw her there and she remembered me...
From then on, during the following 2 or 3 years, I saw her every time she played in NYC... By this time, she released her first major label cd and became well-known in Canada... but still unknown here...
I got to eat dinner with her band a couple of times and she almost played a "house concert" for me... but winter weather prevented it...
and then her music changed and I stopped liking it much... plus she turned into a very out-spoken moveon.org type. meh... i keep buying her cds and hoping she's changed again, but no luck so far...
ps... i forgot to mention that she was a backup singer for David Bowie one year when he went on some giant world tour...
Beautiful Things.mp4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DID5Ees9f20#)
Emm Gryner - Hello Aquarius (Video) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R6n7WvTqXw#)
her biggest Canadian hit:
Emm Gryner - "Summerlong" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8GznyynfkY#)
Awesome story! To bad she changed so much. If you see her again. Tell her there is a guy in Seattle who loves her eyes. ;)
you got it!