'Sassy' singer learning to have fun
Check out Sara Bareilles in concert and you'll find a singer who's clearly having fun on stage. During a recent show at New York's Beacon Theatre, where she opened up for British singer James Blunt, she cracked jokes, shared anecdotes, and gave a seasoned performance that belied her ingenue status. And she was definitely connecting with her audience: After one song, when woman screamed out, "You're sexy!" Bareilles countered: "No, you're sexy, girl! I'm feeling you!" Bareilles didn't always feel so at ease on stage, sometimes rushing through her songs because she figured the audience was eager to see the main attraction. But with the success of the melodic, slightly sarcastic "Love Song," it's safe to say that she's become the main attraction. The piano-accented hit, which got a huge boost when the music service Rhapsody used it to advertise their service in a television commercial, is still high on the charts after nearly six months. The wit and humor she injects into "Love Song" and her stage act is evident in her oxymoronically titled debut, "Little Voice" -- and in her recent interview with The Associated Press. I'm not an actress, I don't pretend to be one, so I always wanted to really focus on songwriting and live performance. But I realize that cross-promotion is imperative, in a lot of ways it's how people find new music now, through television and through movies. I did a year abroad -- and I didn't have any musical outlet and I was totally depressed all the time, and I couldn't figure it out, and I had this kind of epiphany one day, and I ended up at this little music school, and I reconnected with music. ... It wasn't just a hobby, it was part of my identity. it's not the weepy lilting singer-songwriter album. Q: You say your songs are autobiographical. Some of them talk about relationships. Do you ever hear feedback from any of your past loves? BAREILLES: They've all actually been really respectful of that. I think you can't date a songwriter and not expect to show up somewhere (laughs). It's like, what are you going to do? ... I'm not really bashing anybody in these songs. I would expect an angry phone call if I wrote one of those songs. Q: Finally, did you really write your own biography that's posted on your Web site? BAREILLES: I did! We hired somebody, a really sweet person and he wrote a bio, but I just didn't like it. It wasn't me. It's like, I don't need somebody to tell my story, I'll tell it! It was the only way I felt like my humor was going to get communicated, and my potty mouth, and all of the things that I want people to understand about me. I didn't want to hide any of that. |
