L.A.’s Audra Mae is not your average folk singer-songwriter. With pipes that approach Neko Case and a soul like Janis Joplin, she possesses a kind of sincerity that speaks to you but doesn’t succumb to the over-sharing that plagues the genre.
She might be best known for covering Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young” (and it is an excellent cover), but you don’t really get a sense of what she’s capable of until you hear a song like “Cliche.”
In anticipation of her show with Good Old War and Yukon Blonde at the Soma side stage this Wednesday, June 9, we got a chance to hear her top ten moments to seize.
Stream: Audra Mae – “Cliche”
[audio:am-c.mp3]
Audra Mae’s Ten Moments to Seize
10. Children hard at play: I saw a kid the other day who was diggin’ around in his front yard with a spoon. I used to do that. I miss that. He was sittin’ on one knee and huggin’ the other and his nose was almost touching the ground. I hoped he’d find a dinosaur bone.
9. Steam escaping from the sewer: “Rhapsody in Blue” immediately fills my ears, and even rats under trash cans look romantic.
8. When I can’t tell what I’m looking at and my imagination goes crazy trying to invent what it is: My mind comes up with some hilarious (after the fact) explanations for what I think I’m seeing. I’ve seen “Labyrinth” style goblins in dark corners and actually laughed out loud.
7. Riding on the back of a motorcycle: Yes. Gimme that.
6. The hummingbirds that hang out around my balcony: Sometimes I look over and one is just buzzin’ in mid air, lookin’ right at me. I want to go with them.
5. Reading other people’s coffee table books: I read one today called “Around the World in 80 Wonders.”
4. Gardening: This must stem from my childhood love of diggin’ in the dirt. When I go home to Oklahoma, I get an itch to pull weeds, plant and water stuff, go to Home Depot and drink iced tea all day. Mmmmmm.
3. Dancing alone: If you can have an absolute ball watching yourself dance in a mirror, you can pretty much get over anything. Plus, you find new moves that way.
2. Falling asleep in a moving vehicle: Music, the wheels on the road, and the street lamps changing the shape of everything in the car every time we pass one. So beautiful… When you were little, did you ever think the moon was following you?
1. Beautiful, yummy food: We’re so lucky to have food at all, let alone food that tastes great and smells like heaven and you just wanna take a picture of it. I usually do take a picture of it.
Audra Mae tourdates
Jun 7 2010 – Bottom of the Hill – San Francisco, CA
Jun 9 2010 – Soma Sidestage – San Diego, CA
Jun 11 2010 – The Troubadour – West Hollywood, CA
Jun 12 2010 – Martini Ranch – Scottsdale, Arizona
Jun 14 2010 – The Loft – Dallas, TX
Jun 15 2010 – Scout Bar – San Antonio, TX
Jun 16 2010 – Warsaw – Houston, TX
Jun 18 2010 – Orpheum – Tampa, FL
Jun 19 2010 – BackBooth – Orlando, FL
Jun 21 2010 – The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
Jun 22 2010 – The Casbah at Tremont Music Hall – Charlotte, NC
Jun 23 2010 – Rock and Roll Hotel – Washington, DC
Jun 25 2010 – Maxwell’s – Hoboken, NJ
Jun 26 2010 – Webster Hall – New York, NY
Jun 27 2010 – The Middle East – Cambridge, MA
Sep 8 2010 – The Triple Door – Seattle, WA
Sep 9 2010 – The Triple Door – Seattle, WA
Sep 10 2010 – Aladdin Theatre – Portland, OR
Sep 11 2010 – Independent – San Francisco, CA
Sep 12 2010 – Moe’s Alley – Santa Cruz, CA
Sep 14 2010 – Downtown Brewing Co – San Luis Obispo, CA
Sep 15 2010 – Belly Up Tavern – Solana Beach, CA
Sep 16 2010 – The Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA