I witnessed the performances of musicians Lera Lynn and Dylan LeBlanc at The Ark.
LeBlanc performed surprisingly well. A cellist accompanied him throughout. Additionally, I appreciated the storytelling elements of his performance. For example, he revealed to the audience that he spent his childhood in Louisiana and described the experience of coming-of-age in the Bible Belt region. He also discussed his struggles with drug addiction as well as with alcoholism. LeBlanc’s songs sounded more or less similar to each other. Yet older songs seemed more forlorn and depressing while newly-written songs seemed more upbeat and romantic. Specifically, the newly-released single, “Cautionary Tale,” stood out from some of the other songs. The full-length album, Cautionary Tale, will be available in mid-January. LeBlanc mentioned that he plans on returning in a few months to perform again and I look forward to the possibility of attending another performance of his. Click here to listen to “Cautionary Tale.”
Lynn’s performance was nearly flawless and her voice sounded remarkable. A bassist, a guitarist, and a drum player accompanied Lynn throughout aside from a handful of solo performances. They started off with “Out to Sea” from The Avenues. The next couple of songs were full of energy. Lynn strutted across the stage with confidence and had the aura of a well-seasoned performer. There was a certain toughness about her persona that convinced the audience that she deserved their undivided attention. Additionally, the performance felt slightly intimate because she tended to look intently into the eyes of her audience members in order to connect with them. Click here to listen to “Out to Sea.”
Lynn does not fit easily into a predetermined musical genre yet the made-up genre, “post-Americana,” seems to describe her music reasonably well. The set demonstrated considerable musical range and variety. It contrasted with the LeBlanc performance in this manner. Interestingly, many of the songs ended abruptly followed immediately by the stage lights shutting off. I thought these abrupt endings were somewhat strange and contributed to the slight over-dramatization of the performance overall. The attention-grabbing element of her voice had sufficient dramatic effect without the contribution of lighting. Ultimately, the event culminated in Lynn as well as LeBlanc performing together onstage. They sang “La Di Da” from The Avenues. A substantial amount of the song includes repetitions of the monosyllabic utterances “La La Di Da.” The song had a sedative effect that lulled the audience into a euphoric state of musical bliss. The lyrics were simple yet the song was unspeakably poignant and proved the fact that some music affects people in direct and unspoken ways. Click here to listen to “La Di Da.”
