Diane Birch @ Joe’s Pub

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Wednesday, 01 July 2009 09:03

Doused in deep blue and purple lights, Diane Birch took the stage in her fedora and sat down at the piano, performing in front of a dimly lit audience who were both sitting and standing. The venue, Joe’s Pub, had a feeling of an old speakeasy, and Birch’s voice, full of soul, soothed the listeners into nodding their heads and swaying in the candlelight.

Singing songs from her debut album, Bible Belt, Birch’s performance was simple, but simplistic in a way that music still should be: a piano, a band, soft lighting and friendly banter between songs.

Birch was charming every time she took a moment to speak to the audience. It was quite hot under the lights and the beads of water dripping from the band’s faces told the story, but Birch quickly made light of the situation, laughing and saying, “I wish I wore waterproof mascara,” and in quick response one of her band members shouted back, “Live and learn.”

With moments like that, Birch managed to turn an already intimate room into an even more personal space, with stories about everything from her conservative upbringing to her gothic teenage style to her parents’ response to her profanity on her blog.

Ending the show with a cover of Tom Petty’s song “You Don’t Know What It’s Like,” Birch lightened the mood before she was called back on stage for her encore in which she once again soothed the audience with the soft melody of her voice. Birch is a singer worth following for her music, her lyrics and, if nothing else, for the purity she brings to the art form.

-Jenna Browning