54/10 Music Marathon at Ars Nova f/ Jay Brannan

Posted by The G on July 14, 2010 under G Reviews | Read the First Comment

Photos by G.

Ars Nova in New York is hosting a series of music events for the next 10 days featuring 54 artists.  The program is called “54/10 Music Marathon.”  I attended the opening night festivities and it was an evening of great music.  We were fortunate enough to watch a trio of singers: Pauline Pisano, Lana Mir and Jay Brannan perform sets for us in a very intimate setting and it was great!

Pauline Pisanso opened the show and has an amazing voice!  I couldn’t say it any better than her offiical website, so here’s the best was to describe her sound: Pauline Pisano is an edgy romantic singer/songwriter with an unexpected pop/rock twist.  There were times where she literally belted the hell out of the song she was singing.  The sold out crowd often cheered mid-song.  Her words were very inspirational too as she sang a particular song about being yourself and not bowing to the man.  If you love power-ballads with a mix of rock and roll, check out Pauline’s music.

Ukranian born Lana Mir was up next and she took us into her world of lo-fi mellow sounds.  Her voice is silky smooth and her music is perfect for an evening of a bottle of wine and some candles.  She played songs off her debut album “Goodbye Girl,” including “Tears are Not Enough,” (no relation to the ABC song) and “I Wanna Be Adored.”  If you liked the album “Red Hot + Rio,” Lana Mir will get heavy rotation with you.

The uber-cute Jay Brannan was the main act and he’s always entertaining to see live.  He is an indie folk singer that keeps it real by singing songs about breakups, being a housewife, getting cock-blocked and stumbling across Avenue A. In between songs, he tells hilarious anecdotes and the lyrics of his songs are actually quite funny too.  He played songs from his debut CD “Goddamned” as well as his new covers album “In Living Cover,” including a gorgeous version of The Cranberries’ “Zombie.”  A video of his hit song “Soda Shop” from the movie “Short Bus” is coming soon, so stay tuned.  Additionally, I had another encounter with Jay and a photo and the story behind the picture will also be coming soon.  If that’s not enough to keep you glued to this site, I’ll also be posting more photos of Jay Brannan!  It’s a win-win sitaution by sticking around…