Artist: Sonya Kitchell
Venue: The Triple Door - Seattle, WA
Date: Monday, April 17, 2006
If Sonya Kitchell weren?t absolutely dripping with raw talent, I may be a little disappointed. The set she plays live isn?t much different from how it feels to sit at home, listening to her CD Words Came Back to Me.

Until the band sits a number out, it almost seems as though Kitchell is proving to be the female version of Amos Lee (great music that?s boring live).


However, the problem, as it becomes apparent when the band sits out, is not Kitchell herself, but her back-up band.

There are times when a singer/songwriter plays with a band (think Ani DiFranco, Dar Williams, Brandi Carlile) when you can just revel in the unbelievable tightness of the entire outfit. You can see the drummer playing, but if you closed your eyes, you wouldn?t hear him/her, because the rhythm is as much a part of the song as the melody. In those instances, every two-second guitar solo, every slide up the neck of the bass guitar, strives for one common objective.

Other times, the band is just there, lending nothing, and you?re happy when they back off. That?s exactly the issue here and, unfortunately, Kitchell only gets one song by herself.

As for her skills as a performer, she?s clearly more confident singing than talking to the crowd. Between songs, there are awkward silences, and others that are not-so-awkward, as she tunes her guitar. She starts to talk about where they?ve been on tour, but the banter quickly falls flat.

?Madison, Chicago, Minneapolis ?? she says. ?Yeah, so ? getting to see the country.?

Then, with as much subtlety, she plows into another incredible song. It?s obvious Kitchell belongs singing in front of a crowd. Her voice, when it stays below yodeling range, is incredible, and pours out of her effortlessly. Her songs are impressively intuitive and earnest; and her guitar strumming skills lend themselves perfectly to her fusion of musical sounds.

Folk music has had its share of teenage prodigies, and Kitchell will no doubt be counted among them. Already, there?s a curious buzz circulating about the seventeen-year-old folk-jazz songstress.

In fact, the crowd at the show consists more of people old enough to be Kitchell?s parents (and grandparents) than it is swarming with her peers.

When, toward the end of her set, she introduces a new song (presumably called ?I Don?t Understand? ? she didn?t say the title), she launches into an assault on the very notion of the death penalty ? inspired by her recent viewing of the film Capote. The sentiment may be rooted in teenage idealism, but Kitchell?s lyrics reach beyond that with honest, difficult questions and a truly empathic story line.

A moment later, the show is ending, and Kitchell pulls out her most radio-friendly tune, ?Let Me Go,? with which to close it ? no doubt to please the folks from Starbucks and Hear Music that populate the crowd at this show. She encourages the enchanted crowd into a sing-along, and they enthusiastically comply. As the packed room sings along, Kitchell sarcastically scolds them for singing off key before launching into syncopated vocal gymnastics that would make Mariah Carey blush.

And with that, the show is over as quickly as it began.

Kitchell may have a few kinks to iron out with her live performance, but there will be plenty of time for that over the course of what promises to be a long career. Her absolutely charming personality will come out of its shell to match her incredible talent eventually; and when it does ? look out!