hear good music: sara bareilles

i have to admit that whenever i get a pr push for a yet another singer/songwriter, i tend to approach the artist with a bit of caution. but in the case of california gal sara bareilles, her smooth soulful alto (yes she was an acapella geek like me!) draws you in so fast that you find yourself a fan pretty quickly.

it actually took a pre-requisite college journey abroad that inspired sara back to her creative musical longings. the italian trip re-introduced her to the piano (which she hated playing while growing up) and also was the inspiration for many of the songs that you hear on her major label debut little voice.

according to xolondon, sara went through a major bump in her career with another label over creative differences. thank goodness her current label is on the same page with handling her dynamic voice (think fiona apple meets sarah maclachlan with a bit of lovely 70's inspired musicality thrown in).

natural and honest, try to check out sara on tour with mika at the moment:
6/12 Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
6/13 Boston, MA @ Avalon Ballroom
6/15 New York, NY @ Nokia Theatre
6/17 Miami, FL @ Studio A

then with rocco deluca in july:
7/03 Tempe, AZ @ Clubhouse
7/06 Los Angeles, CA @Henry Fonda Theatre
7/08 San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
7/09 San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
7/13 Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
7/14 Seattle, WA @The Showbox
7/20 Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe
7/21 Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
7/22 Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue
7/24 St. Louis, MO @ Duck Room
7/25 Cincinnati, OH @ 20th Century Theatre
7/27 Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew's Hall
7/29 Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
7/31 New York, NY @The Bowery Ballroom

if you like what you hear, remember you can buy her EP for only a $1.99 on itunes.


sara bareilles - love song (live @ pctv, sundance film festival)
[catchy ditty but i'm even more impressed that she managed to make this potentially dorky appearance into a gem!]


sara bareilles - gravity (live @ fillmore, san francisco) [link 2]
[this song is amazing! probably the tune that will bring her the largest fanbase.]

WONGIE BALLAD OF THE WEEK: sara bareilles - she used to be mine ("waitress" musical)

[VIDEO PREMIERE: sara officially releases a video to pair up to theme song of her upcoming broadway musical]


sara bareilles - she used to be mine ("waitress" musical)
taken from the upcoming spring 2016 broadway musical 'waitress' (based on the classic movie), singer songwriter sara bareilles has expanded her skill set by writing its music and lyrics (which already has had a sold out run at the american repertory theater). if the rest of the music is as touching as this track, then expect some serious play during the award season next year. i'm just saying...

VIDEO PREMIERE!: sara bareilles - i choose you

sara bareilles - i choose you
continuing her ability to make sweet viral videos, sara bareilles helped out two proposals as their official soundtrack. it's all very 'awwww' but that's not a bad thing!

wongie top songs of 2007: #24 sara bareilles - love song

sara bareilles - love song [link 2]
[while the crappy colbie caillat is getting all the play on top 40 radio, the word of mouth machine will have to work just a tad longer before sara breaks onto the populist playlist. plus i have a soft spot for anyone who used to be an acapella nerd! acapella nerds unite!
UPDATE: with the help of itunes downloads, sara made the top 10 of the billboard singles chart this week!]

sara bareilles - bottle it up (video premiere)

sara bareilles - bottle it up [link 2]
[interesting what success can do to a person. self-proclaimed acapella nerd sara toiled in and around the states last year getting her music heard via any means possible. fast forward to a top 5 single and look at our sara now, she's now styled as a full fledged BABE! luckily her music is still the same sweet catchy tunes that we all fell in love with the first time around.]

WONGIE (other) POP SONG OF THE WEEK: sara bareilles - brave

sara bareilles - brave
directed by the lovely rashida jones, i love nothing more than watching normal dorky folk get down and find their dance spirit! throw in the sweet catchiness of sara's new single and you've got something wonderful!

want more? check out the behind the scenes video of the making of 'brave':

WONGIE HAPPY VIDEO OF THE WEEK: sara bareilles - uncharted

sara bareilles - uncharted
[great to see alot of sara's friends coming forward and lip syncing to her latest song. it basically is a testament to how lovely she is in real life for all these folks to take the time to offer up their time and skills for someone else! happy video of the week indeed!]

free itunes tracks: sara bareilles, findlay brown

our good ol friends over at itunes are giving out two wonderful tracks of wongie's favorite artists for free this week. so head on over and download them already!

sara bareilles - love song
UPDATE 6/22: watch a wonderful live performance of sara performing this lovely breezy summer hit here.

findlay brown - losing the will to survive (beyond the wizard's sleeve reanimation)

WONGIE HAPPY SONG OF THE WEEK: sara bareilles - gonna get over you

sara bareilles - gonna get over you
[this also garners the video of the week claim and all around brings a smile to your face experience for the weekend (thanks to director jonah hill!) enjoy!]

AS HEARD ON TV: sara bareilles feat ingrid michaelson - winter song

sara bareilles feat ingrid michaelson - winter song
[played at the end of the latest episode of brothers and sisters, this song was actually released a year ago for the hotel cafe: winter songs compilation. the song itself is just simply beautiful and still captivates a year onwards. gorgeous.]

VIDEO PREMIERE: sara bareilles - king of anything

sara bareilles - king of anything

best of 2007: fave acts so far (1/2 year report)

this has been an amazing music year so far with new stuff coming at me daily (much that i've shared back to you). but amoung the batch, a few acts have filtered through and kept on returning to my personal playlists.

since it feels like such a slow week, i figured now is probably the best time to re-introduce some of the artist highlights of 2007 from january to june (in no particular order):

[for friends and fans of wongie, you probably know the class of 2007 (so far) pretty well. but for the rest of you, hopefully you can discover some gems from the list below. also you may have noticed that wongie faves mika, amy winehouse, gossip and lily allen aren't here (since they were loved in 06, i kind of took them out of the lineup just cause i'm a stickler like that!)]

tracey thorn - raise the roof
siobhan donaghy - ghosts
just jack - i talk to much
loney, dear - saturday waits
peter bjorn & john - young folks
feist - my moon my man (boys noize remix)
rufus wainwright - sansoucci
rihanna - rehab
glen hansard & marketa irglova (ONCE the soundtrack) - falling slowly
lil mama - lip gloss (absorb the lip gloss mash up remix)
kate nash - foundations
mia - boyz
cherry ghost - 4am
sara bareilles - love song
a fine frenzy - almost lover
roisin murphy - overpowered

IT'S LYRICAL: katy perry - roar

katy perry - roar
with it's insta-catchy piano chords and twee lyrics, the redeeming factor of the supposed katy perry 3.0 makeover is it's uber catchy 'you're gonna hear me roar' chorus (the whole song weirdly reminds me of the current sara bareilles single 'brave') co-written by dr luke, max martin AND bonnie mckee (it takes 3 to make a hit go right!), not sure how this reflects a new katy, but who cares, you'll be singing along to this pop ditty in seconds time!

POP GAL: haley reinhart - free

haley reinhart - free
[one of the few voices from last years american idol that i enjoyed, haley finally gets to showcase solo material taken from her upcoming debut 'listen up!'. though 'free' is a perfectly fine tuned piece of retro comfy pop, it does reek a tad too much of sara bareilles' material (hey there's definitely a massive market for that). hopefully we'll get to hear something more original in the next single.]