Arts and Entertainment
Micah makes a splash, Barnes is too bland
By Kate Bennert '12, Arts & Entertainment Contributor
October 27, 2011
I’ll admit that I needed some encouragement from my friends in CAB in order to get me out to last Thursday night’s Acoustic Coffeehouse. Neither artist seemed to embody my taste in music. (This is funny because I was totally going to go anyway—I would never forgo free music for an evening of homework.)
The acoustic artists Micah and Dave Barnes occupy a genre perhaps the furthest away from the types of music I usually listen to: pop-punk, Riot Grrrl and indie-pop bands with screaming girls/guitars. That said, there are some qualities that I always appreciate when it comes to live music: honesty, musicality and an endearing stage presence—qualities that both performers clearly exuded.
On stage, Micah reminded me of a young Brett Dennen (minus the shaggy hair and general quirkiness) as well as a fresher version of Jason Reeves. A 23-year-old who has been pursuing a music career ever since he picked up a guitar for his high school talent show, Micah humbly introduced us to his organic, folky songs and encouraged us to sing along.
“I believe in you!” he wryly encouraged.
Fresh off the boat from the land of music business education, Micah is a complete DIY-artist who is just getting started.
“I need to wear a lot of hats right now,” Micah explained. “It gets very taxing, but then I realize I’m not working a 9-5 and I’m doing what I really want to do.”
His first full-length album, Coast to Coast, includes wistful acoustic ballads with smooth, soothing melodies. Though his skills on the guitar could not rival those of headliner Dave Barnes, his voice and heart made up for it in a huge way. I’m excited to see what his future has in store.
I’ll just throw this one out there: Dave Barnes reminded me of a golden retriever. (Granted, a golden retriever that is really stellar at playing guitar…to be honest, I think he could give Tim Reynolds a run for his money.) His music reminded me of a golden retriever in that it seemed too eager to please and too happy-go-lucky. While I don’t deny that he is a skilled performer and musician and while I thoroughly enjoyed myself, I thought his lyrics lacked both depth and originality. So—to continue the animal parallels—in the same way that animal crackers come in a really cool package but don’t really taste like much, I felt like his performance boasted a lot of bells and whistles but little substance.
For instance, Barnes’ most well known song, “God Gave Me You,” while upbeat and entertaining, proved way too much for me. As he told the crowd, it was featured on an episode of All My Children in a wedding scene…which, I think, is where it belongs. But the stories associated with his songs—particularly “God Gave Me You”—were nevertheless remarkably funny.
Overall, it made for a very entertaining night. I love seeing young musicians embark on their careers as well as seeing veterans doing what they do best. In the near future, however, I would love to see a slate of more evocative headliners.