Check-in your pre-conceived stereotypes of female singer-songwriters... Kina Grannis is at the forefront of a new generation of social networking- and tech-savvy female artists whose appeal extends far beyond cafe curmudgeons and the Lilith Fair set. If you're unfamiliar with Grannis and her ongoing trajectory toward stardom, her first big break occurred in 2007 when she started her YouTube account and later that year won a competition to have one of her songs featured on a commercial during Super Bowl XLII. Grannis has since signed with a major record label (which she subsequently left) and amassed a huge and adoring fanbase of equally social networking- and tech-savvy "Kinerds". Hot off the re-release of her LP Stairwells, Ms. Grannis continued her "World In Front of Me" tour with a stop in Philadelphia on 4/16/2011 where she played to an eager and sold out crowd at World Cafe Live.
While Kina Grannis' sound would logically live most comfortably on the airwaves of the likes of XPN, XM/Sirius CoffeeHouse, etc., one listen to her CD or viewing of her YouTube channel would be enough evidence to explain her more broad appeal. With that said, her solo performance needs to be witnessed live to grasp her full allure. No backup band, no loop station, no extraneous bells and whistles... just Kina on stage with her Taylor acoustic guitar (or Kamaka ukulele). Take all of the charm of her YouTube videos combined and multiply that by any large and arbitrary number and that still doesn't reach the charmingness of Kina's stage presence. She has the ability to turn a seemingly stupid pop song (e.g., "Oops I Did it Again") into a wondrous and expressive aria. And certainly you would expect that her YouTube videos, with their fancy shmancy editing and whatnot (example), must have some kind of audio trickery or auto-tunery applied to make her voice sound so spectacular and spot-on; but, nope... apparently that's just how she sounds, which she handily demonstrated during her stripped-down and intimate live performance. Yes, she had the audience enamored and left all of the male necktie-wearing "Kinerds" in the audience ogling.
Stay tuned for much more from Ms. Grannis in the near future. I will be utterly shocked if she doesn't strike the licensing jackpot with her single "Valentine", by the way. For more information (tour dates, song previews, etc.), visit her web site here.
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