June 16: Amy Kuney joins Raining Jane at Hotel Cafe

June 15, 4:24 AMNYLive Music ExaminerVeronica Thew

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Kuney is a frequent performer at Hotel Cafe.  /  Photo courtesy of Amy Kuney

Small packages can contain some big surprises.  One such pint-sized parcel is Amy Kuney, a Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter who packs a punch.  Kuney, originally born and raised in Tulsa, OK, has been a musician since age four, when she first took up piano.  These days, the 20-something musician has been making the rounds to promote her debut album Birds Eye View, which was released in August, 2008. Tuesday night, she will share the Hotel Cafe stage with Raining Jane, a local band in the middle of a June residency at the venue.  

Kuney often describes herself not as a singer-songwriter, but as a storyteller, which is ultimately what differentiates her from the bevy of guitar-gripping, ivory-tickling women who churn through the Los Angeles live music circuit.  Songs like the comedic rhapsody, “Thank You for Last Night” and the buoyant, inspiring, “Simple Things” (“Let’s be courageous and face tiny dangers,” she suggests) pair stellar tunes with lyrics that border on poetry.

And when Kuney hits the stage, she seizes it – with tenacity beyond her years and stature.  She has a bold, nearly rough alto voice, and often sports a leather jacket that matches the rock-chicness of her heavy black bangs.  But Amy Kuney is no Amy Lee (of Evanescence fame).  She does not intimidate; she merely impresses. 

Following Amy Kuney, Raining Jane is a four-girl folk-rock group with spunk and serious talent.  The band got together in 1999, after rubbing elbows in the UCLA music community, and they have been energetically touring ever since.  Between the band members, there are three singers (whose voices blend together like the notes of a harmonica) and an apothecary of exotic instruments, including a cajon and a sitar.  Perhaps more recognizable to show-goers than a cajon might be Raining Jane’s ethereal, harmony-heavy “Prelude,” which was recently featured on the TV show Grey’s Anatomy.  The band released its most recent EP, Paper Nest, in March 2008 and is now working on a new album.

The melodious night begins with Melissa McClelland at 7 p.m., followed by Amy Kuney at 8 p.m., Raining Jane at 9 p.m., veteran folk singer-songwriter Willy Porter at 10 p.m., and German import, Miss Kenichi, closing the show at 11 p.m.  

NOTE: All Hotel Cafe shows are 21+.