Celebrity IV: I'm With The Band

One of my favoritest musicians in the world is Sara Bareilles (pronounced bar-REL-is). I heard her song "Gravity" on WERS two years ago, ordered her "Careful Confessions" CD, and have been following her ever since. Her powerful soulful voice and eloquent lyrics just captivate you. I finally saw her live for the first time during a late Monday night Christmas show last year at The Temple Bar in Santa Monica. My friend T joined me and became an instant fan. SB started her set with a beautiful cover of Joni Mitchell's "River" (even better than Sarah McLachlan's recent version), sang some of her new and old tunes, and ended with her signature song, "Gravity," making fun small talk with the eager audience in between songs while sitting behind her keyboard. I was hooked and have been to three more of her shows since.

I saw her next in February at the Century Lounge in Providence, Rhode Island, where she opened for Brett Dennen. I went with my sis G, another fan who I recruited. Sara talked to some fans after her set, but I was too startstruck to go up to her even though she seemed very down-to-earth. I got warmed up by chatting to the dude who was manning her merchandise table. Her latest newsletter asked for volunteers to help sell during shows, so I asked the merch man how he was lucky enough to get the job. Turns out he was her tour manager, Mr. C, and selling was part of his many duties. He encouraged me to volunteer (probably so he could get a little bit of a break during the busy touring schedule), and I was keen to help out. With some prodding from G, we later got up the nerve to actually talk to Sara and congratulated her on another great show. G and I mentioned the previous performances that we had gone to (G saw her in Boston the week before), and that we may even drive down to New York for that weekend's concert. She must've thought we were stalkers or uber fanatics. But she was still nice to us and was impressed with our devotion. Soon after, I signed up to be a merch girl.

We didn't make it to the New York show, but I caught Sara and her band again in April when they opened for Aqualung in Boston. A week before the show, Mr. C emailed me asking if I could help man the merch table. I was so excited! This was my chance to be a psuedo part of her entourage, get in the show for free, and maybe even schmooze with Ms. B. herself. I arrived at the Paradise an hour before the show and re-met Mr. C who actually remembered me from Providence. A little bit later Sara came out to the table, gave me a hug, and thanked me for helping out. I was surprised that she remembered me too, but she admitted that Mr. C did have to remind her that we chatted at the RI show. Aqualung's tour manager, Ms. C, who was selling the band's wares on the table next to ours, asked if we could help her sell too since her volunteer had a last-minute change of plans. A couple of my friends saw the show with me and enjoyed her music. I'm very thankful that they also stuck around to help us sell stuff because it got quite busy after each set with buyers for both Aqualung and Sara B. By the end of the night, we sold a bunch of T-shirts and CD's, I gleaned some insight on the music biz, Sara autographed my CD cover, and I got pictures with her, Aqualung singer Matt Hales, and their respective tour managers! What an amazing night!

The next time Sara and her crew were back in Beantown was a few weeks ago when she opened for Mika. I didn't check for tickets until the weekend before the show and was bummed to find that it was sold out. As a last resort I emailed Mr. C the day before the performance asking if they needed some last minute merch help. It was serendipity because he received my note just as he was writing to hunt for help! The show was at Avalon, which is right next to Fenway Park, and during a Red Sox game, so it was quite a festive night. Mr. C greeted me at the back stage door of Avalon before the show, gave the security guard the secret password, and led me to the sale table. I felt like we were old buds as we text messaged throughout the night to coordinate logistics. Sara was amazing as usual, and she mesmerized the packed room. In this and the Paradise show she surprised the audience with a haunting cover of Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes and played songs from her upcoming album. At the end of the night she thanked me again for helping out and raved about my dedicated sales work as she introduced me to her percussionist, proclaiming, "She's the shit!" I was so touched!

Sara Bareilles is right on the verge of hitting it big. Her track "Love Song" has been on the radio and was recently the iTunes single of the week. Her first major label release, "Little Voice," is officially out in stores and iTunes today. I received my preordered copy in the mail yesterday and I'm already almost voiceless from hours of singing along to it. Go check her out!