Jenn Grant returns to her roots at Paragon

Gwyneth Dunsford, Arts Contributor

“How I miss the tremolo of your voice, the audience as they rejoice,” Jenn Grant crooned to the audience last Thursday night.

Her audience undoubtedly shared her sentiment. They were eager to hear Grant’s return to the Paragon’s stage. After the success of Grant’s previous album, Echoes, she says she was pushed to play bigger and bigger venues. This show marked her return to the intimate concerts that she loved when she first started performing.

“I really wanted to do a bar tour,” says Grant. “I also just wanted to play some places I haven’t played in a while. After you start reaching that kind of level, I feel like once you get to that point, your agent and everybody doesn’t want you to go back and play smaller venues.”

The show at the Paragon was a success in that the connection between Grant and the audience was palpable. Grant bantered with them as if she was performing at a private party instead of a bar. The first five minutes of the show consisted of Grant coaxing the audience to pose for her pictures. Later, she serenaded some girls in the front row with a rendition of “Happy Birthday.”

Grant started the show on a slower note, playing without her band. “Paradise Mountain” is a song she says she only played once before. As the title suggests, the song features melancholic talking about life in the hereafter.

The unfamiliar songs did not dissuade the audience from engaging in the show. Grant lovingly introduced every song; giving real-time liner notes for the tracks.

Grant prefaced “Paradise Mountain” by describing a scene from the TV show “House,” in which a character dies with Bon Iver’s song “Re: Stacks” as the soundtrack. Heartache and longing are two themes that unite these songs.

After all, it is Grant’s woeful and poignant songs that have made her Hali-famous. While she admits she writes “crying songs,” her latest songs experiment with a heavier sound.

“This record is a lot more rockin’,” says Grant before the show.

On-stage, Grant played a coquette: flirting with the audience as she wooed them with funny anecdotes. Swigging a bottle of Stella Artois with a strand of pearls around her neck, fans can’t help but be endeared by her.

“I try to put on fun, entertaining shows, so I really try to connect with my audience,” says Grant.

The crowd whooped when Grant and the band launched into “Unique New York.” The loud synths and strong tempo provided Grant with backing to belt out her lyrics.

Grant’s performance gained momentum as the show progressed, culminating in “Getcha Good,” an unreleased song off her upcoming album, “Honeymoon Punch.” It highlighted Grant’s band;  composed  of  members of In-Flight Safety, Dance Movie and other local acts. The sax and trumpet line, played by David Christiansen and Dan Ledwell respectively, hinted at the new sounds Grant has incorporated into her new album.

Grant’s fans need to wait until January to hear the CD in its entirety.  But her show at the Paragon likely gave them solace, as it allowed them to hear her signature voice trill once more.