Jenn Grinels Live Vol. 1
With the lack of live shows in the last year and a half, it only makes sense that musicians would use this time to release a live album. That’s exactly what Jenn Grinels did in February of this year. Jenn Grinels Live Volume 1 is a compilation of Grinels’ live sets recorded over three nights in early 2019 at The Music Box in Cleveland, OH, Rams Head Onstage in Annapolis, MD, and Avalon Theater in Easton, MD.
The choice of songs to showcase on Live Volume 1 was a mix of some classic older tunes like “Don’t Wanna Be Happy,” “Good As New,” and “Love Again” from her first studio album, Broken Heart Breaker, and songs like “The Feeling” from her latest release, Go Mine. With each track, Grinels exhibits a sultry, sassy, and seductive side with her vocals, while also throwing in her brilliant sense of humor not only with her interactions with the audience, but also in the middle of performing songs that have a humorous tone to them.
Listen to “Don’t Wanna Be Happy” and “Good As New” and you’ll hear the impeccable comedic timing of Jenn Grinels. This is by far two of the best tracks of Live Volume 1 because it sums up a Grinels live performance perfectly. If you’ve been one of the lucky people to experience one of her live performances, you know that Grinels recruits the audience before “Don’t Wanna Be Happy” to perform “mouth trumpets” during specific moments of the song. So, you guessed it, the mouth trumpets appear on this album. Before “Good As New,” Jenn asks for volunteers to come up on stage as she needs back up dancers for this tune. She huddles with the volunteer dancers for a 20 second opportunity for planning. The result of that 20 second planning session is always a highlight of a Jenn Grinels show. Don’t worry...Grinels sure as hell wouldn’t exclude that experience from the Live Volume 1 album. For anyone who is curious to see what this part of her live show looks like, check out her official music video for “Good As New” below.
Jenn Grinels Live Volume 1 truly represents everything that an audience member experiences at a live Jenn Grinels show. Her vocal range is exquisite ranging from silky smooth to belting out just as well as pros like Christina Aguilera or Etta James to quiet as a mouse. There are times when Grinels can hold a note for what seems like a record breaking time. Grinels captures the raw rollercoaster of emotions through the combination of her lyrics as well as her vocals all while also making sure she keeps things light with humor. The best part of Live Volume 1 is that fans of Grinels are hoping that Volume 1 means there will be a Volume 2 somewhere in the future. If it’s even close to the success of Volume 1, we’ll be in for a treat!
