Musical Artists I Love - Sara Bareilles

I decided I should mix it up and blog about a contemporary musical artist, so Sara it is. This girl is ridiculously talented. A musician gets automatic respect from me when they write their own music and play their own instruments, and Sara does both exquisitely, writing both clever lyrics and catchy melodies. Her tone is so full and rich- slightly reminiscent of Karen Carpenter's deep tone at times, though of course her style is much bluesier and edgier than The Carpenters ever were. Even with live recordings or whenever I have seen her performing live on TV she always sounds so resonant and perfect. She is so creative and seems so comfortable in what she is doing. I love every single track on her first full album Little Voice (which Sara's certainly is not, by the way) and that is a rare thing thing for me.

Even rarer than liking every track on any given album is the refreshing variety of Sara's songs. There are other artists that would probably be clumped into the same genre/category as Sara who also have albums that I truly enjoy in their entirety like Feist, Colbie Cailatt or Ingrid Michaelson. The difference though is that with those three as examples, even thought I like all their songs I can't really listen to their whole albums in one sitting without getting bored because the songs all kind of start to sound the same and run together. Not so with Sara. Some of her songs are very heartfelt and Indie and some are more pop rock with sassy, soulful attitude and they are all unique and thoughtful. Certainly they aren't all drastically different from each other and I think that part of what keeps it interesting with Sara's songs is that she is all over the place with the vocals so songs never get repetitive and she is just soooo good. Its not just the snappy tunes that keep you enthralled, its her voice. I feel the same way about Adele. I love Adele's music, but I would really listen to anything she sang because her voice and talent and so captivating.

Bottle it Up

Gravity (Incredible A Capella Version)

Love on the Rocks (Live)

She gives her own spin on some pretty sweet covers too:

Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay

Take On Me

I would love to go to a live show of Sara's and am keenly awaiting her next album. I've heard she gives an awesome live show. Plus, she keeps a journal on her website and she is way funny and seems really down to earth. She just seems super cool you guys, okay? ;)

If there is still any question as to the merits of Sara after this, (which there isn't, of course, so this will just be an extra little delight ;), she was also in the musical ensemble in the finale of season 3 of 30 Rock a couple of months ago. Alright, so you barely see her for a couple seconds here or there standing in the back by Norah Jones, but still- Tina thought she was worth inviting, and we already know how I concur with Tina's judgement.