Grand Rapids Press

November 18, 2001 Sunday

Singer-songwriter steps up to the plate

The world certainly has changed for Jess Klein since she last played Grand Rapids, opening for Irish folk-rocker Luka Bloom in the spring of 2000.

Not only has the Boston-area singer and guitar player released an impressive major-label debut album, "Draw Them Near," but she's since toured the United States and Europe to further cultivate her audience.

She's even linked up with three other solo artists to form an unusual quartet and side project, Voices on the Verge, that goes on tour this winter before Klein heads back into the studio to record another album.

"It's been definitely an eye-opener and I've gotten a lot of experience with the world. When you tour like that, it's a big commitment," the 27-year-old singer-songwriter said in a recent telephone interview from Boston.

"For me, it was like, 'Are you going to step up to the plate or not?' It has been a big change. You can't play the ingenue anymore; you have to know what you're doing and what you're there for."

Klein steps up to the plate and the microphone again in Grand Rapids on Monday night, brought back to town by radio station WYCE to finish up its popular Hat Trick Concert Series at One Trick Pony.

Admission is free, but a hat will be passed to raise money for Horizons of West Michigan, which provides support to those experiencing mental illness.

The first five shows in the series, co-sponsored by Rockford Construction Co., Holistic Care Approach and Fountain Hill Bed & Breakfast, raised about $1,500 for local charities, according to Michael Packer, station manager for WYCE-FM (88.1). The Hat Trick shows resume in January.

Monday's solo acoustic concert will give audiences a closer look at an up-and-coming artist who even impressed Luka Bloom fans early last year with some stunning vocals during her 27-minute opening set.

Since then, songs such as "Little White Dove," "I Sure Would," and "Ireland" from "Draw Them Near," released by Rykodisc/Slow River, have earned radio play and audience raves, with Klein calling on a wide berth of musical influences to ply her craft.

While Klein isn't quite sure the folk label fits her music, especially because some songs are steeped in rock, pop and blues textures, she's quite comfortable being described as a singer-songwriter.

"It's sort of a limitless group to be in. If you can write and sing a song, it can go in any direction. You could be Tom York from Radiohead or you could be Ryan Adams or anyone," said Klein, whose first independently released album, 1998's "Wishes Well Disguised," earned her several Boston Music Award nominations.

"If you start with a great song, then you can go wherever you want to.

"On my record, I just wanted to let the songs go where they wanted to go as songs," the singer said.

The native of Rochester, N.Y., who first performed live in Kingston, Jamaica, while in college, also wants to keep going as far as her art will take her.

"I really believe that if you work hard to get somewhere, it lasts longer," she said.

"Of course, I want to have big success right away, but also I have my eye on the ball and I'm willing to really take my time and let my art go first."