My third favorite vocalist ever, from anywhere, is Esthero.
Saw her perform at Central Park Summer Stage, and then at another NYC venue about a year later. From the time her first cd came out in 99, for about the next ten years, I prolly listened to her more than anyone else. I even used her songs as reference when auditioning hi-fi gear, studio monitors, what have you.
Then i moved to LA 7 years ago, and part of that involved never opening the many boxes of cds that made the trip. They stayed in a closet.
Started roller skating every week and always saw this girl there... seemed interesting, but familiar. A year later, I asked a mutual friend about her. Said she’s a singer. I asked if she was any good, as I was looking for people to collaborate with. He said, “I dunno—another singer trying to make it in LA.” Couple of weeks later, I talked to her—she introduced herself as Jenny. We only quickly chatted about how she reminded me of someone but I couldn’t remember who. That night, I found her on my friend’s Facebook page. Saw some Esthero-related posts. They’re both from Toronto, so I thought she was a wannabe. Found a video of her performing—a crzappy, grainy cell phone clip. She sounded like Esthero. I thought she was a wannabe.
Nest morning, I woke up and the first thing I did was google “Esthero + Jenny,” thinking maybe she had done some backup work with Esthero. Some kind of actual connection. Well, the interwebs told me they were the same person.
That was the second literal “mind blown” episode of my life. I literally spent the next day and a half playing her music and just literally weeping. One, because of he sheer beauty of both her voice and incredible lyricism, and because I had spent a year not knowing her when she was literally right in front of me.
If my CDs hadn’t been in a box and I hadn’t been relying solely on MP3s for 7 years, I surely would have recognized her... Damn you, iTunes...
She’s pretty major for someone most people haven’t heard of. After her own three cds, she co-wrote songs on Kanye’s 808 album, and worked with will.i.am, Andre3000, ceelo green, Timbaland, and Nelly Furtado.
I also like Sarah McLachlan and Metric.