It’s nice to just talk to someone. 1 on 1, without interruption, about what’s important to them. It’s hard to do that in public. There are lots of distractions, including my sobriety. I originally wanted to interview Lindsey of Annabelle Chairlegs at her show during Psyched! Fest in SF, but I got too tired and tipsy. I’m glad we got to chat over video after her tour ended.
Lindsey’s got personality and she knows how to show it – in her performances, which she learned from years in the theater, but in her music and in-person too.
I’ve seen Annabelle Chairlegs live 4 times, twice in SF / twice at SXSW. I discovered her music going through every one of the musicians at SXSW 2022 and she was at the top.
I love a lot of music, but I rarely like more than a song from a musician. Let alone an album. Or two. I looked over my listening history of Annabelle Chairlegs on Spotify and I liked a half dozen songs the day I found her music (March 4, 2022). Usually it takes a lot more listens.
I may not know a strand of lyrics more than a few words from her, but they’ve been the melody to my thoughts frequently over the past two years. It’s how you can tell if a song is sticky. When it’s popping up in your inner dialogue at the most random times. Usually an offshoot of its original lyrics.
Even a few seconds into her record career with the first song that starts her first album, Watermelon Summer, hits depths that follow her music more into her second album, Gotta Be in Love.
I only cracked that depth talking with her one-on-one, but the grace between her words mirrored her music and how she performs it live. With a calm intensity.
Psyched! Radio’s second-annual Psyched! Fest was over the halloween week this year. It featured 60 performers that like Lost in Riddim with afrobeats, I went to not for the love of the music, but to push the boundaries of my music listening bubble. I spend too much time in dance and soul music, but there are many gems in other genres. It just takes much more digging per gem for me.
I found out about Psyched! Fest through Annabelle Chairlegs when she announced it at her show a few months prior at Kilowatt. I tried to do my usual bit of going through every artist on the bill and compiling some top list to see at the festival, but when you don’t know the genre well enough, seeing your favorite picks based off a few listens isn’t as reliable as chance / serendipity.
What did work was getting to the shows early for the openers. It gives you more time to talk to other people about their recommendations, breathing room to dance to the music more, and in the case of Psyched! Fest, more room to thrash around.
I recently learned that animals in the wild when feeling anxious shake it off literally to get back to calm. Humans do it similarly through twirling pens, tapping their legs, or fidgeting a fidget spinner, but there’s no place better to do it than at a concert with great music. I don’t see it being done enough at a typical soul show, but Psyched! Fest had a much better % of people shake it off.
Even being on the edges of the mosh pit, helped focus my anxiety to make sure I didn’t catch the tail wind of anyone throwin’ bo’s.
