NFV Song Spotlight: Perrin York's Keep Out

 

This is Los Angeles. When you hear fabulous vocals from a singer, your first thought is that this person competed in American Idol (okay, or The Voice). That is the case when it comes to Perrin York who was a contestant in Season 18 (aired in 2020) of American Idol. 

Perrin York at Hotel Ziggy

As January passed the midway point of its 2025 reign, I got to catch a live performance. The first four songs of the set were from her debut Jenga EP.  She opened her WFNM set at Hotel Ziggy with the upbeat lead single "Another One." People were blown away. I could hear a couple people whispering behind me, just praising her vocals. For her song "Thank You," she introduced it by saying, "I'm going to slow it down unfortunately or fortunately based on your vibe. It is an ironic thank you to someone who wasn't very nice to me." It was a keys driven (played by her) song with quiet backing by her drummer and guitarist. She gave her lyrics the singer songwriter treatment with just a touch of the snarl -- that is no doubt deserved by the person who inspired the song. 

As a side note, WFNM has the connections when it comes to booking former American Idol contestants. In 2018, I saw Zealyn perform at Madame Siam. That wasn't my first introduction in Zealyn. I saw her a year earlier at a music festival called Broke LA. Zealyn, by far, is my favorite American Idol. In 2022 I got to see Ava Maybee. I also caught Sophia James that same year. Both for the first time. I'm sure if I scanned through my memory I could recall more than a few more. 

Perrin York at Hotel Ziggy

Back to York, "Good Thing" was the last song from her EP. There is this definite jazz feel to the song. Is jazz making a comeback among the younger generation? Or am I just thinking I'm hearing jazz everywhere now a days? Or maybe because I just re-watched the movie Whiplash. She closed out the song by inviting a friend to come up who led the song towards its conclusion with a beatbox performance. 

Perrin York at Hotel Ziggy

With that, she asked if there was time for her to do two more songs. Of course, there was. Her next song was a cover of The Beatles' "Yesterday." It wasn't just another attempt to exactly duplicate the song, but was an re-interpretation with a soulful take. 

She closed out the night with the song I'm highlighting here, "Keep Out." "Let's have some fun with this one," she said before transitioning smoothly into the lyrics. Her website has this comment about the song, "Even if I am completely over someone, I've found that 'memories have a mind of their own' and refuse to answer my formal requests that they respectfully 'Keep Out!'"

Oh I know that these feelings aren't real
Tell myself that that's not how I feel
You're not good for me, yeah I'm better off alone

Perrin York at Hotel Ziggy

It is a song that once again impresses with her soul vocals (and jazz instrumentals). In the music video to the song, she has a saxophone player (based on the video, you can tell it was made during the pandemic). For this live version she joked as she took a kazoo out of her right pants pocket, "why hire a saxophone player, when you can buy a piece of plastic that does it for you." Her playing got cheers from the crowd.  

Got to love and mention the blown ending by the band. She had just been so proud at how they ended the song "Yesterday." Then for "Keep Out" she noticed that they were going to mess up the ending so she indicated to the band that they should do a repeat. They got to the ending again and she finishing just a split second before her two bandmates. She mentioned to her band that they had hit the ending on all the songs until this last one. What would Terence Fletcher in Whiplash have to say about it? Luckily, he wasn't around and a good laugh was shared by the band instead.

Setlist: Another One, Thank You, Jenga, Good Thing, Yesterday (The Beatles' cover), Keep Out.