I wrote this about how I first came across Jordan Gruver on Instagram back in early September:
"I thought I first came across Jordan Gruver back in July at Club Tee Gee. That turned out not to be accurate. I was scanning through my list of bands / artists that I saw in 2023 to do some quick research about when I last saw another band. As I was scanning through, Gruver’s name popped up. I was a bit surprised. And then I remembered the night. I was invited to photograph a trio of bands at Hotel Cafe. I got there a touch early and caught a song or maybe just half a song by Gruver. At the time, I remember thinking that I really needed to catch a full set as I loved the song and so I added the name to my list of bands / artists I’d seen. Well, I obviously forgot about my desire to catch a full set – in my defense, I see way too many bands / artists. Flash forward a few months and it happened by random and I totally didn’t recall that moment back in 2023 until a couple days ago."
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| Jordan Gruver at Hotel Ziggy |
Gruver's music is the classic singer-songwriter sound that has wonderful music composition surprises that pop up during each listen. Her songs can be found in her recently released album Until I'm Old News. The above mentioned Club Tee Gee set was to celebrate the release of that album. A ten song gem of an album.
As anyone who follows me on Instagram knows, I enjoy hanging out at a WFNM night, be it at Hotel Ziggy or Bar Lubitsch. I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed that Gruver was on the schedule at Hotel Ziggy. I immediately put the night down on my schedule.
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| Jordan Gruver at Hotel Ziggy |
On a side note: as the year-end approaches, I always put together a list of my favorite "new" bands or artists of the year. Jordan Gruver will definitely be on that list. Another list I put together, is which bands or artists did I catch the most times during the year. That crown belongs to Escape Artist Lovers at 5 times. Gruver is currently in a tie position for second, having seen her three different times. Bands, as of the time of the post, that I've seen three times is a long list of bands that I've followed for a couple years or even close to a decade: Boy Deluxe, Halo Kitsch, Pagoto, and Valley Queen. Gruver is the new face on that list.
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| Jordan Gruver at Hotel Ziggy |
Back to the WFNM night, Gruver played a short 6 song set, which included a couple unreleased songs in "Places We've Walked" and "Drunk On Dreaming." The backing band included Chase Miller on guitar, Max Crane on bass, and Jon Brandt on drums. It is a trio that has long backed Gruver so they know the nuances of the music (the album includes a trumpet and perhaps other instruments so to be honest you don't get the full experience of how the music is intended to be represented, but it is still a wonderful experience). Two friends of Gruver who were there to support were sitting on the long couch off to the side (something I also noticed happened during a Hailey Wild set). What's with friends not wanting to be in front of the stage? The two friends did cheer loudly for every song. Gruver started off the set playing the keys before switching to the acoustic guitar for the final songs. The music was played in a soft tone with silky smooth vocals.
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| Jordan Gruver at Hotel Ziggy |
I have a handful of favorite songs from the album. Let's go with "Without Loving You" for this post. Gruver introduced the song with the following explanation, "This song is about when you're dating someone that your identity is so wrapped up in them that you don't even know who you are. Yeah, we love that. Some light-hearted topics. This song is above having that realization and getting the f*ck out of it." The song has a jazzy, melancholy feel that fits so well with the topic.
Watched you slip awayUntil you were out of touch
Never was good at change
Now I think about it too much
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