The Silverlake Lounge: The Little Miss with Cassandra Violet and Sven Fleming

Checking out The Little Miss and her The Silverlake Lounge set represented my second straight night of record release parties. On Monday, I went to Honey Child's release party. And then on Tuesday, it was off to The Little Miss to catch her "Best Self" release party. Hayley Johnson's set was filled with folk sounds layered in with random humorous takes on life. How much money did you spend on Amazon buying useless things that you thought would help improve your life? Did you consider moving to Idaho to save money? There was more than just an album release party. It was also her birthday. Both her parents were their to celebrate with a cake and candles. Also, her dad joined in on guitar for a song. It was mentioned that he had bought her a guitar for her 21st birthday and that she initially had no real use for it, because she didn't even know how to play guitar. Then a couple years passed and all is history.  

The Little Miss

Cassandra Violet started out her set with the most perfect whistling. Sven Fleming opened up the night with some longing tunes. Interesting note for the night is that his drummer then went on to play guitar for The Little Miss. 

Cassandra Violet

Sven Fleming

The Silverlake Lounge: Ryan Hahn & The Believers, The Little Miss and Water Tower

As mentioned in my Starcrawler blog post, before this Silverlake Lounge outing, I'd already gone out to catch some live music - Starcrawler, of course. But I considered the Starcrawler set to be a pre-season outing on my part as the band didn't do a full set and it was an acoustic one at that, which is nothing like their live sets. 

I honestly was thinking that I might not catch another live set until early July when I plan to catch a DIY festival (there is an El Cid event that I really want to go to in a week, but I already know I'll be working late that night). But as I was scanning through Instagram, I came across a night at The Silverlake Lounge that featured Ryan Hahn & The Believers, The Little Miss, and Water Tower. The event was also listed as an acoustic night, but it didn't feel like one -- other than the absence of their drummers. This is my long way of saying that I consider this night to be my official first music outing of the (hopefully) pre-COVID-19 world.

Ryan Hahn & The Believers

So how did it feel to be back seeing live music inside an actual venue? Since Feb 2021 (the last time I went out before COVID-19 shut down the music industry), I've seen live music -- I'm not going to lie. I've been invited to see some acoustic sets played. I ran across some music alongside the LA River. I was invited to photograph a taping of a band for the online version of Echo Park Rising 2021. But this, with the hope that we are past COVID-19, brought a big smile to my face. I just couldn't help it. The crowd was enthusiastic. This was the most people I've seen inside The Silverlake Lounge in years. It was amazing.

The Little Miss

The night was filled with Americana Rock. And yes, it was listed as an acoustic night, but the bands had the speakers blasting and the electric guitars plugged in (okay maybe just one). It didn't remind me much of a quiet acoustic night.

Comment of the night came from The Little Miss: How many people found themselves spending a lot of time on Zillow? Like, how would it be to live in Missouri? Cheaper. 

Water Tower

  

 

Quick Hit Artist Interview: The Little Miss

The Little Miss at Harvard & Stone

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? I would describe our sound as modern rock with an old time-y Americana influence. Sort of Florence + The Machine meets Johnny Cash.

How do you go about combining lyrics and sound? It all comes together at once for me (at least most of the time). I usually start out by trying to get to the bottom of how I feel. It can take some time, but I try to find the most honest and raw initial lyric, and then I add on from there. It's really exciting when the melody comes out at the same time as the lyrics, because it feels like the true FEELING of it is all there. The words and the sound are unified - a single entity - as one in the same.

Own Q&A. Hmm. I guess I'd want to be asked about what I hope to accomplish with my music? And the answer is this: It sounds cliché, but I hope to make people feel less alone. That's what music has always done for me. I think that's what it does for everyone - we hear ourselves in someone else, and it takes away the shame or isolation that comes with feeling alone in our emotions. Not only that, but I want to shine a light on the impact of some of our social conditioning. My music wrestles with what it means to be living under a capitalistic, patriarchal society. I want people to see their own self-loathing, or their own perfectionism, procrastination, etc. in my lyrics and to know that we're all working through this stuff together - hopefully towards a more free, equitable and fulfilling version of society.

5 Nights: Sun Space to The Echo to The Satellite to Harvard & Stone to The Hi Hat

Something that I rarely do occurred recently. I went out five straight nights to catch various bands. There was a band or singer at each night that I wanted to catch so none of this was random. And some of this was also driven by traditions that I hold dear.

First night out was Saturday where I headed out to a venue I'd never gone to called Sun Space. It is a small venue that probably has a maximum capacity set at 35 - 40 people. It is a non-profit and has a Pehrspace vibe -- though much smaller. The location has two small rooms. The back room is dedicated to art while the front room is dedicated to live art (via their Instagram they hold comedy and music nights).

I went there specifically to catch Suzie True. I caught this band earlier in the year at The Smell and had wanted to catch them a second time ever since then. I love how their music speeds along, but the vocals have a melodic tone to it. Also playing was Lindsay B who closed out the night and Foxx Bodies who played prior to Suzie True. Opening the night was Girl Hazel. I only caught a couple songs, but am definitely interesting in hearing a full set after just that brief introduction.

Suzie True

On Sunday, it was off to The Echo to catch Kevin. I saw Kevin for the first time in August at Echo Park Rising and have been rather addicted to this band since that point. Quincy and Kimi have way too much fun playing off each other. It is just great seeing them having so much fun on stage. The night actually belonged to French Vanilla who was ending their tour. This was my first time catching them this year. I just love how their punk rock sounds include a saxophone. Opening the night was Mary and Heaven Pegasus. They switched off with each other during a 30 minute set. When one was playing, the other would rush off stage and change into a different wardrobe. It was rather amusing.

Kevin

Monday was spent at The Satellite to catch Livingmore and Oriah. Oriah opened up with some rocking sounds. Livingmore is obviously a band I spent a number of nights catching throughout 2019. And I should say that includes 2018, as well. I've mentioned to lead singer Alex that sometimes they go more country and other times they hit the rock tunes. I think this time they hit a perfect mix between the two. Closing out their residency was King Leg.

Livingmore

Another residency was ending Tuesday at Harvard & Stone. The Little Miss was playing her last set there. I previously saw her way back in October 2018 at the Resident. I did happen to see her as the MC at a recent Stories Books & Cafe. Her MCing was so funny, I decided I needed to catch her live as soon as possible, which was helped along by the fact that she was doing a residency at Harvard & Stone. I have to say I was a little tired out as this was my fourth night out, but I just did a quick hit and run and skipped out on the other two acts. I believe I was in bed by 11:30 p.m.

The Little Miss

My final night out was Wednesday at The Hi Hat. At this point, I was really exhausted, but I had to catch Zealyn. I hadn't caught Zealyn since last year's WFNM holiday party. This particular Wednesday night was also a WFNM holiday party. I just love Zealyn's vocals and leg kicks. Opening was Fyohna, LeyeT and Spectre Jones. I previously caught Spectre Jones at The House of Machines. That band has the best vocal sounds. Unbelievable. LeveT had those youthful energy and pop vocals. Fvohna was electronic synths. Fvohna had one of those accidents that everyone hates to see. Her Mac laptop took a 3 foot drop from the stand to the floor. I swear there has got to be an easy way that would prevent that stuff from happening. I probably see it happen 2 or 3 times a year.

Zealyn

Most amusing moment throughout those five nights happened at The Hi Hat when a person in the audience set up a chair at the front of the stage and sat there throughout most of the four acts. Ah, The Hi Hat is not Hotel Cafe.

I don't know the next time I'll ever do something as crazy like that. Five straight nights puts a strain on the body. But I will say, I enjoyed all five nights.