In honor of the recent release of Priscilla Ahn’s debut album A Good Day and her recent appearance on Jay Leno. Here is an Email Interview I did with Ms.Ahn a couple weeks ago:

AvantTrash: When i’d seen you last year at a school fundraiser in the back of a store; your set painted a lovely picture of Pennsylvania. How would you describe your upbringing?
Priscilla Ahn: In general, it was pretty quiet. My parents were strict as I got older, so I didn’t go out much and “party”. I spent most of my time at school. I was involved in sports and music and drama, which took up most of my time. When I got home I studied. The older I got, the more I fought with my parents, so I tried to spend most of my time in my bedroom, reading, playing guitar….

AT: What made you pick up the guitar or start writing songs?
PA: My Dad always urged me to do it. But I never had any real interest in it until 9th grade, when a guy I liked played the guitar really well, like James Taylor style. I thought it was the coolest thing, and dug out my mom’s old guitar she had brought with her from S. Korea.

AT: Did you tour? Did you do the coffee house circuit? Any busking or singing for your dinner?
PA: When I first started out I did a lot of coffee houses. I also tried to get gigs anywhere I could. A lot of those places were restaurants and bars. I’d play for like, 3 hours, and make $60. I never liked to “busk”. I was never in a position where i had to, so i figured why should i? it’s exhausting work. But when my family and I were on vacation at the beach, my dad made me sing for change on the boardwalk. I was into the first night, but then…..well, like i said….it’s exhausting. You’re constantly giving energy to a majority of people who didn’t care, and your only real validation that people like you, is their loose change. Although, i have to say, I didn’t do too bad.

AT: And the trip out to L.A.? What prompted it and how was your trip out here?
PA: My first trip out here was with 2 other musicians. Our goal was to write songs on the road. We never wrote anything, but the traveling was unforgettable. And the moment we drove into L.A. I knew it was a place I wanted to be. So….one month later I packed up my car and drove out. It took me 5 days. It was truly an adventure. I was 19, traveling alone across the country, staying in hotels by myself for the first time, blasting Led Zeppelin in my Saturn. It was cool.

AT: I heard you waitressed… where was it and how long did that last?
PA: I waitressed at a restaurant called Cheebo. I was there for a year.

AT: How did you get hooked up with Joey Waronaker?
PA: My manager hooked me up with him. We had coffee and I really liked his personality, and we became friends from there.

AT: How was the Hotel Cafe tour? Who do you think is going to be the next big thing from that group?
PA: The tour was a lot of fun. All good people, singing together, traveling together. It was pretty cool. I have no idea who’s gonna “blow up” next. I’m never really good at guessing those things, cuz the ones you would think are the least likely to, are playing in the grocery store the next day. I can say, though, that I listen to Buddy’s album ALL the time. He gave me an advance copy of it about a year ago (lucky me!) and i think i’ve worn it out.

AT: With all the craziness in the music business, where do you see music going?
PA: Who knows? It seems like it’s going into the hands of whoever wants it, really. Music will always be one of the most popular forms of art and entertainment. It’s just, how people hear it, and how people choose it, that’s changing. I love that music is available wherever you are, and that I can record a song on my laptop and post it to a bunch of people on myspace in a matter of a few hours, or less. Things are just gonna get faster and more efficient…..and smaller probably.

AT: Thanks for your time.
PA: no prob! :)

—–
How Lovely. So a couple days ago I asked for people to send me emails telling me why they should get Priscilla’s CD and that I’d give them to the best 2 answers. Well the winners were Tonya Howell from Grand Island, NE and Mrs. Beth Miller from Lebabon, PA
Mrs. Miller Wrote:

Priscilla Hartranft Ahn is from Bernville, PA but also descends from Korea.
I was her high school counselor at Tulpehocken High School where she was encouraged to follow her heart and not the expectations of others.
She resisted those enormous conformity pressures and look what has flourished!
I am a proud mama. We are a Tulpehocken Proud village.
That is why I want to win the CD.
Otherwise, I will have to call her mother and pay for one!
(^_*)
Mrs. Beth Miller, retired

Wow! My guidance counselors weren’t that helpful!
Tonya Howell wrote:

Why I should get the CD? Because her song “Rain” has gotten me through these massive amounts rainy days, flooded basements and sewer back-ups on the island that is Grand. I included it on my mix: http://www.mixwit.com/tonya_howell/rain-more-rain-even-more-rain

Yeah that weather stuff is nasty. We don’t have that stuff in L.A. anymore. Congrats to the winners and stay tuned for more contests and a LOT more live reviews!

My first exposure to Priscilla Ahn was through sheer coincidence. Early Last year I was working for a band who happened to be playing a little benefit show in an exotic home interiors store in Eagle Rock. The opener was the featherweight Phoebe Cates (or yes, Winnie Cooper) stand-in Ms.Ahn. With her guitar and handful of toys and gadgets she made the space her own little world. Her songs transported me into to a place that you’d think only she’d been. But what really slayed me was the delicate orchestra coming off of one small person. With the aide of a Boss loop station pedal she made enough music to fill 3 coffee houses. So of course I’d wondered what it would sound like if she actually had a full band behind her.

Flash forward a year to the night of the release of her debut album A Good Day, where Priscilla and her parlor full of band members took the stage of the Hotel Café. The house was packed with a surprisingly high contingency of asian fans (role model?) and some buzz seeking industry and media reps. I joined a photo pit of about 7 packed into the small corner off stage left and prepared to be destroyed with a feather.

Priscillas stage persona is a tiny ball of artisitic elation, at once nervous and as comfortable as if she were singing to herself…which she eventually did (in loops). The room was stuffy but a cool breeze flowed from the opening numbers of Priscillas set with “Wallflowers” and the Dylan/Lennon Harmonica infused “I don’t think so”. She beamed as she announced the albums release and proclaimed that she was going to “play the whole damn thing”. Which she nearly did… minus the albums’ title track. Her co-penned song “Astronaut” stuck out of the middle of her set just as it does on the album with a storytellers jumble of The Ditty Bops meets “Mr. Kite”.

Even the smallest band would feel crowded on the Hotel Café’s Stage, but veterans such as bandleader/producer/mentor Joey Waronker played to perfection and drove songs like “Red Cape” beyond what the very capable Ahn could do solo. As I was debating the merits of her work with a band and solo Ahn broke out her ukulele for “Find My Way Back Home” and proved how absolutely powerful she could be with just 4 strings and no accompaniment.

But what makes a Priscilla Ahn show is the personality transferred through her storytelling. Debatably the most beautiful song in her cadre is “Lullaby” which comes with a wonderful story about small town escapism and unqualified local policemen; sealed with her Joni Mitchell to Delores O’Riordan vocal outro. As the set was winding down she also shared her story of Willie Nelson’s reaction to her cover of “Opportunity to Cry” before launching into the song with folk swing.

The evening was capped with her “Dream” of a new single which builds to a peak with a looped armada of perfectly harmonized siren calls from Ahn. The added layers of Upright Bass, Drums, Keys, Electric Guitar and Two Cellos pushed this showstopper to the brink of spiritual enlightenment.

The assumed Encore and closer was the kazoo soloed “The Boob Song”, an older fixture of her set with more great storytelling and playful teenage introspection. A fun close to a great set, Priscilla Ahn is full of promise and potential. She radiates a joy in creation and performance that you won’t see too often in bitter, navelgazing hipsters on dark stages in Silverlake. Although my shirt was sticking to my back and the Hotel Café had to be its typical high 80s climate, I felt refreshed by this show as if i’d just walked through the rain.

9.4/10

I saw Priscilla Ahn at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood for her CD Release Show tonight. She is still amazing! I will be posting a glowing review and an interview tonight. In case you want a little taste of Priscilla Ahn then set your Chin seeking TiVo tonight (Wed) and catch her performing her single “Dream” to perfection on the Tonight Show.

To celebrate her amazing CD Release, Filter Magazine has hooked me up with 2 copies of A Good Day to give away to 2 lucky AvantTrash readers. All you have to do to get one is to email me at contest[at]avanttrash.com and tell me where Ms.Ahn is from and why you want the record. HINT I’ll pick the 2 best.

Massive amounts of reviews coming soon, its been a busy week.

L.A.’s Pennsylvania-transplant Songbird Priscilla Ahn doesn’t seem intimidated by a city full of singer-songwriters. Her album is confident and honest. Her voice is light and young but with hints of adulthood that have creeped in between her new full-length release A Good Day (out June 10 on Blue Note) and her previous EP. Her songs like lucid dreams take their time in delivering their message which could help it to hold up on repeated listenings.

The whimsy of the album reaches it’s peak with the song-story “Astronaut” which listeners might find in the vein of the Ditty Bops with its “Being For The Benefit of Mr.Kite” instrumentation. It follows like a cloud with “Lullabye” which features some of the loveliest vocals on the record. Her voice would be like mixing a milkshake of Keren Ann and Delores O’ Riordan in a blender with some tiny smooth pebbles for texture. But like many albums. the A-side is the strongest while it’s B-side remains passable thanks mostly to a cover of Willie Nelson’s “Opportunity to Cry” and the albums titular closer. But this is by no means a weak showing.

Last month I’d recommended you keep an eye on her and after hearing the new album, i mean it. The musicianship is clean with a sound thats layered but not overproduced thanks to notorious hired gun drummer/producer Joey Waronker. (Beck, R.E.M.)

No doubt Priscilla Ahn will be involved in some heavy touring to promote A Good Day, should the opportunity present itself, go see her! More than likely she will be headlining within a year. Rating: 7.5/10