Are you ready? The time is right. Summer is now gone, and it finally took the cursed heat away with it. As we now enter October, all of us are ready to throw open our arms and fully embrace the autumn season.
The 2011-12 season at The Paramount brings the high-wattage star power early by featuring k.d. Lang as its first act this year, an inspired choice of an inspiring artist. She arrives this month and brings her band, The Siss Boom Bang.
A Canadian country crooner with pop appeal and mainstream success, k.d. Lang got her start in the mid-1980s. She won "Entertainer of the Year" by the Canadian Country Music Association for a duet with the legendary Roy Orbison, but that was merely the beginning of her accolades. She won her first Grammy in 1989 (Best Female Country Vocal Performance).
1992 saw Lang reach the stratosphere with her breakout hit, "Constant Craving." For this song, she won multiple Grammys (including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance), an MTV Video Music award (back when people paid attention to those), and legions of new fans. Her collaborations over the years have been wide, varied, and universally acclaimed.
Lang's passion also extends into her activism, where she champions for: gay/lesbian rights, animal rights, veganism, and free Tibet. She's also made some crossover appearances in film and television over the years ("Ellen," "Glee," "Dharma & Greg," "The Larry Sanders Show"), but her heart and soul still reside in her music.
Oh, and what incredible music it is, my friends. It begins and ends with that voice of hers. It's nuanced, emotional, and full of a certain smoky soulfulness tempered beyond her years. Reminiscent of Roy Orbison, and perhaps even Elvis himself, her vocals possess a haunting tone that makes her style unique and timeless.
For example, here's one of her latest tracks with the band, the sultry and sorrowful single entitled, "I confess."
That's just... amazing. Simply sublime.
Thinking of that timber, resonating within the walls of the theatre, gets my heart racing with an eager anticipation. It's the sense that I'm in for a special night. It's not everyday that one gets to experience such a subversive and truly alternate take on a genre often viewed as conservative, but through her talent k.d. Lang has made her music all her own. She's a natural and a living legend, and she's coming to Austin.
As the first notes from her and her band rise from the stage, the 2011/12 season will truly be kicked off with a bang. Well, perhaps I should say with a... siss boom bang.
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