Two outta three ain't bad

So yesterday I went to see the acoustic set of the Pygmalion music festival. I had such a good time at it last year that I had to go again! This show had two things going for it from the start: being at my absolute favorite coffeehouse in this area and having last year's headliner, Ms. Lynn O'Brien (I've seen her twice). There were four other acts, three of which I'd never seen.
So my friends Addie and Kelly and I headed over to Paradiso, and the place was PACKED. Had we gone later, there would've been standing room only. It was packed, with the singers by the window. There was a miramba player who did her instrumental part before and between acts, and she had a cool sound. Kinda hypnotic, and kind of sounding like it came from outer space or something.
Lynn was the first act. I loved her at last year's show and at my feminist conference, but here she was even better. She was performing by herself (instead of with her family members backing her up) and she's really matured as an entertainer. She is a lot more confident and played some crowd-pleasers toward the end (my favorite is this slinky number called "Italy"), calling for the audience to join her in. My statement about her last year still holds--her music packs a groove so deep you need thigh-high leather boots to get through it! Only this time add some stiletto heels to the boots!
The second act was a guitarist named Angie Heaton. She sounds something like Shelby Lynne or Sheryl Crow, kind of old-time sounding rock but with some alt-folk thrown in there. She had a violinist play with her, which added a mournful tone to her tales of love and loss. She got the timid miramba player in on the fun by asking her to play along. Now I know what you're thinking. "A miramba for a bass line, Alex? Are you serious???" you ask. Well, let's just say that it sounded pretty damn cool! Angie's voice and stage manner have a sassy swagger to them, which is incredibly addictive!
Now for the third, this guy named Ryan Groff took the stage. Let's just say we didn't get past the first song. I don't know where this guy learned to sing or write, but he sang in this horrendously warbly falsetto and had some of the worst lyrics I've heard (the most clever line was a warbled-out "the people of the Midwest have giant hearts inside their chests," which was absolute torture to listen to). I felt like my eardrums were being churned up in a blender just listening to him (and he was one of the quieter acts)! So we left after that song, but hey, at least we got two good acts out of the deal. And I know who to avoid and who to see at next year's Pygmalion.