It was a cold Saturday night, but the country/Americana music of singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Alisan Porter warmed up the crowd on hand to see her inviting and enjoyable headlining set at Hotel Cafe on February 17th. Supported by her talented backing musicians Stephan and Shelley Hovsepian and Drew McKeon, the intimate, multifaceted performance was complete with personal stories about her making dreams come true in music and entertainment, and still preserving and balancing it all being a wife and mother. Porter has an extraordinary and captivating voice that is exceptionally powerful, and soul accented.
Porter has an expressive vocal style, coupled with an uncanny sense of control and dynamics when she sings. Porter has clearly lived through the experiences of the songs which sings. This artist obviously connects very strongly to the original material with astounding emotional honesty and raw emotional vulnerability. There were a number of standout songs (“Meant For Me” and “See Me In The Dark” in this 10-track set along with two great covers: “Judy Garland’s “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” and John Prine’s penned“Angel of Montgomery” done in Bonnie Raitt’s style, also comprised of material from “Pink Cloud,” “Who Are We” albums and “I Come In Piece” EP.
Alisan Porter has done it all from being a five-time junior vocalist champion on “Star Search” to acting in “Curly Sue” and “Parenthood” among her many movie credits. In 2016, she went on to wow audiences on “The Voice” winning the 10th season alongside her vocal coach Christina Aguilera. With more creativity and music within her, and the fire to keep performing and recording new songs, Alisan Porter is a gifted artist you may want to catch and not miss when she performs again. It was a real treat to see A-list caliber of Porter sing within the confines of the intimate setting of Hotel Cafe at Main Stage.
Musical collaborator and friend Kylie Rothfield also performed with Porter. Rothfield is a force of nature on her own and opened for Porter with a winning set of soul, blues and pop music. Rothfield’s music is earthy, distinctive, direct, and expressive. She is very good and accomplished guitarist in her own right. Rothfield, also in 2016, was selected to be on “The Voice” and was chosen by Alicia Keys, who coached her throughout the season.
Meant For Me
Never Could
Change
See In the Dark
Let Him Fly
Speed Racer
Like A Drug
Gone In a Flash
Over The Rainbow (Judy Garland)
Encore: Angel From Montgomery (Bonnie Raitt)
Shelley Hovsepian – sang with Alisan
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