Series wraps up tonight with Paradigm

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen of Boise State University. Tonight is the final night of this year’s CoffeeHouse Concert Series. Student Activities Program Coordinator Kristen Salo said, “It’s gonna be a good concert to kick off spring break.” Today is St. Patrick’s Day, so here’s what I recommend:

Come down to the Brava Stage in the Student Union Building, catch some free music from 5 to 7 p.m., then head out to do whatever hedonistic things you were going to do elsewhere.

Sacramento-based Paradigm returns to campus after having played gigs in downtown Boise at Grainey’s in July and October of last year. Salo describes the band as awesome, saying, “They have really good presence on stage,” and mentions that female vocalist Shannon Curtis provides a nice dynamic for the band, because most other bands that trip through Boise have male leads.

Tonight’s show is expected to be louder than most CoffeeHouse Concerts. Because of sound requirements, Student Activities isn’t allowed to book bands, only solo artists, to play in the SUB, except for at the beginning and end of the series.

According to their publicists, Paradigm’s sound draws comparisons to Sarah McLachlan, Counting Crows, U2, and ColdPlay. In my estimation, their music slides somewhere in the neighborhood of light alternative, the softer kind that doesn’t make you want to hit things.

Last week, darling North Dakota college student Jessie Veeder played in the SUB. To make the long drive, she hitched a ride with her father, who looked on proudly from the small crowd throughout her set. “He’s the one who taught me. He’s my major influence,” the younger Veeder said of her dad after her show. Additionally, he credits the remote, which sounds a lot like “remoot” when he says it with a slight North Dakotan accent, location of the Badlands in which she grew up for the development of Jessie’s unique sound. “Isolation helped develop her musical stylings,” he said.

The 21-year-old singer/songwriter released her first album when she was 16, and her next release is due out in the coming weeks.

During the show, Veeder played some amazing original acoustic material, and a few covers by the likes of Lyle Lovett, John Denver, and even Elvis. Her father smiled when he heard the Presley tune and said, “I’ve never heard her do an Elvis song before. That’s cool.”

Veeder finishes college this semester and hopes in the coming years to be “keeping music in my life, hopefully doing it for a living,” just as long as she is “in a place in my musical career that I’m comfortable with.”

Judging by how comfortable Jessie Veeder is with being on stage and interacting with her audiences, big things can be expected from this small-town girl.

Come out tonight, please, and support the final show in the CoffeeHouse Concert Series. Student Activities works hard to set up events to keep the student population entertained. Attending a free St. Patrick’s Day musical set is a great way to say thanks and give them feedback for next year.

Travis Estvold

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