SONG OF THE DAY
“Winter Song” by Sara Bareilles (with Ingrid Michaelson) (2008).
WHERE I HEARD IT
Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance, of course. Thanks again, Aunt Chris, Laura, and Clairesy for introducing me to that show. The talent of the contestants continually amazes me, and that’s not even why I watch! I watch to be exposed to new music! Getting to witness how the brilliant pairing of music and movement unfolds each episode is a just a sick bonus!
INTERESTING FACTS (a la wikipedia)
– In December 2008, a single with Ingrid Michaelson titled “Winter Song” was released off the compilation The Hotel Cafe Presents Winter Songs. The two performed it on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and an animated video was released.
– “Winter Song” was also featured on the eighth episode of season 4 of Brothers & Sisters, and on the fifth episode of the third season of Army Wives.
– Ingrid and her friend Sara Bareilles co-wrote “Winter Song” which was featured on The Hotel Café Presents Winter Songs, a compilation of both original recordings as well as classic holiday tracks sung by a lineup of female singer-songwriters.
– Bareilles performed with many other singers on the season 3 finale of 30 Rock, alongside Mary J. Blige, Rachael Yamagata, Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones and Elvis Costello. She also appeared with Weezer on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
– She has performed for the First Family numerous times. Bareilles was first invited by First Lady Michelle Obama to play at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh in September 2009. Here she performed songs for the First Ladies of 20 nations and afterward dined with Michelle Obama. The Obamas again invited her to perform at the Easter Egg Roll in 2010. On October 20, it was announced that Sara would open for President Obama at a Las Vegas rally for the Democratic midterm elections.
– In December, Bareilles and fellow singer Ingrid Michaelson performed “Winter Song” for the Obamas and many spectators at the National Christmas Tree Lighting.
– In December 2010, Bareilles appeared with The Backbeats on the season finale of The Sing-Off.
РThe Hotel Caf̩ is a live music venue located off an alley on the Cahuenga Boulevard strip in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California that has become known for helping to establish the careers of new singer-songwriters in the 2000s.
– Opened by Max Mamikunian and Marko Shafer, two aspiring screenwriters, the venue began as a coffee shop, but has gained a reputation as an intimate performance space featuring acoustic-based female songwriters, such as Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson, Priscilla Ahn, Charlotte Martin, Laura Jansen and Meiko.
РThe venue has become its own brand, with its Hotel Caf̩ Tour, a record label, and two albums, Live From the Hotel Caf̩, and The Hotel Caf̩ Presents Winter Songs.
– When The Hotel Café opened in 2000, it operated as a coffee shop where singer-songwriters came to perform their material for small audiences. Co-owner Maximillian Mamikunian has noted that in the venue’s early days, turning a profit was challenging, as the cafe’s steamers and blenders could only be run between songs so as not to drown them out. Today, the venue’s main room still has its five original elevated bar tables running along a hallway linking the front and back of the club, as well as six dinner tables set immediately in front of the stage. In 2004, the club acquired space next door and underwent expansion for eight months.
– Since 2004, the club has curated an annual group musical tour. Past featured artists have include Meiko, Rachel Yamagata, and Brooke Fraser. Most stops are in the United States, but past tours have also included performances in Norway and Switzerland.
– The Hotel Café’s website, like the venue itself, has served as a source for new artists to be tapped by music enthusiasts and industry professionals alike. Grey’s Anatomy music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas has used both the website and club itself as sources for discovering artists and songs she uses on the show.
– Ingrid Ellen Michaelson (born December 8, 1979) is a New York-based indie-pop singer-songwriter, best known for her single “The Way I Am”.
– Michaelson was born to artistic parents. Her father is a composer and her mother is a sculptor. Michaelson took up piano at age four, and trained until seven at Manhattan’s Third Street Music School, continuing for many more years at the Jewish Community Center of Staten Island’s Dorothy Delson Kuhn Music Institute.
– She is a graduate of Staten Island Technical High School and Binghamton University, where she received a degree in theater. While at Binghamton University she was a member of the Binghamtonics, a co-ed acappella group, as well as the Pappy Parker Players, an improv comedy group.
– Sara Beth Bareilles (born December 7, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She achieved mainstream success in 2007 with the hit single “Love Song”, which brought her into the #1 spot on the Billboard Pop 100 chart. She has sold over 1 million records worldwide and has been Grammy nominated three times.
– Bareilles was born and raised in Eureka, California, the youngest of three daughters of a funeral home worker and an insurance adjuster. She was raised Catholic and participated in the high school choir, Limited Edition, and local community theater musical productions, including her high school’s production of Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey.
– Bareilles attended the Communication Studies program at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was a member of the co-ed a cappella group Awaken A Cappella, and can be heard on their Dysfunktional Family album singing “Gravity” and “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5.
– The group’s rendition of Bareilles’ “Gravity” was featured on the Best of College A Cappella 2004 compilation CD.
– Sara also stated on MTV’s TRL that she and the band Maroon 5 go back far to their younger days in California when the band was known as Kara’s Flowers.
– She performed in the annual student concert, UCLA Spring Sing, winning twice.
РAfter graduating from college in 2002, Bareilles performed at local bars and clubs (such as the Hotel Caf̩ and Genghis Cohen in Los Angeles), building a following before performing in larger venues.
– In mid-2004 she supported Guster on their first UK tour and co-headlined a tour with Jon McLaughlin. She toured as the opening act in 2006 for Marc Broussard’s Carencro tour. In 2007, Bareilles toured as the opening act for Aqualung and Mika, and later that year opened for several shows on both Maroon 5 and Paolo Nutini’s U.S. tours. She also opened for James Blunt on his U.S. Tour.
– Bareilles’ vocal range registers from contralto to mezzo-soprano, and is often compared to artists such as Fiona Apple, Billy Joel, Joni Mitchell and Norah Jones due to her vocal ability and incorporation of piano in her music. Her musical influences include Sarah McLachlan, Nelly Furtado, Alicia Keys and Joni Mitchell.
– She plays the piano, guitar, ukulele, and harmonium.