Here she is, in what she is most famous for – her cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” – a performance that has 91 million (and counting) views on YouTube. Like, those are Eminem numbers. She’s not a superstar. How on earth does someone not in the mainstream get 91 million views for one performance on YouTube? Well, here’s why.
This is a live take (or, at least, her vocals are). She did it in one. It may have even been the first take. I am sure her fans will set me straight if I get it wrong because her fans are intensely devoted.
She works a lot with Vintage Postmodern Jukebox, a project where singers re-interpret pop/rock classics into blues/jazz/standard-ish forms. There’s a lot out there, sometimes hit or miss – but this … this is a hit. What I like about this performance is … just like the singers of old – and it’s not so much in vogue now because everything is so technologically advanced there’s not a chance for this kind of singing to really develop – is that her voice is another instrument in the band – she’s an instrument herself – the music speaks to her and she speaks back. This is like Ella/Dino stuff. She understands music. She’s not just a good singer. She understands music.
What I also like about it is it starts at one level – then it explodes – then she brings it back down – then she brings it up again – and when she explodes again it’s at a higher level than the prior explosion – and then when she brings it up AGAIN, it goes even bigger than that. She doesn’t give it all away from the jump. She MODULATES her performance, in other words. She is in total control over it: when she uses vibrato, when she doesn’t, when she hits a note straight on, when she adds trills – when she goes falsetto, when she belts, when she gets the RASP in her voice – she chooses it all. You see the issue with some young singers: the whole damn thing is a trill. They forget about the song they’re singing.
Here she is performing “House of the Rising Sun.” This is almost 10 years ago. It’s eloquent to see her live, to see her in a less formal setting – because her talent is still there. She doesn’t need bells/whistles. She IS bells/whistles.
There’s more out there of her on YouTube performing live. She has a couple albums out. I am excited she’s found a place for that – as an INTERPRETER of songs. This used to be how it was. Everyone sang the same songs. Ella. Frank. Judy. Nobody was writing their own stuff. It was a given that everyone would sing the same songs, and you can hear Ella’s “take”, or Judy’s “take.” This is not the world we live in now, except for anomalies like Michael Buble and/or Robbie Williams. Anyone with a marginally good voice and marginally good looks is shoe-horned into a pre-constructed aesthetic/sound. Haley Reinhart hasn’t gone that route.
I’m a big fan.
LOVED her on American Idol. She came in third (season 10). Should have won. Have been following her ever since and she has done amazing things.
Melissa – I had stopped watching American Idol by then – I am so sorry I missed her stint. She is a true talent and I’m glad she’s found her place in this classic-covers world – It really suits her, I think.
Haley may be the best singer of our generation. She easily slays jazz, rock, pop, blues, whatever she wants, with a stunning range of color and tones and texture. Her vocal range is astounding. And not only that, she is a great performer, she is fun to watch, her eyes, her arms, her hands. She moves smoothly and elegantly. If you get a chance, go see her live, it will be like seeing a young Ella, Barbra, or Amy W.
RC Leech:
// Her vocal range is astounding. //
It blows me away. Her belt is just out of this world – I can’t believe how high she can go, without any strain.
I definitely will keep my radar up for any live performances (once Covid is … over?) – I’d love to see her in action.
Repeat listener here: She is marvelous! Some of her choices mid-song catch me by surprise (falsetto, vibrato, belting, straight, swelling, that RASP, etc) but they just hit so *Right* — not that they make other versions wrong; I’m a both-and listener, not an either-or. Haley has quite the instrument, and I love that interpretation is how she’s using it!
On a different music note, I don’t know if I ever commented on your Jessie Reyez post, but thank you for introducing her! Some days just aren’t complete without listening to Coffin, or delving into her other works.
// but they just hit so *Right* //
They really do. Her instincts are really really good about material, and things she can interpret and things she can bring to it. I really respect that – she understands music – she’s not just a good voice.
So excited Jessie Reyez is in your life now! Isn’t she fascinating? So unique! Can’t wait to see what else she does!
Jessie Reyez is phenomenal! She also understands the music and what she wants it to say/do — and has sweet gentleness vs raspiness vs belting of her own. Looking forward to see what she does next!
// sweet gentleness vs raspiness vs belting of her own. //
yes! It’s really amazing how she can flow from one to the other.
I loved that…”except” for the last part, because it felt too pop-ish, but I will be open to it again, because the rest was perfection. Thank you.
It’s a fine line sometimes, for sure. What I like about her is that her vocal choices feel appropriate to the material – not just random showoff-y notes like a lot of singers. She gets how to build things, she’s sensitive to what the song needs – I really respect that!
A lot of people do not understand that had American Idol only permitted “one vote per individual voting”, which is the fairest way to hold a talent contest, as oppose to “almost unlimited power-voting”, that Haley Reinhart would have won American Idol easily hands down. Which is why so many people to this day still can’t believe she didn’t win American Idol easily.
Unfortunately, there was this super large contingent of adolescent females that every year power-voted together as a gigantic voting block for the cute guys regardless of talent. In Haley’s season of American Idol, they voted Scotty McCreery first because he was the cute guy and then they voted Lauren Alaina second because they were shipping Scotty and Lauren together romantically.
Nonetheless, Haley Reinhart was by far the best contestant that season and it wasn’t even close.
Meanwhile, the primary reason why Haley is so obscure is because she has been deliberately holding her career back by not signing a record deal with a big major record label for years already. Which is peculiar because she definitely has enough of her own money to bankroll her own career without becoming indebted to a record label via advances.
Moreover, I wish she would sign a record deal for the mass exposure she would gain alone. As her own music would finally be played on the airwaves and she is such a versatile singer that she would inevitably appear on countless network TV shows and specials.