Anna p.s. Loops Her Way Into Your Heart on The Wild Rose Moon Radio Hour
Anna p.s. often performs her songs with a “looper,” a device that musicians use to record a repeated pattern, be it played on guitar or voice, allowing her to layer rhythm or harmony vocals, or a lead instrument into the mix of her live performances. Much like multi-tracking in a studio, Anna adds a whole host of musical elements in her direct and plaintive songs. Whether adding to the melody or harmonic underpinnings with her voice, silver flute, or beautiful whistling, the effect of this work on Anna’s easy-paced songs is expansive. In the song, Dime and Dance, Anna asks a series of existential questions -- How many times will I leave the day behind? How many tries before I lose the fire inside? How many places will I go before I find something true? How many years must a soul be buried alive? How many demons must I leave behind? How much of life is just a game of cards and chance? Heavy material, yet placed in such a pleasing tuneful way, we hardly notice because we are caught in her dramatic presentation. The point is, Anna’s performance is like watching a parade of poignant pieces of musical theater – full of emotion and life's struggles -- but oh so breathtaking in execution. Her song, Ghost, is a remarkable work that conveys the metaphysical and emotional distancing experienced from a broken relationship. The verse leads easily into the chorus, Where clouds kiss wheatfields/I can see you standing in place/I used to think of as home/But you’re a ghost. You’re a gh-o-o-o-st, and I’m al-o-o-o-o-ne. Here the long slow tremolo of her vocal –dark and misty— hangs in the air, building the dramatic tension, just like a ghost might do. You can catch Anna’s amazing songs this Monday, March 7th at 9 p.m., on WVPE 88.1 FM. Also on the program is Bremen High School Junior, Emma Heller. Emma performs a beautiful song of deep longing, delivered almost in a passionate whisper. Essentially a sung prose poem, the song deftly handles its narrative and evokes a passionate love of life and its loneliness. Oh, Clouds just keep rolling/past the dark sky/past the street light/up six stories high/and the concrete feel much cooler than it did last year/so where’s the river and the space?” Don’t miss it, Anna and Emma, all together in their own space, Monday night, in this powerful edition of the Wild Rose Moon Radio Hour, “A Home for Humans.”
With support from 1st Source Bank.