New York – We made it to see Meg Myers at the kickoff for New Music Seminar’s series of concerts, where music industry savants moonlight as elite concertgoers and everyone revels fully in this particular line of work. As photographers, music writers and record label executives rubbed shoulders with beers in hand, the showcase turned everyone in the business into professional minglers. Ricocheting around the rooms at Webster Hall was a tangible and shared appreciation for supporting new music, and the turnout was notable.
As bands cycled through their set times, Meg Myers was a standout act of the evening. She took the stage a little past 10pm, and the showing that followed had the entire room transfixed. More than once, I overhead crowd mates uttering, “she’s crazy” to their companions. This was meant to be complimentary; not a soul in that room would have wanted Myers to scale down her vigor.
Two degrees separate Myer’s live set from satanic territory; hers is not a performance for the faint of heart. For the duration of her delivery, Myers maintained an intense, razor-sharp glare aimed straight for her audience. The look in her eyes was chilling and brilliant. The unapologetic eye contact and Myer’s erratic movements onstage ultimately worked to produce a matchless portrait of a musical woman warrior.
Like a lioness prowling a zoo cage prison, Myers stalked the stage in repetitious pacing. Moving wilding around captivity, she delivered a show that can only be described as an exercise in catharsis. Truly, watching Myers live is a rush.
Clad in nothing but a crop top, high-waist bathing suit bottoms and low-rise Chuck Taylors, Myers presents herself quite unlike any other female musician out there.
This artist’s work is as close as you can get to hardcore punk without getting bruised and her persona on Sunday seamlessly mimicked her audacious edge.
Raised in Tennessee, Myers currently resides in Los Angeles. It is widely circulated amongst those who report in this arena that Myers is a former Jehovah’s Witness (this intrinsically lends to her complex mystique). Her debut EP, “Daughter In The Choir,” surfaced in 2012 and Atlantic Recordsreleased her most recent EP, “Make a Shadow,” in February.
Notably, Myers’ track “Curbstomp” was featured on New Music Seminar’s Artist On the Verge 2012 Vol. 1 compilation album. Once, Entertainment Weekly described this act as “everything we want in a singer – angry, damaged, and supremely talented.” This hits the nail on the head with succinct accuracy, and perfectly encapsulates everything Myers has delivered in both recorded and live incarnations to date.
For those of you who missed out on the night’s stellar showing, Myers will be in Chicago at City Winery on August 1st, preceding what promises to be another knockout performance at Lollapalooza on August 2nd. Myers’ live show is a perfect pick for the illustrious yearly festival, and to witness such an affecting act in the nation’s heartland would be beyond fitting.
New Music Seminar convenes annually in NYC and is dedicated to exploring ideas that will lead to a better music business. While there are dozens of panels during the day, the night is filled with plenty of showcases for worthy bands, many of whom are part of the NMS’s Artist On The Verge program.
Liz Rowley
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