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Billie Eilish

Back in October of 2017, I remember catching a Thursday night show at The Echo in LA. I rarely do shows during the week, because I’m usually exhausted from teaching my 8-10 classes. However, my friend Doug had an extra ticket, and there had been a lot of buzz around this singer from LA. In fact, earlier in the year, I posted a number of ‘Top 10’ lists of artists to keep an eye on, and she was on them. I’ve seen a lot of artists, some of who’ve gotten big, but none really as quickly as Billie Eilish.

To be honest, I wasn’t blown away by her set at The Echo. The fact that she was so young, and so were the fans (we were also surrounded by chaperoning parents), didn’t really help. And she played a ukulele at one point. I did like some of her songs, namely ocean eyes, and I thought she had a unique style, in the same realm as Lana Del Rey or Lorde. Potential I thought, but not immediate stardom.

Fast forward to April 2019, out at the Polo Fields in Indio. Her Coachella debut was big, and her performance was sharper than I’d remembered. This was the fourth time I’d seen her, and each time, she had a larger crowd. I remember seeing her at Outside Lands in 2018, right after her cut you should see me in a crown was released, where fans were wearing paper crowns. And then seeing her at the KROQ Almost Acoustic Xmas later that year, where the rock crowd was wondering who this teenager was. And then she played Coachella. While I was watching her, a friend messaged me and said tickets for her show in the Bay Area were exceeding $300. $300, for the same teenager I saw at The Echo almost two years ago. The teenager who now has over 51 million monthly listeners on Spotify. The teenager who is on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine this week.

And she has some catchy songs, most of which are written by her, with her brother (He also performs with her on stage). My favs, in no particular order: 1) ocean eyes, 2) bellyache, 3) bad guy, 4) you should see me in a crown, 5) bury a friend, and 6) idontwannabeyouanymore. Spotify playlist is below, along with a few pics from the shows mentioned above. Check her out, if you’re one of the few people who still doesn’t know who she is.

 

Albums/Playlists Currently Spinning:

This Is: Yusuf/Cat Stevens (Spotify Playlist) – Cat Stevens // I finally got around to watching “Harold and Maude,” and felt like revisiting Cat Stevens’ catalog. So good.

https://open.spotify.com/user/spotify/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWUrcavFRfaC8?si=gF-GkG1YRQeDRq7qG-EaGQ

Country Squire – Tyler Childers // Newest offering from the country artist.

Tool Top Tracks (Spotify Playlist) – Tool // After a long wait, Tool is finally streaming.

Tracks Currently Spinning

The Chain – The Highwomen // That’s three songs in three weeks from this super country group. And this time around, they take on Fleetwood Mac. Great version. Also, I’ve included the amazing live version from the recent Newport Festival.

Mary Jane (You’re Much Too Special To Be Mine) – Janelane // Not a new cut, but first time I’ve heard Janelane. She’s also playing a couple free shows in the LA area this month. See below. I dig her indie sound – kind of reminds me of Alvvways.

Other Music Stuff…

Echo Park Rising is later in August. This is the free fest where I’ve seen the likes of Cherry Glazerr, The Allah-Las, Hanni El Khatib, Deap Valley, and CRX. Here’s a link, because the list of artists playing is seemingly endless.

http://epr.la/schedule/

Happy Sundays LBC is also later in August, and also free. This is closer to home for me, so I’ll probably be there snapping pics. Here’s the poster, and playlist:

Here’s my ongoing playlist, updated weekly with both new and old tracks I’m listening to.