Video Spotlight: Burn by Evynne Hollens

If you know me or have been following my blog than you know that last year I fell in love with a cappella music. I've been a music lover for as long as I can remember, but a cappella has made that love feel brand new again. This love has also led me to discover all kinds of different groups and singers. Some of whom have joined the ranks of my favorite artists. Evynne Hollens being the most recent addition to that group. There are few things better than listening to great singers singing great songs. Especially emotional ones. In a culture that seems to value flashiness and over the top stage antics, I sometimes feel as if many of us have lost the ability to truly connect with a lyric. Now don't get me wrong; I can appreciate a huge production. Some of the videos I include in this series will probably fit it that category. It can be fun to get lost in the spectacle of a big, showy number. But consider this: oftentimes the flashiness is just a way to cover up the lack of talent and substance. Take all that away and you're left with nothing of any true value. Not always, but often. Too often.

The best songs don't need much: a lone guitar or piano and a voice. Or perhaps only a voice. This is true for singers as well, the best ones can captivate an audience with nothing more than their voice. Combine the two - the song and the singer - and wait for the magic. The video in this post doesn't have a lot going on visually. The entire video consists of Evynne, pianist Nathan Alef and his piano against a black backdrop. That's it and you know what? It is phenomenal. The song is "Burn" and it from the Broadway musical Hamilton: An American Musical which is about Alexander Hamilton. This show is the hot show on Broadway right now and I had never heard of it until Evynne posted this marvelous cover. I, like apparently a lot of Americans, didn't realize just how little I knew about Alexander Hamilton. He's one of our founding fathers and yet most of is don't know anything about him. Something that this show is changing. I've since purchased the cast album and listened to it and holy smokes.

Lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda - who also wrote the book and did the music for the show - deserves a lot of credit. For his dedication to the story, for starters. He did his homework, wanting to make the story as historically accurately as he could. He did this while making it incredibly accessible to audiences of today. The music is largely hip-hop influenced, though there's elements pulled from various musical composers. Now hip-hop is not something I listen to all that much, but it's perfect for this show. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The lyrics are truly something - "Burn" being one of the best examples of this. In the show, this song is sung by Eliza Hamilton, the wife of Alexander Hamilton.  

I have more to say about this particular performance, but first, take a few minutes and watch the video.

Just a girl, a guy and a piano and it's completely riveting. Watching Evynne perform this song in some ways feels like attending a master vocal class. She has such control over her voice, you really hear it in all the shifts in dynamics throughout the song. Particularly from about 2:30 to the end. Honestly that last line might be the best. Perfect delivery - just watch the range of emotions on her face. She manages to convey more in five words than others can in an entire song. She sings with so much feeling and conviction which makes it feel painfully real. I believe every single word that she sings. To the point that I find this video just slightly uncomfortable to watch and I love that. On another note, a lot of singers seem to kind of mumble their words these days and so it's always nice when someone makes the effort to sing clearly and precisely. I feel like so many singers would benefit from listening to her sing.

Or better yet, but checking out the wonderful series of voice lessons that she does on her YouTube channel. Evynne is everything I think a vocal instructor should be. She explains this well, she's encouraging and she's so much fun to watch. She really knows her stuff and that makes watching her music videos so much better. Her videos and her lessons compliment each other so well.

I know this is primarily about Evynne, but it would be wrong of me not to comment on Nathan Alef's piano playing. It sets just the right tone from the very beginning up to the very end. It's worth watching the video at least twice. Focusing on Evynne the first time and Nathan's playing the second. It's just beautiful. I agree with what Evynne says at the end about how his playing really helped bring the song to life. You can hear more of it on his YouTube channel, found here.

If you enjoyed Evynne and want to keep up with what she's doing, well, I got you covered.
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