By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
It’s a long way from Hollywood to the stage of Howard’s Club H in downtown Bowling Green.
Alexandra Kay has traveled that distance. Most recently she was on the Netflix reality drama “Westside.” She’s a veteran of TV talent shows, “American Idol” and “The Voice,” and Monday night she added Howard’s to her resume.
Not that she hasn’t played her share of clubs and bars, and at least one barn.
The latter is where she recorded many of her YouTube videos that helped get her to Hollywood.
Welcome to country music career building today.
Kay with guitarist Jeff “Schmitty” Schmitz was on the third stop of her “Dive Bar Dreamer” tour. The name comes from a song she wrote after being bounced from “The Voice,” it’s a cry from the heart about the frustrations of trying to get a foothold in the industry.
Her original songs tend to be cries from the heart. She’s an emotional person, she told the Bowling Green audience.
It being a Monday night, and there being a ticket charge, the crowd was modest, but intent of listening. Kay was in full perky mode. At one point she even wandered into the audience.
Her ballads are heartfelt and allow her to show off the variety of colors in middle range of her voice. That vocal richness brought all the shades of emotion in her ballad “Collecting Dust,” written after the death of her grandfather. The song imagines her grandmother in her home without him.
Most of the set was devoted to covers including Reba McEntire’s “Fancy,” Deanna Carter’s “Strawberry Wine,” and Miranda Lambert’s “Tin Man.” These were the roots of Kay’s YouTube success which was capped by her cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” Recorded in a barn on an iPhone with Kay reading the lyrics, the song was viewed by millions and earned her a direct line to perform before the judges on “The Voice.”
So on Monday night she closed with “Jolene” after she performed the tour’s theme song.
Still it’s clear where her heart is. She told the audience before singing “Dive Bar Dreamer” that “I’ve been playing covers for so long that when I get a chance to sing my own songs I get so excited.”
Opening for her was the duo Jayme with vocalist Amy Newhart and guitarist Jason Roy.
While the make up of the two groups was similar, the openers had a more boisterous sound with Newhart belting out a set heavily weighted to originals by both herself and Roy.
Jayme worked well as an opener with the kind of sound that would be perfect for Howard’s if they find their way north again.
