A helluva time

Last night was the Nelly Furtado concert at the Detroit Opera House. Although it was a Monday and I am eagerly (and nervously) awaiting some job news, I ended up feeling as if it were a Friday night...well, at least a Thursday night. Nelly put on a great show and her truly unique talents shone through. This guy at the Free Press agrees with me. I just love how she brings her heritage into her music and even though she's made her music more pop on her latest album, she doesn't forget the people that loved her first two outings.

However, my biggest joy and surprise of the night came from one of her opening acts, Kenna. Kenna is a solo artist, backed by a rather eclectic band (two keyboardists). He's basically a mix of U2, The Cure, Depeche Mode with a bit more edge. And much to my delight he was African (well, I guess African-American now, having immigrated from Ethiopia). Somehow that made it even better. He was absolutely amazing and I enjoyed every single song I heard. I just downloaded his 2003 release "New Sacred Cow" on iTunes. His new release drops in July. I was just blown away by his talent.

The best part of the evening was meeting Kenna. He said he was going to be at the merchandise booth after the show, but after wading through throngs of teenagers and 28 year-old women dressed like teenagers, we took some free Kenna posters and left. Then he was standing outside the bus. I waited my turn to talk to him (I even took some girls' photo with him) and then approached him and told him how much I absolutely loved his music and couldn't wait to get the new album. He was so grateful that he gave me a hug...and let me tell you, I was all a-flutter. It reminded much of my meeting with an up and coming John Mayer.

In any event, I am eager to listen to my downloads and thank Moxie for the gift card for graduation...she's helping me discover new artists and support them. And Moxie, for the record, this guy has your name written all over him--just listening to the music I knew you'd love him. I even made that comment last night that it was just the kind of music you'd walk down the street singing.

So I urge you to check him out. In fact, I implore you to check him out. Kenna. Kenna. His family immigrated from Ethiopia. How freaking cool is that?

P.S. His website is up (http://www.kennakenna.com/--I've linked it three times above), but it's not fully functioning yet. His MySpace page is, though, and you can check out his new song Out of Control.