What I learned from Aimee Mann

I had the opportunity to see Aimee Mann for the first time last week at The Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas. What a dream. Sadly, I missed her when she toured promotion The Both with Ted Leo. But here are a few things I learned from her and her live band. 

  1. Octave Vocals – Make you sound thick. Aimme Mann and her bassist/producer Paul Bryan layer octave vocals – making a dense two-layer dip. 
  2. Paul Bryan – I didn’t know I loved his production work until I started digging deeper. Paul has worked with Aimee on several albums, as well as Grant Lee Phillips, Glen Phillips and Tess Wiley to name a few. 
  3. Find Musicians Who Love Your Music – I don’t know who was playing for drums for Aimme the night I saw her. But her drummer sang-along. He was passionate about it. I love it. 
  4. Rollercoaster was my favorites from her the evening. 
  5. Be Human – Aimee walked up to the piano. And in her dry voice, she states, “I don’t play piano the piano, so I want to apologize in advance.” She had one fumble where she clears calls herself out. I loved it. She became human. Try something new Antonio. Don’t be scared
  6. I would love to chat with Aimee Mann about songwriting over coffee. 
  7. Her run interview on Song Exploder is great. You never want to overuse that 7th chord. 
  8. She won a Grammy last night for Best Folk Album! She skipped the big party and played a show in Cleveland instead. Her onstage banter was perfect.  
  9. One day, I will do a show with the Imaginary Friends backed by the Tosca String Quartet. Tosca has backed up Bob Schneider in the past and did an incredible job supporting Aimme. 
  10. Side Note: I love the Ben Gibbard – Bigger Than Love which features Aimee Mann. 
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