the minaret

“People take their coffee very seriously,” joked singer/songwriter Natalie Gelman in Jazzman’s Lounge Tuesday night.

And what goes better with a cup of joe, then some tunes to kick back and enjoy?

UT has gone wireless in more ways than one. Student Productions (SP) debuted a new series called SP Unplugged at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 7.

The mastermind behind the new series is SP’s vice president Katie Kerins.

As the former music chair, Kerins explained that SP’s music board had been wanting to implement a program outside of the major spring concert.

“I found that a lot of colleges have a coffee house-themed series, so the SP executive board looked into it.”

The series is co-sponsored with Sodexo, who provided $1 coffees from Jazzman’s during the performance.

Kicking off the series was the traveling troubadour, Natalie Gelman.

A New York native and University of Miami alum, Gelman spoke on everything from her journey as a musician to boys and the silly socks they wear.

With a violinist for a father and a pianist for a mother, music was a part of everyday life growing up for Gelman.

She started singing when she was young and found guitar in high school.

Gelman was pushed into classical music such as Gershwin, by her parents, and learned from the best at the high school where “FAME” was filmed.

Afterwards, she attended the University of Miami where she received her B.A. in Vocal Performance.

The music scene in Miami was an unforgiving place but Gelman knew from an early age that her love and passion for music would carry her through.  It wasn’t until college when she started writing and performing original songs.

“I always thought you had to be a dead guy with gray hair to write a song,” Gelman mused after having such a classical upbringing.

She says she used to have massive amounts of stage fright when younger, but you’d never guess that by the performance she gave during her UT coffeehouse debut.

Gelman’s voice filled Stadium to the brim. It stopped students entering in their tracks and has them second guessing their need for a Dairy Queen fix.

They stayed to hear Gelman pour her soul into the microphone. The first song opened as homage to the life of a street musician.

The song is appropriately titled, “Streetlight Musicians” with lyrics that pierce through Orange Julius blenders: “I don’t want to die with a melody inside my head”.  Gelman describes a musician much like herself, on the street begging for a chance to be heard as she’s “singing her heart for you tonight”.

Her dynamic range lilts through each song and pulls in an eclectic group of passerby’s; from texting sorority sisters to soccer fans trying to stay out of the rain.

The down to earth performance invites everyone to enjoy an evening away from the stresses of the second week of classes.

My favorite song of the night was Gelman’s original “Laughed So Hard You Cried.”

Gelman abruptly stopped a few notes into the song to change the key.

She commented on how the key change gives the song a glass half full kind of quality and laughingly asks her audience, “doesn’t it sound happier now?”

The biggest surprise of the night came in the form of a cover song. “Your Love is My Drug” by K$sha never sounded more soulful.

Gelman took the auto-tuned pop song and added a new dimension that took the lyrics from tinny to tortured. An interesting twist on a top 40 favorite.

This cover was only a glimpse into Gelman’s unique career. After her college graduation, Gelman embarked on a “massive ‘I’m Going Home’” tour…completely on roller blades.

She started the 1,500 mile trek from UM to New York, New York.

The proceeds from that tour went to the Children International charity.

Gelman described this as her way of teaching college students a way of “giving back when they don’t think they have anything to give back”.

Gelman reminisces that “Florida was definitely the best part of the tour…At one point there were pelicans gliding alongside me on the ocean”.

Gelman has enjoyed the many places her career has brought her, from the more intimate smaller venue to a crowd of 17,000.

Shows the size of SP’s Unplugged allowed for a lot of interaction between Gelman and the audience.

A particular crowd pleaser was  Gelman’s rendition of Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer, complete with dance-off competition. Dance-Off winner and UT sophomore Colleen Crawford said she “really enjoyed the audience participation.”

Crawford is definitely looking forward to future Unplugged performances, and encourages SP to get the word out.

Gelman ended her spectacular set with “One Fine Day” by Carole King.

As she belted out the final lyrics, the lights from UT’s soccer field were seen through the window, and were blown out like the flame from a candle, adding a ceremonious feel fit to end the evening.

Currently, Gelman is working on a new CD coming out in 2011 with producers Mark Needham and Charlie Midnight.

When asked about her songwriting style, Gelman admits to using autobiographical stories that bleed into her lyrics.

“My friend and I had a crush on a guy at band camp who wore short socks.”

This crush morphed into a song about the guy, including the lyrics “I don’t know your likes, I haven’t seen your charms, all I know is I want to be in your arms.”

The fun ditty basically translated into “I don’t know anything about you I just like your socks.”

Gelman’s style of writing is whimsical, yet uses universal themes to reach every audience member.

Gelman described her music career in one word: tenacious.

The advice she gives to aspiring musicians dovetails the word nicely.

“Just stick to it. There will always be days and times where I question what I’m doing, [and] you’re always going to question it and it’s totally normal.”

Gelman adds that “your experience of life is totally your reaction to your circumstances…it’s not your circumstances at all, it’s how you feel about them.”

She encourages all college students to go after what they love in life.

Her sage words of wisdom can be summed up in this snippet of her onstage banter: “I was really tired of not doing what I love [so] go and do whatever you want to do and don’t feel sorry for it.

And don’t work at Starbucks.”

The evening was such a success that the question on everyone’s minds was the same: when’s the next one?

SP’s current music chair Kristen Mathe had the answer. The next SP Unplugged is already in the works for Nov. 16 at 8 p.m. in Jazzman’s, and will be featuring Beau Bristow.

In my opinion, however, the most important question of the evening was answered by the tenacious Gelman: How does UT compare to her alma mater, the University of Miami?

“It’s hard [to say because] it’s on the record, but let’s just say that I think the people here are a lot cooler.”

You heard it here first Spartans: When it comes to our coffeehouse hospitality, Tampa is definitely cooler than Miami.

For more information on SP’s Unplugged Series visit utstudentproductions.com.

To see and hear more from Natalie Gelman visit NatalieGelman.com.

You can also check out the full interview with Natalie Gelman via podcast at theminaretonline.com!

Amanda Sieradzki can be reached at asieradzki@spartans.ut.edu.