Kaleigh Baker Doesn’t Need This Review. | Kaleigh Baker + BJ Barham Live Review | Will’s Pub | August 4 2014

by Dainon Moody • August 5, 2014

Kaleigh Baker doesn’t need me to say any of this. She doesn’t need my review. Everyone already knows about her and I’m embarrassingly late to the party. I get that.

When she played a free show at the Milk Bar last weekend, I stupidly thought I could show up and enjoy her intimate gig. So did the standing room only crowd that got there long before me, the one pouring out onto the street. So much for intimacy.

When she opened for BJ Barham (of American Aquarium) at Will’s Pub last night, it was one of those wet and stormy Mondays, the ones where folks usually opt for staying inside. That didn’t much matter, though. Once she started, it took her all of a song-and-a-half to fill the floor.

Photo Courtesy of @LindsayTompkinsPhoto (instagram)

It’s easy to understand why. Kaleigh has a voice big enough to fill three stages. With just a guitar and a microphone, she can sing like few others, period, defying all easy description. There was some local rag that classified her as a jazz singer, while a friend of mine compared her to Orlando’s own Janis Joplin.

I can’t compare her to anybody. Can’t and won’t.

I didn’t spend a lot of time surveying the landscape of the crowd, but I’d venture to say most there had seen her before, loved her plenty and came back for more, lots more. I can attach a single word to those who’d gathered, too: transfixed. We all were. The 45 minutes or so went much too fast.

“You’ve always shown up for me,” she said at one point. “Orlando, you’ll always be my favorite.”

She opened for BJ Barham, who waited all of five minutes to launch into his set once Kaleigh had finished. He told a lot of funny stories, a few bad dad jokes and sang earnestly, too. He encompasses a lot of the Southern grit of the Drive-By Truckers, can almost sound like The Boss without even trying all that hard and might be a better storyteller than them both. Here’s a video Mitch took of “I Hope He Breaks Your Heart.”

Aside: I got to hold BJ’s French bulldog afterward. Definitely a high point of the night (photo).

Once BJ was done playing, right around midnight, Kaleigh picked up her guitar and set up camp at Lil Indies next door for another full set. It’s like the night had just started, all over again. After all, there were a lot more songs to sing and plenty more whiskey to drink. Kaleigh Baker was up for both.