Melodee McDonnell @ Kimo's State Of Grace 11/04/2023

Being the cub reporter on the DTS staff, my clothing budget is pretty nil. So, it takes something really special for me to break out the fancy duds and get them dry cleaned. Tonight's something special was at Kimo's State of Bliss, in their garden. This venue is one of those (like BBW Heaven) that has both been around a long time and seen an owner pass. When Kimo passed in October of last year, a group of supporters, led by Ima Peony, stepped in to keep it going in his memory. The name, Kimo's State of Bliss, is both a nod to the original owner and his passing. The garden is a beautiful venue that might recall a Tuscan villa on a cool summer night. And tonight, the dance floor was filled with formally attired visitors, singles and couples, including one of the most beautiful couples I think I've seen in nearly seventeen years.

I was at Kimo's State of Bliss to catch a performance by Melodee McDonnell. I often try and put singers in genre boxes, mostly to help me organize my writing. Melodee is one of those who really require a fairly large (music wise) and extremely stretchy bag instead of a box. I knew this right away when she opened with The Carpenter's "Close to You" in a way that made me see Karen Carpenter sing when I closed my eyes (which I was hesitant to do because of that gorgeous couple). Her next song sprang forward a few decades with "Saint Honesty" from Sara Bareilles, with the message that sometimes what we really need is to feel the weather outside the safety of a shelter in order to live.

Going back to the 70s Melodee treated us to Fleetwood Mac's "Everywhere" followed by a heartfelt "Blue Skies" from Eva Cassidy. One of the great things I got from this wonderful evening was exposure to songs I didn't know from artists I do know. In this case it was "Beautiful" by Gordon Lightfoot. This lyric,

"At times I just don't know

How you could be anything but beautiful

I think that I was made for you

And you were made for me"

became an instant favorite of mine. One of the things I continue to be surprised by in SL, is the number of people who don't realize how special and beautiful they are. I hope we all take a moment to recognize that each other and I'm starting you, my reader friend, you're a beautiful soul.

Melodee next sat us in the "Wayback Machine" as she delivered a version of Frank Sinatra's timeless classic "The Lady Is Tramp" worthy of any first rate Vegas show. See what I mean about defying genre labels? Next up was another great new (to me) song and artist. Katie Melua's "It You Were a Sailboat" is story of the things people in love might do for each other, and candidate for a future special blog. She followed this song brilliantly with Trisha Yearwood's "Trying to Love You". Definitely a tortured love song that I'm guessing most of us can relate to. Delivered in Melodee's beautiful voice it was soothing and comforting.

Remember that movie from 1982… you know.. "…phone home…". Melodee certainly does as she demonstrated with her performance of Neil Diamond's "Heartlight", which I am sure brought more than 1 tear beyond one of the keyboards at this show. And then she expanded my knowledge of things I should have known again with another Carpenter's tune "Bless the Beasts and Children". Then she did a fantastic job on Sting's "Fields of Gold", letting notes float into the evening sky. She closed this magical hour with "God Bless the Broken Road" from Rascal Flats.

Classically trained mezzo soprano, now singing jazz, pop, retro, oldies, contemporary. The SL spotlight has followed Ms. McDonnell since her debut in early 2008 with appearances on SLCN.TV, countless grand openings, Grand Opening live artist of THE ROSE THEATRE, charity events like the Pink Ball for Breast Cancer and Toys for Tots and SL's Birthday Bash 2008 -2012. Her powerhouse vocals and 4 octave range have wow'd SL audiences time and time again. Debut CD 2006 "Possibilities". New album release 2013, "The Child in Me"