ReViewed: Jenny Owens Youngs at Schubas

By Julene McCoy in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 3, 2007 2:34PM

On Jenny Owen Youngs' website she states that she wants to be our friend. We think she'd be awesome to have beers with — her quick, deadpan wit combined with pop culture references would make for hours of hysterical conversation at the corner pub. Who doesn't want to have a philosophical discussion about their love of Avril Lavigne's pop until she used the word prance in a rhyme scheme?

Well, when it comes to witty banter Jenny had it down at Schubas on Sunday evening. When it comes to performing her songs, it seemed like they were an afterthought, something that she's used to doing at at the local coffee house where people aren't really there for the music and she needs to catch their attention some other way. This is sad because there are moments when her voice is completely gorgeous, but only moments. We know that every performance can't be a gem, and even Jenny absentmindedly joked that she wasn't having the show of her life while picking at her guitar trying to jumpstart the memory of how to play her own songs.

Conversing with the audience in her breathy delivery and revealing her personality through self-deprecating stories, we get the feeling that Jenny was that girl at the open mic that had her potential recognized and sent on the road to give her time to hone her skills. Sometimes potential isn't enough when it comes to putting on a great live performance. We still think she'd be an awesome friend, though.