Erin Bode at Kaldi's

Last night, I saw jazz vocalist Erin Bode in concert at the Kaldi's Coffeehouse in Kirkwood. It was part of the Kirkwood Plaza concert series sponsored by Kaldi's and some of the other nearby businesses. It was great weather for sitting outdoors.

Bode, 27, of Webster Groves, is often compared to Norah Jones and Eva Cassidy. She has a very soft, relaxing sound. The concert began at 6:30 and lasted almost two and a half hours with a break in between. She performed songs from both of her CDs -- "Don't Take Your Time" and "Over and Over." My favorite was "St. Louis Song." She said in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the lyrics for that song came to her while she was in the shower. (I have had some great ideas come to me while I've been in the shower. The only problem with that is that you don't have any paper to write it down.) She said she wrote it about her husband, Syd Rodway, before she knew that they would end up together. Rodway plays the bass in Bode's band.

Besides songs from her two CDs, she also performed covers of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," and "Something Good" from the "Sound of Music."

The plaza filled up fairly quickly, so if you are planning to attend other concerts in the Kirkwood Plaza series, get there early. It's also a good idea to bring your own chairs.