All photos by Morgen Schuler
Born in Nevada City, California, singer-songwriter Alela Diane got her start with some help from fellow Nevada City artist Joanna Newsom. Although her kinship with the harp musician threatened to overshadow her own extraordinary talent in a world full of hype, critics and fans quickly realized that Diane was a true emotional powerhouse to be reckoned with herself. Three full-length albums later, this point has been undoubtedly proven. After briefly joining the band Black Bear, Diane continued on as a solo artist, performing with a backing band (from which she found her husband) dubbed the Wild Divine.
Stepping in at the last minute for the unfortunately-delayed Oberhofer, Diane performed by herself on guitar with an intricate multi-finger picking style. Her clear, gorgeous voice held the audience rapt with its quiet strength. She’s currently working on a new album, and featured four new songs, bookending her set with two of them, “Colorado Blue” and “About Farewell”. In between, she mixed in older tunes such as “The Rifle”off her first, self-released, album The Pirate’s Gospel, and “Elijah” off her latest, Alela Diane & Wild Divine.
This lovely set of music brought a moment of nice contemplative calmness to the afternoon. Alela Diane will be performing on the Promenade Stage at 7:30 pm.
