Following a weekend in which an early storm blanketed much of the area around Morristown, NJ with blustery ice and snow, a holiday crowd bustles in from the cold to the warmth and comfort of the MPAC auditorium. The reason they’re here this Tuesday, December 3, 2019 evening is for a special You and Me and Christmas performance by singer/songwriter LeAnn Rimes.
Born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1982, LeAnn Rimes was raised in Dallas and began singing and dancing in local variety shows at the age of five. She quickly built a dedicated following in Texas where she garnered the attention of Dallas record promoter and disc jockey Bill Mack. At the tender age of eleven, LeAnn recorded her first album.
By fourteen, Rimes had signed with Curb Records and recorded Blue, which debuted at #3 on the pop charts. The album’s title song “Blue” — originally written by Mack for country legend Patsy Cline — reached #1 on the Billboard country charts and earned Rimes her first two Grammy Awards.
At 15, her album, You Light Up My Life — featuring the Grammy-nominated song “How Do I Live” — became the first album in music history to simultaneously debut at #1 on the pop, country, and contemporary Christian charts.
In 2000, Rimes made her motion picture debut, acting in the film, Coyote Ugly. She also recorded several tunes for the film’s soundtrack. More recently, in 2018, Rimes released Re-Imagined — an EP featuring five tracks from her back catalogue which she re-recorded — and in 2019, she released a live album entitled Rimes: Live at Gruene Hall. Rimes can currently be seen starring in the Hallmark television channel movie, It’s Christmas, Eve.
Inside the MPAC auditorium, giant snowflakes are projected onto the side walls and the stage is bedecked with two large Christmas trees. A piano, drum set, and guitars are bathed in cool blue light as holiday and pop songs play softly and a large screen displays inspirational quotes such as “Breathe in love — breathe out fear,” “Forgiveness is freedom,” and “I am not only creative — I am creativity.”
The lights dim and tonight’s opening act — singer/songwriter Kalie Shorr — takes the stage. After telling the audience how LeAnn Rimes is one of her musical idols and how kind a person Rimes really is, Shorr — originally from the Northeast, but now a resident of Nashville — opens her set performing Chuck Berry’s “Run Run Rudolph.” On this twangy version, Shorr’s rhythmic guitar playing contrasts with her country soprano sound.
Explaining how her next number comes from her debut full-length album, Open Book, Shorr performs “Alice in Wonderland.” On this gentle rocker, Shorr sings about a personal breakup in this story song while strumming an accompaniment on her Fender Telecaster.
Additional highlights of Shorr’s set include “The World Keeps Spinning,” where she expressively sings about personal loss, and “Fight Like a Girl,” where she vocalizes with passion, “I got my high heels on with my boxing gloves/I can knock you out with a one-two punch/I’m perfume sweet and whiskey strong/I damn sure ain’t no underdog.”
Following her interpretation of John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over),” Shorr knocks the audience’s socks off with her instant classic, “Big Houses.” Recalling her youth where she grew up on the poor side of town in Portland, Maine along with her single mom, Shorr brings audience members to tears when she sings about her mother, “When every kid was making cards for Father’s Day in June/I made one for her ‘cause my Wonder Woman was my Superman, too.”
At the end of her set, Shorr is greeted with avid applause and audience members cheering on their feet for her engaging personality and musical skills.
During intermission, we get a chance to chat with Shorr as she meets and greets fans in the MPAC lobby.
Telling us, “I love being back in the Northeast — it was nice to see snow again,” despite some traffic issues this weekend related to the wintry weather, Shorr promises, “Nothing is going to rain on my LeAnn Rimes tour!”
The lobby lights blink and we make our way back inside the MPAC auditorium to see lights shooting across the stage and a three-piece band — Greg Hagan on guitars and keyboards, Anton Nesbitt on bass, and Lemar Carter on drums — taking the stage.
The audience hears the sound of LeAnn Rimes’ voice reading the first verse to “Twas the Night Before Christmas” before a flash of sparkly light unleashes the rocking band on “I Still Believe in Santa Claus.”
Rimes takes the stage to large applause.
Singing, “I still believe in Santa Claus/No rhyme or reason just because/It’s one of my most favorite flaws/That I still believe in Santa Claus” in her clear and inviting voice, Rimes demonstrates her vocal prowess as she’s expertly accompanied by her talented band.
Following excited applause, Rimes says, “Welcome! Happy Holidays!” and immediately gets the audience clapping along on “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” Looking and sounding festive in her pale ruffled outfit, Rimes rhythmically snaps her fingers as she sings this happy-go-lucky holiday tune.
Lemar Carter’s drums roll right into the next number, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You,” where Rimes sings with power and feeling as she’s accompanied by Greg Hagan’s twangy guitar and Anton Nesbitt’s tight bass.
After explaining that she’s fighting a cold — joking, “‘Santa Baby’ will sound a little extra sexy tonight” — Rimes tells the packed house, “We’re gonna have an intimate evening,” before smiling and revealing, “I never thought I’d sing about hippos in my life, but I turn into a five-year-old on this crazy arrangement!”
Here, she and the band launch into an upbeat rendition of “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.”
Singing, “Don’t want a doll/No dinky Tinker Toy/I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy,” she’s supported by Nesbitt’s low and funky bass playing which contrasts nicely with Hagan’s high-flying guitar.
The crowd claps it’s approval and Rimes and Co. segue into “Santa Baby.” As lights flash and fall on the screen behind her, Rimes snaps her fingers to Nesbitt’s walking bass line. Hagan plays a jazzy chordal guitar solo on this sultry number which elicits cheers from music lovers in the house.
Rimes and Hagan are featured on Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas.” As Hagan fingerpicks on his guitar, Rimes sweetly sings the melody, adding vocal embellishments as only she can.
Smoothly segueing into “Blue,” the audience goes crazy when they hear Rimes’ famous country yodel. On this classic from 1996, Rimes effortlessly sings up, down, and around the melody, her beautiful, rich, clear honey-coated tone delighting the audience at every turn.
Hagan plays a vintage ‘50s-style guitar solo while Carter plays his drums with brushes before the crowd cheers for Rimes’ vocal gymnastics and the work of her accomplished musicians.
Rimes talks about updating her next number on her recent EP, Re-Imagined, explaining, “I never heard the story to this song until I slowed it down.”
Members of the audience sigh when they hear her announce the title, “One Way Ticket.” Slowing crooning, “Well, I have walked through the fire/And crawled on my knees through the valley of the shadow of doubt/Then the truth came shining like a light on me and now I can see my way out,” Rimes gives a thoughtful and passionate performance which is enhanced with harmony vocals provided by her stage mates.
Lemar Carter steps out from behind his drum set and stands beside a snare drum set up for him on the side of the stage. Greg Hagan’s keyboard organ sound fills the auditorium as Carter plays a march rhythm to “The Little Drummer Boy.” Rimes’ voice is soulful and resonant as she sings with sparse accompaniment bringing this classic Christmas story song to new life. After bass and backup vocals join in, Rimes ends the arrangement with a vocal ad-lib and the instruments drop out one by one and fade away leaving LeAnn’s pristine voice to conclude the song. Audience members react by standing and applauding at their seats.
Hagan plays the piano on Rimes’ rendition of her biggest hit — #4 on Billboard’s all time Top 100 list — “How Do I Live.” Even with a cold, her voice sounds richer than it does on the original recording, this gifted singer making audience members cry with her stunning performance. Letting it all out, the natural gift of her three-octave range is display for all to hear, feel, and enjoy.
Following enormous applause, Rimes announces, “I did a movie for Hallmark last year, and I did a couple of songs for it, too. Please sing along — don’t be shy, it’s Christmas!”
Here, Rimes performs an original composition she created with Darrell Brown, “You and Me and Christmas.” As she sings, “I’m counting down the minutes ‘til it’s you and me and Christmas/We’re dancing in the magic of you and me and Christmas,” scenes from the movie light up the screen behind her.
Taking time to share some of her personal philosophy with the audience, Rimes talks about how even though people often tend to look outward at Christmas time, she suggests they also need to turn inward. Here, she invites audience members to put their hands on their hearts and say, “I love you,” giving themselves the gift of love they frequently seek from outside themselves.
Sitting at the edge of the stage, rocking gently from side to side, Rimes performs a touching rendition of another original song from her Hallmark film entitled “Gift of Your Love.” As she sings up and down the melody, Rimes is deftly accompanied by Hagan on acoustic guitar. With her beautiful gentle tone, she sings, “Not a star in the heavens/Not a diamond so rare/No light can compare/To the gift of your love.”
Confessing, “I’m switching out my set list — I had a set list for two nights, and by the third night, I was done with it!” Rimes exclaims, “This movie was set in Jersey!” before launching into an extended holiday version of her Y2K Top 20 song from the film Coyote Ugly, “Can’t Fight the Moonlight.”
On this rockin’ version, the crowd stands and dances along — some even sporting Santa caps — as Rimes sings, “You can try to resist/Try to hide from my kiss/But you know but you know/That you can’t fight the moonlight,” before smoothly segueing into a hip hop rendition of “Jingle Bell Rock.”
Exclaiming, “Keep it going! Come on Morristown!” LeAnn and the audience clap and dance along while Anton Nesbitt slaps out a funky bass solo.
Segueing into the holiday staple, “Here Comes Santa Claus,” Hagan takes the audience away playing a space-age sounding electric guitar solo.
Next, the group segues into “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” and Lemar Carter plays a “Wipe Out”-inspired drum solo.
The crowd cheers and applauds for Rimes and Co. as the musicians segue into George Michael’s “Last Christmas,” where flashing lights punctuate the exhilarating sound before the quartet ends with a final chorus of “Can’t Fight the Moonlight.”
On its feet, the audience cheers as Rimes smiles and exclaims, “Thank you very much — I love you!”
After the crowd demands an encore, Rimes retakes the stage. Sitting at the piano, she says, “Thank you for the love tonight. I hope you have a wonderful holiday. We live in a crazy split world today, but we can make it better through grace and love and extending ourselves to others.”
At this point, Rimes steps out of her comfort zone and accompanies herself on piano as she performs Darrell Brown’s “There Will Be a Better Day.”
Playing the chordal accompaniment on this lovely ballad, Rimes sings straight from the heart, “Take our sorrows, take our tears/Heaven’s not so far from here/Though we struggle hear us pray/There will be a better day.”
Prior to the end of the song, Rimes leaves the piano and comes downstage to sing a cappella for the audience before inviting them to join her on the song’s inspirational “Alleluia Alleluia/ There will be a better day” refrain.
The crowd sings along before rewarding Rimes with a well-earned standing ovation.
As audience members filter out of the MPAC auditorium, we chat with several music lovers in the crowd who share their opinions about tonight’s You and Me and Christmas performance.
Remarks Kathy from Short Hills, “LeAnn Rimes’ voice is so incredible. She gave it her all and she had fun up there — she’s is a very natural performer,” before adding, “And MPAC is such great venue — one of our friends just moved to Morristown so a group of 21 of us bought tickets for tonight’s show and we all had such a great time.”
Sharon from Mountain Lakes, calls tonight’s performance “A fabulous show,” and her friend, Cindy from Chatham, agrees before acknowledging, “We loved Kalie Shorr, too.”
Phyllis from New Providence declares, “I loved tonight’s show! LeAnn Rimes has such a beautiful voice and such stage presence,” explaining, “She owns the stage and she owns the audience — she exudes such joy when she’s singing.”
Lydia from Morristown concurs adding, “Her last song, ‘There Will Be a Better Day,’ really showcased her voice — it was a beautiful display of her talent.”
Cliff from Morristown comments, “I came to have fun, and I did, but I wished the concert was longer — I wanted to hear more!”
Mark from Providence asserts, “I thoroughly enjoyed LeAnn Rimes’ performance tonight. I also liked that she tried to give a little more of herself by talking about her philosophy. She really cares about her fans; I felt a connection.”
Kenny from Spring Lake exclaims, “I had an awesome time tonight! I started seeing LeAnn Rimes back when she was still an opening act, so I’ve been following her for more years than I can remember,” before noting, “I recently got to meet her and I can tell you this — she is a lovely person.”
Lastly, we chat with Bruce from Parsippany who says, “LeAnn Rimes’ voice is just brilliant. She can sing anything,” suggesting, “She’d do an amazing job singing tunes from the Great American Songbook.” Revealing, “This was my first time seeing her,” Bruce concludes by asserting, “I didn’t know what to expect, but I was just blown away.”
To learn more about LeAnn Rimes, please go to leannrimesworld.com. To find out about upcoming events at MPAC — including Audra McDonald on January 18, classical pianists The 5 Browns on January 30, and Darlene Love on February 14 — please go to mayoarts.org..
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