How to go
What: Mieka Pauley and Jonathan Kingham
Where: Clark State Performing Arts Center, Kuss Auditorium, 300 South Fountain Ave., Springfield
When: Friday, Oct. 4, 7:30 p.m.
Admission: Adults $30, Seniors $24, Students $15
More info: 328-3874 or go to pac.clarkstate.edu/pauley_kingham
Take two singer-songwriters with different styles, put them on stage and you have an evening where anything can go musically.
It’s what could happen when Mieka Pauley and Jonathan Kingham play the Clark State Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. next Friday, Oct. 4, in the Club Kuss Series season opener.
This is the first pairing of Pauley and Kingham. They’ll each perform their own sets and then play together.
Pauley doesn’t like labels, preferring to say her style is closest to being a folk or alternative rock performer.
“I don’t like to be pigeonholed, so frank is the best way to best way to describe me,” she said. “My songs tend to be about what I’m going through at a given time, what mistakes I’ve made, or sadness.”
Pauley will perform several songs from her most recent album, The Science of Making Choices.
Kingham shares Pauley’s folk leanings, but also blends pop, country jazz and freestyle with a healthy dose of wit. He’s performed with Shawn Colvin, Michael McDonald, Doug Stone and Joan Osborne. If that wasn’t enough, he plays with alternative rock band with Toad the Wet Sprocket, which bonds him a bit closer to Pauley’s self-described style.
While admitting she’s most comfortable playing her songs alone onstage, Pauley welcomes sharing the stage with Kingham. Even if the partnering isn’t familiar, they both prefer acoustic guitar, and she’s familiar with the stage as Pauley has played in Springfield previously and looks forward to returning.
“It keeps it interesting and keeps the audience excited,” she said.
The show is appropriate for all audiences. Club Kuss Series events offer a free pre-show lobby party beginning at 6 p.m. with complimentary appetizers and a cash bar available.
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