Singer-songwriters are a dime a dozen. It seems like every
person with a guitar and a bad-relationship experience thinks that
what they are saying or playing is something worth hearing; 99.9999
percent of the time, these people are completely delusional.
Though, more and more try each day, invading coffee houses and
talent nights throughout the world, trying to get their feelings
across to the audience, and maybe get some companionship after the
show–more often the latter than the former. But, out of this
ever-growing blob heart-on-the-sleeve, sappy,
acoustic-guitar-wearing poseurs, comes a true talent every couple
years.

Damien Rice is one of these true exceptions to the rule. Yes, he
does tend toward melancholia, and his music is acoustic based, but
there is something different. There is an air that he is not out to
impress anyone, to push to “make it” in the music industry.

For his debut album, O, Rice decided to record and mix the
entire album in his house on an eight-track tape recorder over the
course of three years. This warm intimacy comes through in the
record, as each listening sounds like Rice playing live on the
couch–a place he where probably did most of the recording. He
didn’t have a record contract, nor did he probably even want one.
He was just doing what he did without any pressure to make it
commercial.

By all accounts, O should not be a successful record; most of
the album never ventures faster than common time and the songs are
hard to understand lyrically.

At the same time, the album has gone double platinum in his
native Ireland, and is doing well in the United States. There is no
upbeat single to play on the radio, though both “Volcano” and
“Cannonball” can be heard on radio stations across the country. It
is a paradox that Rice himself probably could not have
realized.

Be it the soft-yet-powerful vocals on “The Blower’s Daughter” or
the sweet melody in “Cannonball,” people are falling in love with
Damien Rice and O.

Earlier this year, the album won the prestigious Short List
Music Prize, which is chosen from a panel of experts that include
musicians like Larry Mullin Jr. and the Neptunes, to music
aficionados like Cameron Crowe.

He has also gained fans such as David Letterman, who had Rice on
his show twice in the last six months.

It is in his live shows that people start to believe in Rice as
an artist. Now playing theaters instead of the small clubs of his
beginning days, Rice still keeps the atmosphere intimate and close
with very little stage clutter and almost no stage lighting. Once
again, he makes it feel like his living room rather than a concert
hall.

Tonight, Rice will attempt to turn The Pageant into his living
room as he comes to town to close his latest North American tour.
Tickets are $20, with a minor surcharge of $2. Opening for Rice
will be Irish folk-rockers the Frames, who are known to put on a
great live show. With finals less than a week away, everyone needs
a night to chill out and listen to some great music; and Damien
Rice is just the right man for the job.