Review: HALEY DRIVER at Blue Strawberry Showroom And Lounge

On Thursday evening Blue Strawberry Showroom and Lounge welcomed up and coming singer Haley Driver to their stage with her cabaret show, directed by Tim Schall, the Executive and Artistic Director of The Cabaret Project of St. Louis. Following her introduction by the club owner, Driver, a young doe-eyed St. Louisan, bounded onto the stage to begin her set when she noticed the emcee left the stage with her microphone. She playfully stared down the microphone stand with animated facial expressions before retrieving the mic and welcoming her audience. Her entrance and impromptu reaction to the missing mic garnered a big laugh.  

She then launched into her set with a beautiful vocal on the over-used cabaret staple “Orange Colored Sky.” She continued her show with 75 minutes of songs from a wide variety of genres including standards, jazz, musical theatre, country, funk, and pop.  

Driver possesses a beautiful multi-octave vocal instrument with pleasing tone, pitch, and timbre. When she sings in her upper register, her head voice is resonant, clear, and bright. This is a young lady with a stellar control who has honed her vocal stylings with deliberate phrasing to create a polished presentation.  

Highlights of Driver’s set included “Home” from The Wiz, “Meadowlark,” a jazzy version of Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke,” and a measured performance of Bobby Gentry’s “Ode to Billy Joe.” Driver’s take on Gentry’s country-folk song illustrated how confident Driver is when presenting a story through music.  

Telling stories is as much a part of cabaret performing as is song selection and singing. Skilled cabaret entertainers weave banter between their songs. Their anecdotes from their professional experiences add charm to their show and connects them to their audience. Unfortunately, Driver’s youth does not afford her the professional experience to have interesting anecdotes, and she was noticeably less confident when sharing stories about her life that simply weren’t compelling.  

Driver was backed by music director and pianist Carol Schmidt, bassist Ben Wheeler and percussionist Tim Moore. She relied heavily on Schmidt throughout her show and looked to her for cues when she needed guidance. Driver performed a mash up of “Shenandoah” and “The Wide,” a song that was composed by Schmidt. It was a lovely musical moment when Driver paid tribute to her valued musical director. Wheeler interjected during one of Driver’s stories, wishing her “Mozel tov” and adding a little levity to the story Driver was struggling to tell.  

Driver is currently studying Jazz Vocal Performance in the College of Performing Arts at The New School in New York City under Charlotte Small. She has performed at Don’t Tell Mama and The Green Room 42 in New York City. Driver has been mentored by many professional artists, including Cyrus Chestnut, Marilyn Maye, and Faith Prince. She is an emerging talent with considerable vocal skill. Driver is looking forward to the release of her first EP later this year. 

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