by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
After a glass of wine with dinner and puffing on a fine cigar while walking my dogs, it was time for my weekly foray into the live music jungle. Friday night, I cruised over to the French Quarter to catch Cori Yarckin, the rising modern rock sensation from Orlando, with Nimble Jim, John Frank, and Effed on the bill. I’d heard of Cori from my contacts in the modern rock genre. Her 2005 debut ablum, Ringing in My Head caused quite a stir and got this vivacious 22 year old noticed and some serious radio play.
Cori is no overnight sensation. She has been paying heavy dues for the past fifteen years. Early on, she enjoyed success as a dancer and a professional actress on Nickelodeon’s Noah Knows Best. But music was her first love and she has been carefully planning her big time launch for a number of years finding the right players and tweaking her music into its impressive fusion of modern rock with pop melodies.
Right away, I noticed that Cori’s gear was already setup on stage, and the other artists who preceded her graciously used her drummer’s set, which drastically cut down the change-over time. Kudos to all who cooperated and made the transitions much smoother. All her amps are color coordinated, which underscores how much thought has gone into her live show.
An up-and-coming new band called Nimble Jim began the evening of original rock. This semi-acoustic group writes catchy songs and is still evolving into a solid touring entity. I covered an early incarnation of Nimble Jim at Brewsters in 2006. These lads have come a long way since then. They just need some more gigging time to fully define their sound.
Just prior to Cori’s set, her friend and fellow Orlando resident, John Frank played as part of a trio with drums and bass. Frank writes fiercely original songs and has a distinctive voice. He switches from acoustic to electric guitar with stylish grace. His performance hovers on the fringe of modern rock, but his haunting voice and guitar wizardry puts him into a unique category. I was especially impressed by the fact I could hear every word of his lyrics and every nuance of his orchestration. Undoubtedly, Frank won many new fans at his FQ show.
Cori came on like thunder with a brash and sassy rock’n’roll attitude. She’s tiny in stature, but her powerful multi-octave voice and seasoned professionalism make her a giant on stage. Cori avoids the tired old female rocker cliches and works the crowd like a woman who knows her stuff and is not going to be categorized into a narrow interval of pop diva. Her clever fusion of pop sensibilities and the hard driving modern rock are carefully woven into her trademark sound.
On one of Cori’s showcase songs, Shatterproof, Cori writes about her brave front of emotional toughness conflicting with her true sensitive nature–that is, when a relationship goes bad, she’s tough, but she’s not shatterproof. The heavy guitar accents her message quite poignantly, driving home her angst, saying, in effect, “yeah, walk away and I’ll get over it, but I’m not shatterproof.” Young people will definitely identify with this honest lyrical writing.
Interestingly, break up songs have fueled many classic rock albums. Bob Dylan’s seminal album Blood On The Tracks was inspired by a bitter break up. Phil Collins’ first hit album was fueled by his nasty divorce. Well, he got filthy rich and now lives in Zurich, Switzerland. I guess he showed her.
“Music is my first love and I’ve definitely paid my dues. It’s been a long road developing my style and what I wanted to say in my songs. Four years ago they could have pushed me into a box, and released a song that didn’t reflect who I was, but I didn’t want to do it that way, I wanted to grow on my own and figure out what I had to say as an artist,” Cori said on her website, www.coriyarckin.com
Ah yes, after witnessing Cori’s adrenalin pumping show, her words rang true as a major artist who will contribute creative advances to modern rock and not be pigeonholed as another fluffy pop star. Mark my words, Cori’s talent is a super nova, rapidly expanding across the universe.
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