"Hallelujah" live & How it Felt to Sing it

"American singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley, inspired by Cale's earlier cover, recorded one of the best-known^[10] versions of "Hallelujah" for his debut album Grace in 1994.

In 2004, Buckley's version was ranked number 259 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".^[1] The same year Time called Buckley's version "exquisitely sung," observing "Cohen murmured the original like a dirge, but ... Buckley treated the ... song like a tiny capsule of humanity, using his voice to careen between glory and sadness, beauty and pain... It's one of the great songs."^[11]

In September 2007, a poll of fifty songwriters conducted by the magazine Q listed "Hallelujah" among the all-time "Top 10 Greatest Tracks" with John Legend calling Buckley's version "as near perfect as you can get. The lyrics to Hallelujah are just incredible and the melody's gorgeous and then there's Jeff's interpretation of it. It's one of the most beautiful pieces of recorded music I’ve ever heard."^[12] In July 2009, the Buckley track was ranked number three on the 2009 Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time, a listener poll held every decade by the Australian radio station Triple J."[13]" - via Wikipedia

I agree. Completely. With all those quotes listed above this very sentence.

With that said, I performed at Arlene's Grocery in New York City this past February. It was my NYC debut ... and I played it on the same stage Jeff Buckley once played on back in 1997. He had a tremendous influence on the music community with his career that was cut far too short.

Earlier this month I had a little spill, leaving my right (dominant) arm with a severely sprained ligament hindering my arm pretty stiff and sore. As a result, I knew the show must go on. I had a performance to play. Producer Paul Derlunas joined me for the ocassion, which allowed me to focus on my singing.

My performance this past Tuesday was the first time I ever sang solo live, on-stage in front of an audience without playing guitar at the same time.

It was exhilarating. I felt like Rachel Berry for a minute. That was fun.