On Sunday, the 5th annual “Love Is” showcase was held at the Chico Women’s Club. The event was a benefit for Catalyst Domestic Violence Services, a local nonprofit organization that works to promote healthy relationships via crisis intervention and community outreach.
The musical performances all shared one common theme: love. It was an afternoon of love songs, both covers and originals.
The performances opened with Alex Brown, who shared her own original songs as well as covers of Alicia Keys and a mashup of The Beatles “I’ve Just Seen a Face” and Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love.”
Next was vocalist and keyboardist Webster Moore accompanied by Aron Linker on bass. Moore shared a series of covers from Amy Winehouses’ “Valerie” to the Motown hit, “My Girl” by The Temptations. Moore also played an R&B original, titled “Realize.”
Moore stayed on stage to accompany Katie Barrett, who shared her own original folk ballads. She dedicated one to self-love and another to her wife. She then traded her guitar for a ukulele to perform a rendition of “You and I” by Ingrid Michaelson.
Kyle Williams performed a series of originals as well, one of which he wrote for his son to capture a “different type of love.” On his original song, “It’s Okay,” Williams also captured the side of love that can be difficult to talk about – the imperfect moments.
“With intimacy comes ugliness…because you can’t get close to someone without seeing all of that…crap,” Williams said about the song.
The last performance was by The Bidwells, a duo consisting of couple Samantha Francis and Ben Ruttenburg. The pair had an undeniable chemistry that translated to the stage. They performed a number of originals as well as covers, including the golden era love song, “At Last.”
Catalyst partnered with KZFR 90.1 for the event and held a bake sale with all proceeds going toward the local community radio.
Find the artists from the showcase below:
Kati Morris can be reached at [email protected]
