Jaymay to play After Hours

Jackson Reeves Guest Writer

Vassar College Entertainment’s After Hours plans to begin its domination of Vassar’s not-quite-NoViCE-hipster nightlife with a performance by singer-songwriter Jaymay on Sept. 29.

After Hours Chair Anabel Graff ’09 said that Jaymay’s music is “catchy but not in a poppy way.” She added that the New York-based Jaymay has opened for Bright Eyes—proof that Jaymay is “on the fast track to being huge.”

Born Jamie Kristine Seerman, Jaymay generated positive Web buzz after posting her self-made EP Sea Green, See Blue on insound.com. The Long Island native’s career took off in May 2006 when iTunes promoted her single “Gray or Blue” as an indie spotlight. She is currently signed with the record label Heavenly / EMI and wrapping up a tour in London.

Jaymay first performed at Vassar in Spring 2007 to a crowd of over 150 people in the Aula. Graff recalled that the connection between the singer and the audience was so electric that everyone ended up humming along to her song “You Are the Only One I Love.”

After Hours Secretary and Publicity Manager Kim Benton ’09 saw Jaymay’s first performance. “Everyone was so floored by how great she was that they stayed, which was very different than the normal ebb and flow of the crowd,” said Benton.

Vassar’s positive reception prompted Graff to bring Jaymay back as the breakout show this year.

“Her songs are so unusual, and her lyrics are so unusual, and her melodies…well for me, they make my heart burn,” said Graff.

“I’m a DJ for WVKR and I was playing music from the station on my show [last year], and somehow got to Jaymay’s EP Sea Green, See Blue. I played one track and fell in love,” said Graff in an e-mailed statement. She decided that she needed to bring Jaymay to Vassar immediately, and succeeded after a quick e-mail correspondence with the up-and-coming starlet.

“She’s been overseas working with Heavenly Records/EMI, and when her manager said that she’d be back in New York, I jumped on the chance to have her back here at Vassar,” said Graff.

Vassar student Jenny Hartman ’08, whose style Graff likened to Jaymay’s, will open Saturday’s show with a short set. Graff will also perform her own set before Jaymay takes the stage as a part of After Hours’s initiative to give students “the opportunity to open for a real [artist],” said Graff.

Jaymay’s return performance will take place in the Susan Stein Shiva Theater on Sept. 29 at 8 p.m.