I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: October 1, 2023] Leith Ross

Sometime in April, my daughter asked if we could go to the All Things Go Festival.  I had never heard of this Festival and assumed the answer was no.  But then I saw that it was at the Merriweather Post Pavilion which is exactly three hours away from us.  So when tickets went on sale, I managed to get two pre-sale tickets for Sunday.  And then when they went on proper sale, I managed to score two more for Saturday.

Sunday was  the far more important day for music.  I mean, the whole reason she wanted to go was to see boygenius (and Lana Del Rey).  But this was a great day of music to be sure.

I hadn’t heard of Leith Ross before this set.  I listened to a song or two and liked them.  So who is this singer?

Leith Ross is a Canadian indie rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Ross identifies as non-binary, transgender, and queer, and uses they/them pronouns.  They recorded their debut EP, Motherwell (2020), while studying at Humber College, and subsequently found success on TikTok, most prominently with the song “We’ll Never Have Sex” in August 2021.  In 2022, they were signed to Interscope and Republic Records. They received the inaugural John Prine Songwriter Fellowship at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival. Their debut album, To Learn, was released on May 19, 2023.

Leith’s voice reminds me of Juliana Hatfield’s–kind of childish and sweet but with a bite underneath.  Leith’s more popular songs seem to be slow.  They mentioned during the set they they were there to bring the day crashing to a halt after the more rocking Ella Jane.

There was some kind of medical emergency during their set–they stopped the music and we all watched as paramedics took care of someone in the audience.

Everything about their set was pleasant.  I enjoyed them, although I don’t think I’d listen to them again.

LEITH ROSS