Seattle People Q&A: Laura's Into Billie Holiday, Has Seen Bon Jovi, and Is Not in Kansas Anymore

Jenny Jimenez

Every week, photograph and conversationalist Jenny Jimenez ventures out into the city and brings back photos and notes about the folks she encounters. This week she bumped into Laura at Fuel Coffee House in Montlake.

Questions and Photo by Jenny Jimenez:

Who are some of your favorite musicians?  I'm a little bit dorky.  I'm not really into new music.  I love strong female vocalists like Bonnie Raitt, Melissa Etheridge, and the Indigo Girls are my favorite.  And I love jazz as well, like Billie Holiday and Ella.

Favorite albums?  I don't know - whatever is in my iPod queue?  I don't really pay attention to albums. I don't know if I'd be able to pick out one.

What was the last concert you went to?  I think it might have been the Indigo Girls.  I saw them in New York at Radio City Music Hall. That was probably two years ago. 

First concert?  This one is easy: Bon Jovi.  I think I was in eighth grade.  I grew up in Topeka, Kansas, so I think I saw them in Kansas City. 

What were you listening to in college? I'm not really a music person, but you know who was big ... not John Mayer but the guy who came before him, Dave Matthews. That was my generation, Dave Matthews.

I have a funny story about Dave Matthews. I saw him in concert in Boston - the Fleet Center - with some of my college friends and it was the end of the concert and we were hanging around trying to see if we could get backstage somehow. We're talking to the security guard and he asked me a very similar question to you (what my favorite album of his was) and I'm looking at my friends and they're thinking maybe if I give him a great answer he'll let us backstage. And I said, "I don't know, I'm just kind of here," and that was my answer. I ruined it! And my friends are like "WHAT?!?! What's wrong with you?!?"

You know he lives in Seattle now. If faced with the same situation today would you have a different answer? Probably not! If he walked in here right now, I would not be able to name an album. I'll have to go do some studying before that happens.