Tag Archives: Eileen Fisher

Jihae gives her music a kick, launches Kickstarter campaign today (videos)

New project gives Fans a chance to support the sultry singer for as little as $1

Jihae, the Seoul, South Korea, -born Renaissance woman has shifted the spotlight back onto her musical career.

Jihae performs at the Mercury Lounge in 2012. (Photo © 2012, Steven P. Marsh)

Jihae performs at the Mercury Lounge in 2012. (Photo © 2012, Steven P. Marsh)

Best known to many as one of the distinctive faces of the Eileen Fisher fashion line, the mononymic Jihae (full name: Jihae Kim), has for years worked as a singer, multi-instrumentalist and operator of a small indie music label, Septem.

Her performance style is slinky, sexy and mysterious, with overtones of earthiness signaled by her penchant for leather biker jackets.

This morning she launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund completion of her 4th album, Illusion of You, and the tour to support it.

Project involves Dave Stewart, Leonard Cohen, more

Dave Stewart of Eurythmics is the executive producer, plays on several tracks and makes a guest appearance in the Kickstarter video. He says Jihae’s latest work “reminds me of something like [David] Bowie whispering secrets to the Velvet Underground.”

The album, due out in January if this campaign goes well, features a song co-written by Jihae, Stewart and the venerable Leonard Cohen. Jihae’s press kit calls that track, titled “It Just Feels,”  an “epic orgasm-themed song.”

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A taste of Jihae at the Mercury Lounge

Jihae performs at the Mercury Lounge. (Photo © 2012, Steven P. Marsh/willyoumissme.com)

Jihae performs at the Mercury Lounge. (Photo © 2012, Steven P. Marsh/willyoumissme.com)

Rebecca Perrin of Eileen Fisher.

Rebecca Perrin of Eileen Fisher.

As predicted, Jihae did the unexpected last night at the Mercury Lounge.

She didn’t put on an artsy opera, and she wasn’t (except for one song) in girl-with-a-guitar mode.

Instead, she was a proud rock chick, complete with a leather motorcycle jacket that somehow didn’t manage to violate her Eileen Fisher fashion style. (And yes, at least one person from Eileen Fisher, the designer for whom Jihae is a key model, was in the audience. It was Rebecca Perrin.

Click through to the jump to hear what Jihae sounded like last night.

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Jihae, the coolest Eileen Fisher model ever, will sing for you tonight

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Jihae and her “Fire Burning Rain” cast at (Le) Poisson Rouge. (Photo © 2010, Steven P. Marsh)

We have no idea what exactly what Jihae was trying to do when she made a musical with playwright John Patrick Shanley out of her Fire Burning Rain album a couple of years back.

When we saw it at (Le) Poisson Rouge in 2010, we were thoroughly entertained by its A Midsummer Night’s Dream-like characters and just as thoroughly puzzled by its inscrutable plot.

But it certainly was ambitious. That’s a word that seems to apply to just about everything Jihae (birth name Jihae Kim) does.

Jihae in an Eileen Fisher ad.

Jihae in an Eileen Fisher ad.

You may know her better as the lanky, dark-haired model for Eileen Fisher’s clothing. She’s been featured in Fisher ads for years, and is the most recognizable non-supermodel we can think of.

Tonight she’s back to music. She has an album coming out in the spring, featuring collaborations with her wide circle of friends, including the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart. But who knows what she’ll be performing at the Mercury Lounge for an early show tonight. She’s made three albums and one EP in her career, so she’s got plenty of material to draw from.

This could well be one of most unusual shows you’ve ever seen at the Mercury.

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Jihae at (Le) Poisson Rouge in 2010. (Photo © 2010, Steven P. Marsh)

Or it could turn out to be a classic girl-with-guitar gig.

If the rehearsal pictures are any indication, she will have a string section on stage for at least part of the show.

While we wouldn’t count on Stewart making this show, you never know who might show up — whether someone from the fashion world or from her wide circle of musical and theatrical friends.

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“Rehearsal for next Tues show at Mercury Lounge (Credit: jihaemusic on Instagram)

It’s an early show, with doors at 6:30 and the music scheduled for 7:30, with the Doorbells as her opening act. Tickets are just $12. Snap them up online or at the door. You’re in for a real adventure.