Are you new to Wizard Rock? In this second installment in my “New to Wrock” series, I give you an artist who is also relatively new to Wizard Rock: Kirstyn Hippe. She is a 17-year-old singer-songwriter from Cincinatti, Ohio. At LeakyCon 2012 in Chicago, she won the first ever LeakyStars competition. As a prize for winning, she was given the opportunity to perform with other Wrock bands at a concert during LeakyCon 2013 in Portland. She did so on Thursday night, June 27th. Many of the songs that she performed there are featured on her newest album, Walking the World.
Her music has a very folksy feel. She plays acoustic guitar and sings with a beautiful vibrato. She also has an incredible stage presence. I was thoroughly impressed by her performance at LeakyCon 2013. I can’t praise her enough. Here are her songs:
1. A Way of Turning Up. After Walking the World, this song is my favorite of hers. From the perspective of Luna Lovegood, this song tells about how friends have a way of turning up, even when you’re loony and strange.
2. Sirius/Serious. A very snarky song telling Sirius to be more serious. I love it.
3. Goodbye Raggedy Man. A song for those of you in the Doctor Who fandom. Since I’m not (I’m sorry!), I don’t feel any particularly strong connection to this song. It has a great melody? Yes. I can say that much, at least.
4. Lily Evans. This is an incredible love song from the perspective of James Potter to Lily Evans, trying to convince her to love him, despite his many obvious flaws.
5. Mirror of Erised. I changed my mind. I think this might be my favorite song. Considering the Mirror of Erised is my favorite of all the magical objects, which makes my Pottermore username (ErisedAuror53) all the more precious to me, I had high expectations for this song. The lyrics, the melody, the guitar, all of it lives up to those expectations. This song captures Harry’s longing for his family so beautifully.
6. Walking the World. I’m not even remotely kidding; this song is so great. From Ron’s perspective, it tells about how he met and began to fall in love with Hermione. It tells about how they will walk the world together from that point on.
7. Dear Fred (Live at LeakyCon 2012). This song is so heartbreaking. It’s from George’s perspective just after Fred’s death. No more needs to be said, apart from this: You are guaranteed to feel all the feels. Have some tissues ready.
Go ahead, have a listen. Click the link above. I’ll wait. When you’re done, come back here and share your thoughts in the comments!
