This week's CP includes a short Q&A with Canadian singer Jill Barber, who makes her first Pittsburgh appearance this Sunday at Hard Rock Cafe. Here's the longer version of our interview with her.

• Photo courtesy of Ivan Otis
• Jill Barber

How long have you been doing music as a career?

I started playing music and writing songs as a teenager just at home, and from that time was getting little coffeehouse gigs all through high school. Then I went on to university and it got a little more serious; I was playing clubs and formed a band. Then I went through university and had to get a job; I worked a desk job for about eight months before I left that and decided I needed to pursue music full-time. So I've essentially been a professional for all of my adult life. I've been a full-time professional musician for coming up to ten years now.

That's a lucky thing — a talent-y and lucky thing!

Absolutely. There are so many incredible musicians out there that have other jobs and distractions and things; I do feel lucky, absolutely.

You've undergone something of a transformation in terms of your music; your earlier stuff is more girl-with-a-guitar, folky stuff and your newer stuff is much different.

I've always thought of myself as a songwriter first, but as you say it's evolved. I think what happened is — I was writing songs on the acoustic guitar, and they were folky sounding songs, but I was listening to a lot of different types of music. I've always loved older music; in university I got a record player, so I discovered a huge collection of older vinyl. I'd put on these records that had an incredible, full orchestration — Ella Fitzgerald, say, Nat King Cole — and it was like movie-soundtrack, over-the-top romantic, beautiful, lush music. They were songs, just as I was writing songs, but they were kind of produced in this beautiful kind of complex way. So I started working with other musicians, essentially. I started working with a producer and he helped broaden my palette of what I could do musically: how I could take a song and kind of elevate it into, I don't know — a real song, you know, with full orchestration.

And because I'm not a musician with any sort of musical theory, training background, I started working with people who are arrangers and I work with a full band now. It was always sort of my dream when I was a solo artist to have my own band, and now I have it ... and sometimes I wish I was a solo artist. [Laughs]

I started collaborating with other musicians and I put down the guitar a lot, actually, even in the writing process, because I'm not the world's greatest acoustic guitar player, I found it kind of limiting. So these days, I write a lot of my stuff a cappella, which leaves space for production and what kind of music I want to put underneath the songs.

I'd guess that would make it fun for the musicians you're working with, too.

That's right. My band are all hugely involved in the creative process. And that's great for me: It was lonely just writing by myself, and I really love collaborating with other musicians. That was a lot of the change — that and listening to a lot of music that inspired me and I started to realize that I could make that kind of music, as a girl with a guitar and a few friends.

Was the old standard music something that you were exposed to growing up — parents, family that listened to that stuff? Or did that really all come when you were in your 20s?

I came to it more on my own in my 20s, in my bohemian phase when I'd sit around and listen to records and kind of ... brood. My parents are amazing people but didn't really provide me with a fantastic musical foundation. Lionel Richie, my mom's a big James Taylor fan. A lot of classical music. But I think I had to seek it out on my own. I have to give some credit to my older brother. My older brother is also a professional musician, and he introduced me to a lot of music as a youth. I had a bit of a musical education at home, but not so much from my parents.

That's interesting that two of you became professional musicians when your parents weren't particularly invested in music.

Yeah. It boggles their minds as well, believe me.

The new album has that very old, organic sound — how did you pull that off in the studio? Did you go analog?

It's not analog. I have to hand it all to my producer, his name is Les Cooper. I did three records with him and the first record we did together we did analog, then we just went digital. The musicians know how to play to make it sound organic. As much as possible, we played the songs live; there were a lot of overdubs as well. I'd be lying if I said we just got in a room and played all the songs. It was a pretty involved process, making the sounds on the record.

Going from someone who's writing songs with a guitar and playing that, to having a full band behind her — there's a whole different persona going on there. I think when you're playing music that's folk-based, it's just you and your guitar, there's often an assumption that you're presenting yourself in this very genuine way, and writing personal songs, whereas when you get up and your in front of this big band, and you're a singer, there's a tradition in that kind of music that it's less about who you are, and is more about delivering songs and ideas. Was that a transformation you felt?

Definitely my writing style has changed. I think in the early part of my career, when I was writing folky, country songs, it was all about me, and that really personal, honest approach to songwriting. I think these days I do try to write songs that are bigger than me. It's very pompous of me to say this, but every time I write a song, I do try to write a song that carries on the tradition of the great standards. Because I just — I don't want that tradition to die. I know I'm on the record here, but I'm gonna say it anyway: I love the old standards, but I'm tired of hearing jazz singers sing the same songs from 50 years ago. Somebody has to step up and write new standards. Now I think, I do write songs — they're honest in the sense that I put a lot of myself into them, but they're not necessarily about me. They're maybe about bigger themes, and songs that somebody else could easily sing, whereas maybe in my earlier folky days, some of those songs, nobody would ever want to cover them, they were so personal and about me. But I think that's a maturation, an evolution, and it's me feeling more confident as a writer, feeling like I can write great songs that will hopefully have a lifespan beyond just me singing them on a stage or in a coffeehouse. I'm kind of reaching for the stars a little bit more with my writing.

And in terms of the presentation, I think it comes across in the presentation. I think it's more bold for me to stand up in front of a really great band and just deliver songs — it is very different. But, that said, I always feel that there is an intimacy at shows — I try to create an intimacy at my shows. And I always, for better or for worse, need to feel a connection with my audience. Sometimes to a point where I wish I didn't need it so much. I think in terms of my connection to the audience, that part hasn't changed. I'm not just up there like a diva presenting my songs and people have the privilege of listening. I need to work pretty hard every night — some nights harder than others — to have that connection, because it's more challenging now that I'm not just a solo acoustic guitar player.

• Third Eye Blind

Last night a packed Stage AE welcomed alternative rock legends Third Eye Blind to Pittsburgh. Lord Grunge and Backwoods Payback opened while an anxious crowd awaited charismatic poet and performer Stephan Jenkins to belt the band's adored choruses and hooks from the 1990s.

Lord Grunge, a local experimental deejay, kicked off the evening with a less than climactic performance. His varying music style, which ranged from hardcore to a Capella rapping, seemed to confuse the crowd rather than excite them. He sang along with prerecorded tracks, making his minutes on stage feel like a musical identity crisis during karaoke night. His banter in between songs did not help his case either, especially when he awkwardly declared, "I like to swear, and I like to drink." The blunt statement did not add to his stage presence at all. He did, however, make his passion for his work quite obvious, and he displayed a definite interest in playing off of the crowd's energy.

Backwoods Payback gave an energizing show with their polished technique. The heavy metal rockers from West Chester, Pa. employed distorted guitar licks and gritty vocals while also incorporating crowd interactions into their set, such as discussing the Pittsburgh Penguins. The most captivating element of their show was bassist Jessica Baker. The bleach-blonde goddess did an excellent job of holding her own alongside the males of the group. Even though the group's sound did not seem like the type one would expect from a Third Eye Blind opener, they managed to pump up the crowd nonetheless.

After what seemed like a century-long sound-check, Jenkins, clad in an over-sized hooded sweatshirt, and the rest of Third Eye Blind entered the stage. They opened with their signature intro and a blood-pumping rendition of "Thanks a Lot," quickly followed by "Graduate" and "Can You Take Me." Jenkins used the whole stage in his performance and kept his hood on for first few songs, hiding the face so many female fans longed to see. He looked like a Jedi knight with the way he strutted across the stage, his apparel hanging loosely on his body. He teased the audience by casually unzipping the garment a little bit more with each song.

• Third Eye Blind

A high point of the show was "Faster," as the crowd reacted wildly to a lengthy pause Jenkins inserted right before the first chorus. The radio hit "Never Let You Go" also thrilled the fans, and Jenkins' announcement of an upcoming new album at the end of the song just added to the uproar.

Jenkins demonstrated a peaceful demeanor between songs, at one point calling out, "Every single one of us is in this thing together." He urged audience members to interact with the strangers next to them, encouraging them to tell each other to "have a beautiful spring." He also did his usual glow-stick bit, tossing illuminated necklaces into the crowd.

"Slow Motion" provoked some audience members to raise lighters in the air, while Brad Hargreaves' hair-raising drum solo during "Jumper" threw the fans into a tizzy. When he chucked his drumsticks out to the crowd, the frenzied fans dove for them like starving sharks at feeding time.

The band played the crowd-pleasing "Semi-Charmed Life," and after a brief absence from the stage, they returned to end with "Blinded" and "Let Me In." Third Eye Blind's performance proved that their music's relevance and appeal have hardly faded since the first album. Even in his forties, Jenkins can still deliver an intense, poetic performance.

A Port Authority committee today advanced a plan for massive service reductions and fare increases across the transit system. The full board will vote on the measures next week.

While officials tweaked some of the plans, the cuts still resemble much of what was proposed in January to deal with a $64 million budget deficit as a result of a state transportation funding crisis.

If the plan goes through, 46 routes will be eliminated, the Collier operating division will close, and 500-600 positions will be eliminated on Sept. 2. Fares in Zone 1 will increase by a quarter in Zone 1 and 50 cents in Zone 2 in July.

Additionally, paratransit service through the ACCESS program will also be cut for the first time, stranding what the Authority and disability advocates have said is the county's most vulnerable population.

"In previous cuts I could take comfort" that ACCESS would still be able to provide service, said Guy Mattola, chairman of the Planning and Development Committee. But this time, "We would be abandoning people who don't have choices."

The Port Authority offers door-to-door service via ACCESS between any two points within the county and up to 1.5 miles into neighboring ones. Under the proposal, the service area would shrink down to ¾ of a mile within a fixed route -- the requirement under federal law.

But Karen Hoesch, executive director of ACCESS, and other Port Authority officials are advocating to preserve the service. Hoesch says that under the state's funding mechanism for transportation, every county except Allegheny receives funding to provide ACCESS program through something known as Programs of Statewide Significance.

Hoesch said she's trying to rally the disability community to lobby state legislators to change the funding distribution to include Allegheny County. "At this point it's a matter of equity. We're facing losing so much," she said. "We all want the same things."

The authority's successes with the more than 30-year-old program -- it goes well above what's federally required for riders with disabilities and become a model in the country -- have, in a way, cost it today. As Hoesch said, "[The state] doesn't pay for it because we've always had it."

Authority CEO Steve Bland told the committee that any plans approved at next week's board committee could be reversed should the state solve its transportation funding problem and the authority receives adequate concession from Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85, who is working on a new collective bargaining agreement. And after meeting with county executive Rich Fitzgerald and Gov. Tom Corbett in March, Bland said he is hopeful for the authority's future.

"This day and next Friday are going to be tough days in the history of the authority," he said. "Hopefully they will be historical footnotes that there are better days to come."

Howdy!

Just showing you the new Man Forever (aka Kid Millions from Oneida) video, because in the middle of all the trippy droney stuff, you'll notice ex-Pittsburgh rocker/Dirty Faces keyboardist/percussionist Leah McManigle blowing up and popping balloons. That's all! Happy Wednesday!

Man Forever - Surface Patterns from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

File this under "politics makes strange bedfellows": It's the front of a flyer being sent out by the campaign of state Rep. candidate Erin Molchany in District 22:

The folks you see there are Molchany with two of her supporters: City Councilor Natalia Rudiak and a former rival, Tony Coghill. In fact, Coghill and Molchany herself have previously been on opposite sides of thie own election battle: Back in 2010, Molchany lost her seat on the Democratic Committee to Lisa Orlando, Coghill's one-time campaign manager, during Coghill's failed effort to topple Pete Wagner as chair of the party's 19th Ward Committee. (ADDED: I should also say that while the Coghill/Wagner battle was personal, as we'll see, Coghill only had kind things to say about Molchany even back in 2010. Orlando and Molchany just happened to live in the same neighborhood.)

So why are these folks all on the same side now?

Part of what's going on here is obvious: As I hinted in a brief write-up of this race, Coghill is looking to even the score with Wagner, a former ally, by helping Molchany beat the candidate Wagner is backing in this race, Marty Schmotzer. Watchers of this space know that part of the reason Rudiak beat Coghill in the first place back in 2009 was a split between Coghill and the Ward 19 chair. Coghill's attempt to oust Wagner from the committee in 2010 stemmed from that loss, and the bad feelings obviously continue. Schmotzer and Coghill have both told me that they exchanged words at a recent fundraiser for Congressman Mike Doyle at LeMont. The confrontation got so heated that a rumor spread that someone had nearly taken a swing at Mayor Luke Ravenstahl ... who just happened to be standing nearby.

Rudiak and Molchany's alliance is even easier to understand. Both are progressive women who draw from a similar base of support. And Rudiak is up for re-election next year: Having an ally in the state House sure wouldn't hurt, especially if Rudiak ends up facing another Wagner-backed rival.

If I had to bet on this race, I'd still pick Schmotzer: He's the endorsed Democrat in a special election taking place on the same ballot, and Pete Wagner has been pushing him hard. That's a tough combination to beat. But if Molchany did pull this off, it would be a sign that the political geography is shifting under Wagner's feet ... and in a legislative seat previously held by his own daughter, Chelsa.

Actually, we may as well note the landscape may be shifting anyway.

This week, Pittsburgh City Paper joins other local media, old and new, by taking part in "Coming Home PA," a joint effort to document the experiences of Western Pennsylvania veterans returning home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our stories, on veterans becoming more politically engaged, and how the military is contending with sex assaults on the increasing number of female soldiers in the service, join reports filed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Essential Public Radio, The New Pittsburgh Courier, and other outlets. The effort was coordinated by PublicSource, a nonprofit journalism venture in the mode of ProPublica.

A full index of Coming Home PA stories is below:

• The Allegheny Front: Back from Iraq and taking comfort in the outdoors.
• The Allegheny Front: Sierra Club helps veterans overcome post-combat issues through activity.
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Returning vets are fighting for jobs
• PublicSource: Troops returning to face more struggles back home.
• Essential Public Radio: For veterans, coming home isn't always easy
• Essential Public Radio: For veterans with PTSD, building relationships is no easy task.
• Pop City: Shepherd's Heart: Helping returning vets find their way
• New Pittsburgh Courier Blacks see benefit of military service

A little while back, I told you about the contest Iron City was running in which they were soliciting local bands who might want to be "brand ambassadors." Win the contest, get a lot of moola from I.C. to make your record/video/whatever, rep the brand in your videos and onstage and that sort of thing.

Well, the next round has begun: The finalists have been named. A jury working with Iron City chose eleven acts to make the cut, and now it's up to you to choose who gets the goods. The list includes past CP cover dudes Tracksploitation, longtime country-rockers The Harlan Twins, and 2012 Warped Tour act Danielle Barbe among others. Check out the list and vote here.

Word came in past CP's deadline that Point Park University tonight honors one of its more notable recent graduates: Panther Bior, the Sudanese refugee who was among the main subjects of the 2006 documentary God Grew Tired of Us. 

The film profiles Bior and two other youths who were orphaned by civil war and survived a barefoot journey across the sub-Saharan desert to a UN refugee camp in Kenya. There were 25,000 Lost Boys, about 3,800 of whom ultimately settled in the U.S.

Bior's the one who got his undergraduate degree in accounting from Point Park and is poised to receive his master's in organization leadership there next month. According to a university release, "His dream is to open a school for more than 2,000 school-aged children in his hometown in Southern Sudan."

God Grew Tired of Us is the film that first brought the Lost Boys to a wider U.S. audience. The film, by Christopher Quinn, was a prize-winner at the Sundance Film Festival. Nicole Kidman narrates.

The free screening starts at 6:30 p.m. tonight, in 212 University Center on the school's Downtown campus. It will be followed by a reception honoring Bior.

The event is part of Point Park's Spotlight on Africa series.

Spotlight on Africa continues on Sunday, with filmmaker Kimi Takesue presenting Where Are You Taking Me?, an acclaimed 2010 documentary set in Uganda.

On Tue., April 24, director Deron Abright and writer Yao B. Nunnoo present their 2011 drama The Destiny of Lesser Animals from Ghana. And on Sat., April 28, The West Wing actor Melissa Fitzgerald presents the 2011 film Staging Hope: Actors of Peace in Northern Uganda. 

In Which We Watch Casey Turn into Max Headroom:

(Donora opens for Passion Pit this Saturday at CMU's Carnival!)

• Ursa Major

This week's MP3 Monday comes from Ursa Major, the Pittsburgh-via-Philly band that released its latest, Never Worried About a Thing in My Life, last month. The whole thing is available on vinyl or on a name-your-own-price basis electronically via the band's Bandcamp page. For now, check out a free sample here: the track "Free Will."

Sorry, download expired!