Seraphina Lotkhamnga on June 15th, 2012

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Audiences can have their heads elsewhere when it comes to watching a show in a small space, but when Julie Baenziger – aka Jules, aka Julie Ann Bee and aka Sea of Bees – sings out, the music cuts through the room like a knife. The Sacramento folk-pop singer barely needed to raise her voice to command attention at the Echo on Wednesday night. A simple coo and a gentle strum on her guitar quickly drew the crowd to her endearing odes to love.

“It’s been kind of busy,” Baenziger said after thanking everyone for sticking around after a set from Sister Crayon. Explaining the whirlwind of touring in support of her latest album “Orangefarben,” she added, “I don’t know what I’m thinking about right now, but I’m thinking good things.” But even with a wandering mind, a focused performance of her latest single “Gone,” a song about “trying not to lose hope,” ensued.

Baenziger continued to be a soft-spoken storyteller throughout the evening, but at the core of her songs was a boldness that came with a brush of intimacy. Although most were already fans of the heartrending nature of Sea of Bees’ personal mantras, we were reminded that many songs like “Take” and “Girl” were about “my first love.” Newer songs were about “letting go,” but Baenziger repeated the phrase “my first love” enough times throughout the set to reveal that bond as the source of her powerful pathos.

But then the time came for her to sing “Broke,” and it was obvious there was some inkling of pain in her lessons learned. Prefacing the bittersweet tune with a story of how her brother had encouraged her to shout with all her being on top of a mountain, Baenziger revealed, “I had to get it out of me.”

Although only nine songs long, Sea of Bees’ set became an emotional roller-coaster. Lilting carols like “Wizbot” were more stripped down to unveil a simple acoustic backdrop to her bright, yearning howls. Then with closing number “The Woods,” Baenziger squeezed her eyes shut, stood on her tip toes and waved her hands as the music flowed throughout her body, making it hard to believe there was any chatter going on during the beginning of her set. The reverberation of Baenziger’s emotional virtue was strong enough for a few seconds of silence to follow her last note – until the teary-eyed applause took over.

Sacramento’s experimental, electronic hip-hop band Sister Crayon and Santa Cruz/Oakland’s Churches kicked off the night.

Photos by Carl Pocket