"Iwas naive," were the first words of the first song, "Mistaken," sung by Marié Digby at the Hotel Cafe on Tuesday.
Well, the young singer-songwriter and YouTube/MySpace phenom has lost some innocence in recent weeks. A Wall Street Journal story purported to "expose" her Internet success (which came via a winsome, homemade video of her performing Rihanna's R&B-pop hit "Umbrella") as not the organic, amateur rise as perceived but rather the result of major-label machinations by Disney's Hollywood Records, which had "secretly" signed her nearly two years ago.
The thing is, although she hadn't trumpeted her Hollywood connection, she hadn't hidden it either -- the label's logo was on her sampler CDs sold at concerts, among other things. And the label and she maintain that the video was something she did on her own without label involvement. And her response, a vitriolic blog post charging that the Journal misrepresented the situation, was hardly the stuff of a managed PR campaign. Regardless, the notion was out there that somehow L.A.-based Digby was the music world's answer to LonelyGirl15 -- the calculated presentation of an actress pretending to be a "real" teen girl.
All that seemed far in the background, though, on this third show of her four-week Hotel Cafe residency. In fact, when she mentioned YouTube from the stage, there was only moderate reaction from the audience. Instead, it was a mention of airplay of a slightly more-produced version of "Umbrella" on radio station Star 98.7 (KYSR-FM) that drew the big response -- though she sadly noted that the station has changed to a rock format and will no longer play her introspective songs.
Among the fans gathered outside before the show, Star 98.7 was the primary source of awareness about Digby, and there was only superficial knowledge of the supposed controversy.
"I read something about the YouTube thing," said Eric Francisco, waiting with friends Kat Vuong and Tony Tuy.
"But isn't that what YouTube is for?" Vuong asked.
"It's supposed to be for amateurs," Tuy countered, referring to some public perceptions.
But they all said the matter has no bearing on their enjoyment of Digby's music, and other fans took a similar line.
"Some people might feel gypped," said Amanda, who did not give her last name. "But if she's good, she's good."
Her companion Alex Nguye added, "YouTube's an amazing thing, just like with that guy who stood up for Britney."
