(From DCist contributor Kristin Kovner)

We remember Ari Hest when he was just another NYU student with killer pipes and a guitar. We remember when he played at virtually every indie venue around the country. After all, how could we forget? It was only a couple of years ago. And then, he signed with Columbia. So with great interest (and a dash of anxiety that he’d become just another John Mayer-type), we trekked out to Vienna’s Jammin’ Java last week to hear him play.

As we settled into our spot at the bar (and by “settled,” we mean “got ourselves sandwiched in among 200 other fans“), we had a lot of questions: Would his performance still be pretty incredible or would it be pretty boy? Would it be genuine or canned? Fluid or polished to perfection?

Within a verse of his opener, “A Fond Farewell,” the most sophisticated song on his debut album, “Someone to Tell,” our fears subsided. This was good old Ari Hest doing what he does best: singing as if his life depended on it with a gruff baritone and soaring falsetto, rocking out with his band on upbeat funk tune “Consistency,” and playing off of percussionist Scott Siever on emotionally-draining ballad “Anne Marie.”