Ysanne
The Living Room Series
Bar Max
Hartford
Jan. 15, 2026
The Living Room series provides up close and personal access to some of the most talented musicians in Connecticut. It is usually held at TheaterWorks, which organizes the concert series. Ysanne’s performance Thursday night was held at Bar Max, located on the ground floor of the historic Goodwin Hotel just a block away. The change in venue gave the event the intimate feel of a secluded lounge filled with hipsters, cool cats and music aficionados of all ages.
Ysanne and her accompanist Tia Bowen fit the part as well. Ysanne wore a spectacular silver dress that sparkled under the constantly changing lights of the bar, illuminating each song with its own mood and feel. Boweb was dressed to the nines as well, with dark shades and a purple wide-brimmed hat that Prince would have been proud of.
The set list was all original works by Ysanne, who hails from Enfield and has made a name for herself as both a singer and actress in the Greater Hartford arts community. One of the first songs she sang was called Rising, in which she challenged the audience to always be ready to be their best selves.
Ysanne’s powerful voice reverberated through the space. Her clear voice made it easy to understand her message about hard work and dedication to the life of music that she’s chosen. The combination of her singing prowess and the style she brought to the stage were the hallmarks of a true diva who had decided to grace the rapt crowd with her presence.
Ysanne also sang about love, covering both the pleasure and the pain of the emotion. In her song Entangled, she demands to know if her lover, who is torn between her and another woman, gives everything to her when they leave. It’s a situation that many of us have been in, yours truly included. The yearning that Ysanne infused her singing with had all eyes in the room on her, and brought back some uncomfortable feelings for me at least.
My favorite song of the night came towards the end of the evening. Ysanne performed a song called Heartbeat, the first part of a medley that she dedicated to our home state. I have to admit that I’d always found songs about how great our home is corny. But I stepped back from my usual judgmentalness and listened with an open heart:
My heart beats Connecticut
Did you go to Ron-a-Roll
Let’s take 84
We can roll out
Go to Nino’s
Catch a show
Play a hand and
Leave your ego
We got time
Let’s take a ride
We’ll go down 95
And you know what? Connecticut is great. I’ve always qualified that with, “It’s not New York or Boston, but..”, and that’s not necessary. Listening to the song about all the places I’ve been, the fun that I’ve had and the memories I’ve made helped me see that it was insecurity about my own place in the world that made me feel embarrassed.
My home is as special as anywhere else, because it produces people as talented as Ysanne and all the other artists, intellectuals and just plain good people I’ve written about over the years.
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Jamil checks out the first new exhibit of the year from the Manchester Art Association.
