Column by Karen Cornell/Beth Frank

Leisha Hailey has a new band. Okay I’ll cut you some slack if you don’t know who Leisha Hailey is. You probably know her as ‘Alice Pieszecki’ on the L Word. If you don’t know what the L Word is, you may have to give back your toaster.

Leisha Hailey is a talented actress and musician. She has been playing Alice on the L Word, from the beginning and for you Alice fans you should know that while the L Word will be airing in its last season, Alice (Leisha) will have a new spin-off series. (I wonder if Dana has a twin sister that Alice could meet?)

So where was I? Oh yeah, Leisha’s new band. Leisha teamed up with Camila Grey to form the group Uh Huh Her. (Okay here’s where I go off on another tangent. I don’t know what the name of the group means. I asked the guy selling t-shirts at the concert, ’cause I figured he’d know, and he said it was from a book or something by P J Harvey. I googled it and wiki says it’s the name of an album released in 2004 by PJ Harvey. So I still have no clue.)

Uh Huh Her performed Saturday night at the TLA. Philly Gay Calendar was able to comp me two tickets and a press pass so I could take pics at the concert and write this article. Well I hope the pics turned out better! Fortunately for me Beth is the music expert so I asked her to say a few words about the group.

Beths’ words: Uh Huh Her’s musical style can be defined as electro. The songs were driven by a combination of electro drums, highly listenable synth melodies and complex lyrics. The girls sang with steady dreamy voices. Leisha could be seen on her toes as she floated the bass up to match those airy vocals. The music has a pseudo-trance sound. This was emphasized with single note bass loops. The clean and delayed guitar gave additional harmony which wasn’t broken by solos.

Me again: The crowd was clearly lesbian (lots of girls swaying together) and a mixture of ages. I would say some were there because they were familiar with the group’s music, but most because they wanted to see “Alice”. Leisha was surprisingly quiet and not at all like her character on the L Word. I expected her to run out on stage and just chatter away, but instead she grabbed her bass and receded, almost hiding back by the drummer for the first couple songs. There was very little interaction between Leisha and Camila and the audience. Just a few comments about how rain reminded Camila of snow (she’s from the west coast). And that the Philly slogan, “City of Brotherly Love” really meant Philly- City of “Gay Porn.”

After the concert and encore we went backstage to try and get a pic, but I was told by the tour manager that the girls were changing and wouldn’t want me to see them out of their concert gear. I said are you kidding, I’ve seen Leisha naked! (probably not a good thing to say in front of Beth.) The girls changed and came out to sign posters, t-shirts, etc. I’m not sure if they talked much then because I was the first to get my t-shirt signed and then politely told by security, to get out… I wonder if he heard the naked comment!

The band is based in LA and pairs musician/actress Leisha Hailey and singer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Camila Grey. Uh Huh Her marks Hailey’s return to music as she was formerly a member of the Murmurs and Gush. The two first met in 2006. Uh Huh Her’s new CD is titled Common Reaction. For more information on the group, visit their website: www.UhHuhHer.com.

PLUS: Check out the Photos from the concert.