Postmodern Jukebox takes pop music back in time

Postmodern Jukebox tours with a cast of 11 people: a five-person band, five singers and one tap dancer. (Photo by Stacie Hess)
Postmodern Jukebox tours with a cast of 11 people: a five-person band, five singers and one tap dancer. (Photo by Stacie Hess)

If you go

› What: Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox› Where: Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St.› When: 7 p.m. Saturday, April 28› Admission: $39.50, $49.50, $65 and $100› For more information: 423-757-5580

Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox has become a phenomenon, touring the world on the strength of its musical mashups that put a vintage twist on current pop singles.

Bradlee, who started out shooting videos in his basement apartment, is the musical maestro who achieved fame through the power of social media. His 2012 debut video covering Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' "Thrift Shop," but in a 1920's style, topped a million views its first week online. To date, it's gotten more than 14 million hits.

Robyn Adele Anderson was the soloist on that video - and viewers would be surprised to know she had never sung in front of an audience, except for the occasional night of karaoke.

photo Robyn Adele Anderson

"To our surprise, the next morning it had gone viral overnight. We thought we should do more of these," Anderson recalls, laughing, in a phone interview.

And the rest, as they say, is history. Postmodern Jukebox, or PMJ as it is known, was launched. Bradlee built on the success of these videos to produce live shows, albums, then world tours to sold-out houses around the globe.

Anderson will be onstage Saturday, April 28, when PMJ stops at the Tivoli Theatre on its spring tour. The singer, who was an original cast member of PMJ, actually moved to New York City to work in legal services for immigrants.

She speaks Spanish, German and Turkish and received a degree in political science and Arabic with a concentration in Middle Eastern Affairs from Binghamton University. Singing was just something she'd done for fun in high school.

"I had gone to see this really cool show in New York and met the pianist, Scott Bradlee. At the show, they took requests from the audience, played ragtime, played mashups. I introduced myself to him," she says of that eventful meeting.

Telling her about his YouTube channel, Bradlee asked her to sing on one of his videos. It launched his and her careers. When not touring with PMJ, she is active in New York theater and has performed on "Good Morning, America," "Fuse TV" and "VH1 Morning Buzz."

Anderson will sing a cover of "Young and Beautiful" by Lana Del Rey, and her viral-video cover of Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop" (done in 1950s doo-wop style) on Saturday's show.

"The cast is also doing the Taylor Swift song, 'Shake It Off' in a slightly different way, Beyonce's 'Halo' and 'Last Friday Night' by Katy Perry," she says. "Every tour has a similar format where the band starts the show, the host comes out and introduces all the singers."

Even if you saw PMJ's special on PBS or saw the PMJ show here last year, you haven't seen it all.

"No two shows are the same, literally," says Anderson. "Someone who came last year might hear one or two songs from before, but they will be sung by a different person. It's new songs, different singers and people are encouraged to come back and hear something new."

Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.

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