NYC native Vonda Shepard came home to play two sets at Feinstein’s/54 Below on Thursday night, asking, “Who’s only heard of me from ‘Ally McBeal’?”
She sat at the piano — as guitarist James Ralston (who played with Tina Turner for 22 years) and bassist Jim Hanson (who played with Johnny Cash and Bruce Springsteen) — backed her up (on vocals too).
Shepard said she “had this really great job for five years because this really nice person [David E. Kelley] discovered me playing in a club.” But she’s clearly more than just a character on a TV show.
With 14 records out, she has sold over 12 million albums, and she treated the crowd to tunes ranging from her 1989 debut to 2015’s “Rookie.” “Now I’m a 50-something-year-old rookie,” she joked.
The audience was a mix of cheers and tears for the Emmy-winning legal drama’s theme song, “Searchin’ My Soul.” She gave a shout-out to her dad, Richmond, who in his 80s is one of the oldest working mimes in show business, and he popped up from his booth to dance during the encores: “Tell Him,” a hit by the Exciters that was featured on “Ally,” and “Chain of Fools,” made famous by Aretha Franklin.