Singer gets warm response on Promenade, in clubs

Erin Glass
Published: Thursday, February 26, 2004

In the overgrown jungle of L.A. garage rock and testosterone-based performance, a new bird is quietly piping, but she doesn’t need to yell to be heard.

Like the old saying that the sun’s warmth will get a jacket off a man before the brute force of the wind, local singer/songwriter Anita Coats knows the best way to coax an audience is with a delicate song. On good nights at the Third Street Promenade, where she sometimes shows up with her teardrop-shaped acoustic guitar, Coats has been known to make $150 from appreciative pedestrians in only an hour and a half.

Coats, who grew up in Simi Valley, started playing guitar at age 18 and a year later began performing at coffee shops.

“Once I knew three chords, I wrote my first song,” Coats said. “I kept writing even though I could barely play the guitar at all.”

Now 26 years old, Coats’ gentle strum and vibrant fluid voice – reminiscent at times of female folk artists such as Chan Marshall and Ani DiFranco – has enchanted listeners enough to play regularly at laid-back venues such as Genghis Cohen, Highland Grounds and Hotel Cafe.

But just as it’s hard to compete with the volume of the electric guitars on the Promenade, it’s hard to find clubs in Los Angeles that are willing to showcase smaller and less in-your-face acts. Although initially “terrified” of sharing creative rights with other musicians, Coats is expanding her sound with a back-up band at her next performances.

But even with the addition of her more club-friendly band, Coats did just pick up a new $37 permit to play on the Promenade.

“It’s really a trip playing out there because people are either afraid to look at you or they’ll just stand and stare as if you’re a mannequin,” Coats said. “I try to wear a hat and just look down and play, and that seems to work out better.”

Anita Coats performs at Highland Grounds on Saturday at 9:45 p.m. Admission is $5.