Ginger Coyle @ The Penn Museum Summer Nights Series.

Text and images by Michele Zipkin.

New Jersey-born songwriter Ginger Coyle played a solo show this past Wednesday evening as part of the Penn Museum’s Summer Nights Concert Series. Every Wednesday through September 7th, the museum will host local musicians in the Stoner Courtyard garden from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. They also offer short free tours of the museum during intermission.

Coyle’s soulful voice atop bluesy piano and guitar rock made for perfect accompaniment to an outdoor summer evening. She started with songs from her upcoming record Higher Frequency, including “Do what you Feel.” The song includes the line “Do what you feel, ‘cause nothing’s real, except for the love,” after which she said, “That was a true story because all we have is our love.”

Maya Angelou’s words “Still I Rise” inspired Coyle’s reggae-infused “Rise Up.” She got the copyright and quoted Angelou in her song.

“I collaborated with Maya Angelou,” Coyle said with a smile before playing the song.

Tunes like “Homeward Bound” and “The Big Picture” provided stylistically lighter fare in contrast to other more downtempo, introspective songs like “Moon and Back.”

Not only did Coyle play original songs, she sang a long list of covers, including “Dock of the Bay,” a medley of “Back to Black” and “Careless Whisper,” “Moondance” and “Crazy in Love,” among others.

Coyle has vocal and piano chops – she effortlessly belted beautiful melodies and danced her fingers across the piano keyboard, hitting a healthy dose of blue notes. Her new record is set to come out in August, and she will play in Wiggins Park on July Fourth with her band The Peace Freqs. She is definitely an artist to watch for.

The Penn Museum’s next concert features the bluegrass and country-forward Four Prophet String Band.