Haley Reinhart is no one-trick pony.
The Chicago native crisscrosses the music spectrum, collaborating with Postmodern Jukebox and The Doors guitarist Robby Krieger. She recently duetted with actor-musician Jeff Goldblum on covers of Taylor Swift’s “Lover” and Loreen’s “Tattoo.”
Her formula — or lack thereof — works. The video for her version of “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” featuring Casey Abrams, garnered 3.3 million views on YouTube. Her work with Postmodern Jukebox has cumulatively surpassed over 300 million views.
She’ll celebrate all of that at 191 Toole on Monday, July 29. Reinhart just returned from a five-week run, so “me and the boys are warmed up,” she said with a laugh.
The set list will serve as a retrospective of her career, with the inclusion of a new song, “Danger.”
“I’m super excited about ‘Danger,’” she said. “It has been really cool to hear the crowd’s robust response. They’re hooting and hollering. It’s leaning into the bluesier side of my projects. I think people want more of that from me.
“That’s a big part of who I am. It has a bit of an edge to it. It’s a sexy, bluesy, guttural kind of song. It’s going to help spearhead the next project that I do.”
Reinhart said she’s using the audiences’ reaction and the stage to mold the song before she hits the recording studio.
“I’m not used to that process,” she said. “I really dig it. I’m used to doing it the opposite. I’m usually rushed. I usually don’t get to test it out and tweak it and have the time to feel more comfortable with it. It feels like a very mature step for me in many different ways.”
Music is in her blood. Born in Wheeling, Illinois, to Patti Miller-Reinhart and Harry Reinhart, she was raised on music. Her parents took her to see Ziggy Marley at Ravinia Festival in Chicago when she was an infant. She clapped enthusiastically at the end of each song, she recalled her parents telling her.
“The first concert I can truly recall is Britney Spears in Tinley Park. I was 7,” she said. “I definitely had posters on my wall.”
When she was 3, her musician parents invited her on stage to join them on vocals. During a recent Chicago tour stop — and all these years later — Reinhart returned the favor. Her sister/singer-songwriter, Angela Reinhart, played the opening slot, while Reinhart’s fiancé, Drew Dolan, and Harry Reinhart joined her on stage.
The third-place finisher on season 10 of “American Idol,” Reinhart has another “musical father:” The Doors guitarist Robby Krieger. The two have collaborated on music for several years.
“We’ve done a whole lot together for almost a decade now,” she said. “He’s fantastic. I like to call him ‘my fairy rock father.’ He’s a magical dude and he’s so chill. He’s such a gentle, calm soul. You never know what to expect with rock icons and who they really might be underneath it all. For someone who wrote ‘Light My Fire’ at 17, he’s a very relaxed, calm, peaceful individual.”
Goldblum is also a frequent collaborator.
“He’s so great,” she said. “I never thought I’d be covering a Taylor Swift song, ‘Lover,’ and another song by a pop artist Loreen called ‘Tattoo.’
“I really enjoyed being in the studio with him again. He’s another very gentle soul. He’s a super present person who cares about people. I love witnessing him talking to his fans. Performing with him is wacky fun and a good time.”
Soon, Reinhart will take a rare two- to three-month break from touring to work on her next record, album No. 6.
“I want to focus on writing music,” she said. “I’m going to places like Nashville. Of course, I have my peeps in LA. I want to get a whole new project together. I have a vision of what I want to create. It has orchestral vibes. A lot of artists put out EPs. I’ll do that, but I’m a true fan of full-length albums that have, potentially, a cool theme to it.”
Haley Reinhart
WHEN: 8 p.m. Monday, July 29
WHERE: 191 Toole, 318 E. Congress Street, Tucson
COST: Tickets start at $25; 21 and older
INFO: rialtotheatre.com (navigate to 191 Toole)
This article appears in Jul 18-24, 2024.
