Ingrid Michaelson Brings Cozy Fall Trio Tour to Santa Barbara Lobero

As a particularly warm autumn settles over Santa Barbara, singer-songwriter and composer Ingrid Michaelson is bringing an intimate evening of music to the historic Lobero Theatre on October 16, with special guests Allie Moss and Hannah Winkler. 

Known for her distinctively soulful folk-pop style, witty songwriting, and warm, intimate performances, Michaelson has built a devoted following over the years with numerous beloved songs, including her gold and platinum hits, “The Way I Am,” “Girls Chase Boys,” and “You and I.”

The Santa Barbara performance arrives during a busy chapter in Michaelson’s career. Her latest studio album, For the Dreamers, explores lush jazz- and bossa nova–nfluenced textures, while her work has increasingly extended beyond traditional pop. She earned an Emmy nomination for her music for Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere, contributed music to Tiny Beautiful Things, and served as executive music producer for Apple TV+’s Slumberkins. Michaelson has also made a significant mark on Broadway, writing the music and lyrics for The Notebook and co-producing its Grammy-nominated original cast album. 

In a brief interview, Michaelson discussed her inspiration, her process, and what to expect from the upcoming Cozy Fall Trio Tour.

You’ve spent much of your career performing with different configurations of musicians. What is special about stripping things down to just you, Allie Moss, and Hannah Winkler? 

I’ve been singing with Allie since 2006 or 2007, so there’s a natural ease with her. Hannah came on maybe 10 years ago and there’s something kind of magical when the three of us get together. Our voices blend well and we’re really intuitive with each other’s sound, if that makes sense. It’s one of those things where when you find it, you don’t want to let go.

You’ve described this tour as featuring deep cuts and fan favorites. How did you decide which songs deserved a place on the setlist? 

To be honest, we’re still deciding. I’ve looked through a lot of online comments and things that people have said to me over the years about what their favorite songs are. It’s kind of a mix of what I know people want to hear and what we’d love to dig back in on and revisit. 

When someone comes to the Cozy Fall Trio Tour, what do you hope they experience that they might not get from listening to one of your albums? 

This is the whole thing, isn’t it, with AI and live performance vs. not-live performance. There’s something you get from a live performance that you don’t get when you’re listening to records alone or at home on your headphones. There’s a sense of community and communion that live music and theater bring to the table, so yeah, I think I just want people to feel that connection to other people, to what it is to be human. 

You’ve had this fascinating parallel career as both a singer-songwriter and a musical-theater composer. What did writing The Notebook teach you about songwriting that you didn’t know before? 

Writing for a musical and writing for the pop singer-songwriter world are different in that you have an agenda to get a story across. Not to say that my songs don’t tell stories, they do, but they’re a little more poetic and flowery in their language. You have to get to the heart of the matter with musical theater pieces. In some ways they’re similar for me, because it’s just singing about what’s coming from your heart. I may not have experienced the exact things these people on stage are experiencing, but I’ve experienced some version of it, so I’m able to tap into my own emotions and bring those forward.

You’re bringing the tour to the Lobero Theatre, one of California’s oldest continuously operating theaters. What do you love about performing in intimate, historic spaces like the Lobero, and does the room itself influence the way you perform? 

I love playing in old venues. The energy there is incredible and so many people and souls have been in this space together making music. I love when a venue has history. It kind of goes back to your other question — it brings you back to humanity, what is to be human, and to have a connection to your past.

After twenty years of making records, performing live, and writing for television and musical theater, what still makes you excited to walk onto a stage? 

Honestly, it’s always the crowd. I love to make people feel things. I love to make people laugh. I don’t love to make people cry, but I love to make people feel. I come alive in front of a crowd. I would say I’m an extroverted introvert, but as soon as I get in front of an audience I turn into this other version of myself. Then, ironically, as soon as I step off stage, I don’t want anyone to recognize me. I just love the act of entertaining. There’s nothing like that rush when you have the audience in the palm of your hand and they’re feeding off of your energy and you’re feeding off of their energy, it’s really a magical cycle. 

Ingrid Michaelson’s Cozy Fall Trio Tour is at the Lobero Theatre (33 E Canon Perdido St.) on October 16, 7:30p.m., See lobero.org/events/ingrid-michaelson.