Singer Reece Means will pull double duty Saturday when she plays two area venues.

Means, a Tamaqua resident for most of her life, will perform from 10 a.m. to noon at Hope & Coffee, located on Pine Street in Tamaqua. From 6 to 9 p.m., she will play The Mansion House, located on West Ludlow Street in Summit Hill.

Means specializes in jazz and soul music, performing songs by artists such as Etta James, Norah Jones, Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone and Gloria Gaynor.

The singer also performs various genres of popular music of the ages, as well as songs from hit Broadway shows such as “Cabaret,” “Chicago” and “Hairspray.”

Means, a 2024 Tamaqua Area High School graduate, will soon enter her sophomore year at Kutztown University. She majors in commercial music, with a minor in musical theater.

Prior to her dual Saturday shows, Means — also set to perform an evening show July 11 at the Auburn VFW — took time to discuss her musical interest and goals for the future.

The interview

Q: What inspired you to pursue music?

A: I started playing the saxophone when I was 8. It was the thing I clicked with most. I feel the most whole with myself in music. The practice, the audition, the performance; it’s so vulnerable and raw, and you really start to understand yourself, and that’s the most important thing to me.

Q: What was your performing experience prior to your first live professional gig, and when was that first gig?

A: I’ve been in choir, band and theater my whole life. The first super-formative performance for me was when the Tamaqua Drama Club did “The Theory of Relativity” my junior year of high school. I played Catherine. That experience is what solidified my certainty that I needed to go into performance.

I started gigging professionally when I was 15 at Hope & Coffee and then branched out to restaurants and other venues.

Q: Specializing in jazz and soul, do you get more inquiries/interest about performing those genres?

A: Typically when I receive feedback on what people enjoy about my performances, it has to do with the emotion that I portray. Jazz and soul are my specialty because those are the genres that I connect with the most, typically resulting in a more intimate performance.

As in all fields, you need to be flexible with what you are willing to sing. I do add a mix of other genres, some that I really enjoy and some that I do simply because they are crowd-pleasers.

Q: What are your favorite covers to perform, and do you also play sax/ during any of your performances?

A: My favorite song to sing at the moment is “Ain’t No Way” by Aretha Franklin, of which I am actively learning the saxophone part.

My confidence in my sax skills has certainly grown since college started, and I have started incorporating my sax into my performances more than I did previously.

Q: Have you written any songs/music?

A: I have. I am currently working on a few songs that I am hoping to release soon. One is called “Lady’s Man” and another is called “Weight of My World,” both with a soulful feel.

Q: What can attendees expect from your shows at Hope & Coffee and The Mansion House?

A: You can expect a few hours of entertainment meant to tell a story through a variety of well-rehearsed songs near and dear to my heart. I try to make it a fun time for everyone.

Q: What have been some music-career highlights thus far?

A: My notable highlights thus far have been my part in the Kutztown Rock Ensemble, local festivals, and partaking in an open mic club in New York and meeting some wonderful people.

Q: As a commercial music major at KU, what aspirations do you have upon obtaining your degree?

A: Short term is to start building a name for myself and booking gigs as a solo artist/in a show. Long term, I hope to own a beautiful jazz bar with weekly cabarets.