Julie Frost's soulful singing on Wednesday night was a special reward for the few students that ventured out into the rain. The Shapiro Campus Center atrium boasted an elegant coffeehouse ambiance, with white-clothed tables and colored candles. Some students seemed to think that Frost's music provided a nice background mood for studying, and several others stopped momentarily while passing through for coffee. But, the number of students in attendance to see Frost was meager.

Hailing from Chicago, Frost is currently promoting her debut CD, "The Wave." Her tracks enjoy national recognition, and "The Wave" boasts a spot in Chicago's WKRT's top five CDs of 2001. Frost was also named a finalist in the singer/songwriter category of the Independent Music Awards and received an honorable mention in the John Lennon songwriting contest.

Without a formal introduction, Frost entered quietly onto stage. Her first song, "Life After You," muses over the heartbreak and healing after the break-up of a romantic relationship. Frost sang with earnest emotion as she strummed the melancholic tune on her guitar. Her next song, "Candy," recounted an unlikely meeting with a homeless woman, whom Frost discovered sleeping in the back of her station wagon.

Between each song, Frost gave a short explanation of the lyrical content. Unfortunately, her quiet voice competed with the gurgling of Java City's coffee machines, and made these overviews barely audible.

Despite her shy manner and awkward stage presence, Frost belted out the lyrics with passion and confidence. She displayed her strong vocal range in the especially heartfelt "Mary's Song," dedicated to her younger sister. Frost first sang this song to her homesick sister one Christmas when Mary was away from home in France.

Frost sang a few more songs off her new album, including "Raindrops on my Coffee Cup," which, she told the audience, was "open to interpretation," and "Little Piece of Sky," a song Frost wrote after having observed people's universal frustration in a traffic jam during rush hour.

After performing these original songs, Frost played a few covers. Frost's cover of the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" gave the song a more soulful twist with the artist's signature mellow guitar sound. Frost's cover of Neil Young's "Harvest Moon" was also exceptionally notable.

After the already sparse crowd started to dwindle, Frost thanked the audience, wished everyone straight As and left the stage as silently as she entered. There was yelling for an encore, but the audience showed their appreciation with a polite and earnest applause.

Unlike many other artists, Frost doesn't limit herself to clichd love ballads. Frost's refreshingly honest lyrics contain anecdotes of her life and her personal thoughts on family, love and traffic. Through her openness, Frost was able to endear herself to her audience in spite of her meek and quiet demeanor.