When Jennifer Daniels sings, she does those vocal octave shifts that sound like Michael Jackson hiccuping.

This is why she gets the Sarah McLachlan comparisons. Because, like mother Lilith Fair, Daniels' voice can crack in the most beautiful way. Still, she doesn't really sound like McLachlan, at least, not totally - Daniels voice doesn't have that breathy, ethereal quality.

But like McLachlan circa 1997 - when every young pseudo-feminist was preaching her lyrics - Daniels is all over college campuses. It's just for different reasons.

On Friday at 8 p.m., Daniels comes to The Back Alley on the Augustana College campus as part of her current tour - which hits various institutions of higher learning across the Midwest.

The academic backdrop is an appropriate setting for Daniels because the cognitive folk rocker says her music is more influenced by authors than other musicians.

Finding the right words

A stickler for lyrical composition, she cites the likes of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as inspirations. But just when you begin to wonder if her lyrics are more D&D than E.E. Cummings, Daniels drops a lit-class fave.

"I love how Robert Frost does so much dialogue in his poems," Daniels says from her home in Chattanooga, Tenn.

"I find that I do a lot of dialogue in the songs. Different characters, having a conversation in the songs. ... It's almost like a play."

Make that a one-woman show. Daniels' songs soar and shift like an accomplished coffee shop queen who knows how to capture an audience. And with a pretty, clear voice that can project rage or transmit soft insecurity, you wonder how Daniels hasn't been snatched up by a record label looking for a tamer Ani DiFranco.

Now, that doesn't mean Daniels hasn't been noticed.

Winning acclaim

Last year she won The Shootout, a prestigious open-mic contest held yearly in the Atlanta club The Attic.

Augustana's Back Alley won't be as fiercely attended, but Daniels will have the same show on display.

It's a nice diversion from some of her coffee house peers, who use the stage as their soap box. Daniels may drop a message or Christian reference, like in her song "Conversations with Magdalene." Just don't expect her to get preachy.

"I hate a lot of the contemporary Christian artists who have a three-minute message (in each song)," Daniels says. "I'm not in it for a sermon."

Fred Green

forgot Sioux Falls?

We'd like to think that Fred Green is a local favorite, despite the fact that this funk-rock band is from Arizona.

Yet, on the trio's "Places Fred Has Played" section of its Web site, South Dakota isn't even listed. This is curious considering there's a legion of locals who adore Fred Green and flock to every one of its Sioux Falls shows.

Regardless of what its Web site says, Fred Green makes a return trip to Sioux Falls this weekend with two gigs at Mad Rock Pub.

The first is at 9:30 Saturday night. At 5 p.m. on Sunday, the youngsters can get in the mix as Fred Green joins Solution and The Governor's Suite for an all-ages concert.

Reach reporter Robert Morast at 331-2313.