In an effort to bring live music to passengers awaiting flights, Jet Blue kicked off a concert series last Friday at their JFK International Aiport Terminal 5, nabbing New Jersey-bred musician Nicole Atkins for the first show. While Atkins recalls playing some odd gigs in her time -- from an Irish Pub that sold sushi to a private party held at a fine restaurant in Shreveport, La., where she and her band did all Black Sabbath covers -- but playing an airport ranked right up there as far as weird places she's done. "Sometimes I feel like we're Flight of the Conchords," she tells Spinner, laughing. "We played [New York's] Irving Plaza a couple weeks before and it was sold out, but I was way more nervous to do this. It takes you out of your element completely."

The stage setup is right past the security gates and isn't very big, forcing Atkins to pare down her band to just her and her drummer before they treated passengers to two 30-minute sets of both old and new material. "It's very futuristic," she says of the space. "The reverb was amazing."

At this point, Atkins is used to playing for people who actually know who she is -- thus the airport gig was a mild nod to her days where she logged numerous hours at open mics. But it's not like everyone who caught her sets was oblivious to who she was. "I guess it was a good way for people to kill time," she says. " A couple people came up and were like 'I was just listening to you on my iPod, this is really weird.'"

Jet Blue's Live at Terminal 5 series will continue throughout the rest of the year, with Justin Townes Earle, Alberta Cross and American Princes scheduled so far.