Charlottesville - Sahara Smith was not originally on my list of music to focus on for January.  While out with a friend several nights prior to her mid-January show in Charlottesville, she came up in conversation over cold beers.  My buddy mentioned how a friend of his got in touch and asked if he could host this singer when she passed through town, mentioning that she would be worthwhile for me to check out.  Never passing on the opportunity to catch good music, I penciled the show in my datebook.

He didn’t mention what type of music she played, so out of curiosity I checked her out online the following day.  After listening to a couple of songs, I still wasn’t quite sure what genre to stick her in, but it really didn’t matter.  What totally got my attention was her voice; what an incredible set of chords.

Doors at the Southern Café and Music Hall opened around 7 P.M. the night of the show.  Decorated with posters from prior shows, the Southern feels like a music hall, not just a venue.  It has developed a rich personality despite the fact that it has been open for just under a year and a half.  One gets the feeling that music fills the air even when the doors are locked.  With a comfortable lounge area, people tend to filter in early and share conversation around the bar.  106.1 The Corner was hosting the night’s “No Ticket Needed” event, and their morning DJ, Brad Savage, was spreading good cheer.  Carleigh Nesbit, the opening act for Smith, was conversing with friends to the side of the bar.  Chairs at the tables were all occupied, and Charlottesville music lovers were milling around waiting for the music to fill their ears.

When Carleigh took the stage with guitarist Landon Fishburne, the lounge area emptied out and the music hall filled quickly.  I did not notice many empty seats at all.  Carleigh played an acoustic set with a down home, folksy flavor.  Armed with a beautiful voice, Carleigh is a superstar in waiting.  Most of the songs in her set were originals, including “Caroline”, a haunting ballad of faded love that she performed at Telluride and earned her finalist status.  Given the fact that she is currently enrolled at UVA, her songwriting skills are impressive.  Her lyrics sound like they would come from someone much older.  Enjoy her while you can, Charlottesville.  This award winning singer/songwriter will not be in our backyard forever.  The road and her own tour beckons.

Which brings us to the main act.   As the tour winds into the home stretch, Sahara’s full band had a week off.  She was accompanied by guitarist Jake Owen, marking the first show they had ever done as a duo.  The drummer and bass player had better not take too much time away unless they want to join a new outfit.  Smith and Owen played almost flawlessly.  Obviously, the live acoustic versions of the songs on her debut album Myth of the Heart take on a different feel than the tracks on the record.  Emile Kelman did a fine job of production on the album, keeping it tight without any overproduction.  The one constant, though, is her voice.

The set list appeared to be hastily scribbled on a sheet of scrap paper pulled from a bound pad.  The performance, on the other hand, was well-scripted and seemingly effortless on her part.  Smith appeared comfortable on stage, whether singing or sharing anecdotes about her songs.  Her stage presence is beyond her years.

She opened the show with “Midnight Plane”, and before she got to the first verse, you knew that you were listening to an artist with depth.  “The last sigh of a bruised freighter / As it gives its broken body to the gray / I wanna ride through the desert / On the only road that knows my name.”  Occasionally, we all have preconceived notions, and this was not what I expected.  They were hardly the lyrics I expected to spill out from this young Texas woman with the bright red hair.

By the time she completed “Mermaid”, her fourth song of the night, I was hooked.  A poem by T.S. Eliot was the inspiration for the song.  The haunting lyrics are woven in a dreamlike tale that still echoes in my mind.

The recorded version “The Real Thing” is four minutes and twenty-five seconds of seduction.  I cannot say how long the live version was, but either way, the lyrics are slow and sexy.  She sings, “I wanna drive all night and wake up with your warm skin.  Why don’t we hold on tight and just let all the good in.”  As the words pour from her mouth, you look around and see an audience full of people, yet you feel as if there is no one else in the room.

A past relationship provided the material for several of her tunes, including “All I Need.”  The song came to be one Valentine's Day because she was broke and lacked the money to buy a present.  One of the benefits of being a songwriter, she said, was the ability to give the gift of a song.  Smith gave the impression that he was less than impressed so the gift passes to us, the listening public.  The relationship may have faded but the song lives on.

Sahara asked for luck when she sang “Lazarus”, calling it “one of my brand new songs.”  She followed that with “Long Way Home” saying, “This is my newest song, so wish me even more luck.”  She hardly needed any luck at all; both songs were performed as if they were part of the repertoire of a ten-year veteran.  The CD’s opening track “Thousand Secrets” was next, followed by “Angel”, a dreamy tune she penned for her best friend.  She laid down her Gibson 6-string for that one, leaving Jake alone to strum the guitar as she appeared to lose herself in the lyric s of the song.  Smith ended the fourteen-song set with “Are You Lonely.”  The chorus of the show’s finale goes “Are you lonely / Are you lonely / Do you want me / Do you want me / Yea Yea Yea.”  She answered the question herself, singing the last line of the chorus.  Audiences are going to want her for a long, long time.

An appreciative audience called for an encore, which she did solo.  The first line of the song told about being drunk outside of Boston.  It was not true when she wrote the song, but it is now.  Much like the encore song, I was not a fan of Sahara Smith when the evening started, but I am now. Yea, Yea, Yea!

MySpace.com/SaharaSmithMusic

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