Sharon Van Etten

I've been a big fan ever since I first heard Sharon Van Etten last year. Her tender, unabashed songs yearn to describe all that it is and means to be an adult woman. Not that she doesn't have something worthwhile to share for people in general, but something about her point of view really speaks (at least to me, as a woman) about particular joys and lows, bitterness and hopes, the looking back and looking forward, on relationships, the self, and life.

With a voice that swells and wilts, sparkling but steady guitar work, and an overall sense of loneliness and longing, Van Etten's work is really superb to curl up with. I'd seen an impromptu performance at the Bell House opening party in October, she played a great song on a borrowed guitar--all fuzz and growl, the song desperate and pleading, and I pretty much fell totally in love with what seems to be a new sound, similar, but a definite departure from the first two records. I'm crossing my fingers she continues in the vein...

I'm going to be getting a few copies of her self titled CD in store soon!

Find her on Myspace or on her website.

This was the song she did at Bell House. The audio isn't so great, but the song is.

The epic, "Holding Out".



A gorgeous vid, "Damn Right".