Hotel Café Los Angeles, CA
Contact: wendy@hellowendy.com
Web: maiasharp.com
Players: Maia Sharp, vocals, guitar; David Carpenter, bass; Garrison Starr, backing vocals; Haleigh Bowers, backing vocals
With a career that stretches over three decades, Maia Sharp released her 10th solo studio album, Tomboy, this year. 20 years ago, this writer reviewed her third album, 2005’s Fine Upstanding Citizen for a U.K. publication and wrote “The themes that Sharp explores are feelings that most people have experienced, and for that reason it’s an album that will have an impact on anyone who lets it into their lives.”
It was true then, and it’s true now. Sharp has a gift for molding her life experiences, emotions and thoughts into deeply personal pieces of work that are also utterly relatable. In MC’s review of Tomboy in last month’s issue, the writer said that it “exudes charm and warmth,” and that’s true too. From the moment she sets foot onto the Hotel Café’s second stage and does a quick tune up, she exudes the sort of calm warmth that is utterly compelling before she’s even played a note.
There’s no “show” to Sharp’s performance. She’s a singer-songwriter-guitarist, and so she’ll stand on stage while singing and playing the songs that she has written. Dry ice and pyrotechnics would just be freaking weird. And yet it did feel like we were witnessing a proper performance, thanks in no small part to Sharp’s gift of the gab.
Sharp metaphorically takes us by the hand and guides through her arsenal of journal entries set to music, by her gentle banter between songs or through the welcoming, inclusive nature of her lyrics. Sharp has relocated from Los Angeles to Nashville, but she clearly still has a core group of friends and fans who are delighted to see her perform.
She shows her teeth when she wants to, though. “Junkyard Dog” tells the tale of a previous relationship that left Sharp feeling less than hunky-dory. “I thought I was the queen of your castle, turns out I’m just your junkyard dog,” Sharp sings over a bluesy riff, the song dripping with pain and resentment.
“Kind,” meanwhile, is the opposite—a joyful, hyper-positive sing-along that features the line, “My kinda people are kind… if you have a good heart that’s a good start, if you wanna be a friend of mine.”
Life is like that—it drags us through the full gamut of emotions, and Sharp provides a soundtrack.
