Artist of the month: NOE VENABLE. She is wise beyond her years. Precocious. But that’s beside the point. More importantly, she’s so no-nonsense that she would probably detest everything I’ve written about her this far. Truth is, her songwriting and singing would be great no matter what her age. The amazingly advanced quality is just put into greater relief by the fact that she is barely in her twenties.
It’s not often that an artist finds the niche between influences where there is enough room for the music to develop its own voice. Think of a riot-girl Joni Mitchell or a street-fighting Suzanne Vega and you’d be getting warm, while still being miles off the mark. When interacting with others, she will often level her gaze unwaveringly towards them in a way that is unsettling, like pointing a gun. It is this same directness and focus that she brings to her playing which gives it such power. A musical David standing-up to the bullies and daring them to take the first punch, her gender and diminutive stature be damned, she’s not going to back down.
In LA recently, with just an acoustic trio accompanying, she managed to convert an entire bar full of San Francisco scene veterans with a brief 25 minute set. The mantra for the remainder of the evening became hushed variations of "who is she ?" A question I’m sure well oft times be repeated following her performances until there comes a point in time where it will no longer be necessary for anyone to ask.
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