Adrianne Lenker – Live At The Southern

Adrianne Lenker – Live At The Southern / 2007 Lucid / 17 Tracks / 72 Minutes / http://www.adrianne.com /

Adrianne Lenker is an individual that has not reached eir 17^th birthday yet. This album was released when ey was still 14 years old, and features eir in the focal point of each and every track in this CD and DVD set. Whether it is providing the vocals or stringing together a guitar line, Lenker is the energy behind the songs on this track. “Dig Down” is the first track on the CD, and showcases a down home, Bluesy type of sound. The only thing that could be construed as a weakness to this DVD is the microphone placement.

While it is true that Lenker’s voice is ultimately brought above the instrumental fray, individuals will strain to hear Lenker’s vocals for the first section of the opening track. After everyone gets settled in, what Lenker provides is something that positions itself between Gretchen Wilson and Kelly Clarkson – pop music that has a little bit of an edge to it at times, but is ultimately circumscribed by all of the work that individuals previously in the genre have done. While “Dig Down” was attractive on its’ own, it really seems as if “Bliss” will be the track to bring fame and fortune to Lenker. The breathy vocal style of the track has a little bit of a Fergie sound to it, but Lenker adds in just enough early-era Hilary Duff to make the finished product something that individuals of all ages can appreciate. While individuals can hear what Lenker sounds like in the live context with “Live At The Southern”, I would love to hear how Lenker sounds when some of the sharp edges are removed from eir sound.

This is not to say that Lenker does not have a tremendous stage present, but rather that it seems that the instrumentation present on the disc holds eir back at times. The Dave Matthew Band-like instrumentation present during “Don’t Talk So Much” could be replaced with something a little more lively, to better match Lenker’s vocals during the track. “Live at the Southern” will be a CD/DVD set that will be desired more and more as Lenker gets increasingly more popular. Right now, this set shows someone that has a tremendous amount of potential that has not made it yet; pick this up and chances will be god that major labels will take notice and put eir alongside all the other stars in the Disney set.

Top Tracks: Don’t Talk So Much, So Little Life

Rating: 7.0/10