Augustus Stahl
Equinox Staff
The venue was a room warmly lit with silk draped light shades, colorful prints lining the walls and floorboards that creaked under weight.
An upright bass lay on its side, and a children’s drawing was taped to the drum.
Conversations were kept quiet, hushed sounds of hello and other salutations.
This was an intimate Friday night, with local artist Emily Hague opening for Heather Maloney, a trio company from Mass.
It seemed that most people there knew each other; it was an audience of friends and family.
The room was half empty, and it stayed that way for most of the night, with people filing in slowly throughout the entire performance.
Nearly every weekend there is live music with nine artists playing at the Starving Artist in the month of January alone.
The shows are always a lot of fun, and everyone is excited to be there. The Starving Artist is known for supporting local bands, and Emily Hague is a prime example.
She has been living and playing music in and around Keene for the past seven years, and is in a band called Big Paws.
She started her set by saying, “I’m just a simple girl and I’m going to play you some simple songs,” and throughout the performance, this held true.
She sang with a wavering, but emotional voice, and the songs were slightly broken by the chord changes.
Nonetheless, the crowd responded well, with a wonderful ovation after the final song. Maloney then took the stage with a bassist and a drummer, first thanking The Starving Artist, then KSC radio for having the band there earlier for some live music.
She too sang with a style influenced by country, though that’s where the similarities between the two musicians ended.
Being classically trained, she led the performance with astonishingly strong vocals, flaunting incredible range and control.
She sang of bright red barns, surrounded by lush green fields drenched in sunlight.
She sang of stable and not-so-stable relationships, and begging to talk to one another.
Each song clearly was written with something in mind, and not a single line was out of place.
It was technically beautiful, too, with intricate time changes and pauses that were more advanced than the average band can take on.
Maloney took a minute to dedicate a song to her mother and single mothers everywhere, and it could be seen that this song in particular was most meaningful.
In between songs she tuned one of her instruments and began talking about it.
As explained, she was playing a tenor guitar, an instrument with the body of a guitar and the neck of a banjo. She played this and an acoustic guitar for the set, switching in between periodically.
For one song everyone in the audience was asked to participate.
The song was called “Grace,” and for the first verse the entire room echoed with every voice as the first verse was the same as Amazing Grace.
Still, Maloney’s voice penetrated through the air, acting as a beacon to the few who didn’t know the words, and taking the reins after the first verse with a twangy upbeat guitar line.
The song picked up tenfold from the somber opening time signature, and evolved completely.
Maloney was kind enough to give an interview after the show. Originally from New Jersey, she started really getting into music two years ago, and her career exploded from there.
Since then she has played more than 225 shows in 20 different states in 20 months.
Maloney has released two studio albums since her first show in 2009, her most recent, entitled “Time & Pocket Change,” was the focus for this show.
As an incredible vocalist and lyricist, Maloney’s career is one to look forward to, as she assures the crowd that there will be a 2012 release.
To get in contact or find her music, look at heathermaloney.com
Augustus Stahl can be contacted at cstahl1@ksc.mailcruiser.com
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