Having all your songs written in the key of G could have its drawbacks, but Jonathan Rice has it down to a drunken science. “It’s pissing rain and snow,” proclaimed the young, sort of honky-tonk country folk singer as he took to the stage wearing his Sunday best, a white t-shirt, jeans and cowboy boots. Rice and his backing band, which included the lovely Maria Taylor on drums, were opening for Taylor that evening. As Rice stood hunched over his acoustic guitar, strumming along to his take of country rock, he gave off the appearance of a starving artist playing for a few bucks on a street corner. He covered mostly tracks off his new album Further North to a crowd of bushy-haired boys with their underage girlfriends. Two beers and thirty minutes later, Taylor was up. The beautiful songstress had a bit of trouble while on tour in San Francisco where all her equipment was stolen. Fortunately for her, an outpouring of support came from friends and fellow musicians, landing her a new guitar and a smile on her face. The soft-voiced singer/songwriter plays music among the lines of Bright Eyes and Nick Drake, music which is a little on the depressing side, but when coupled with her astonishing voice, the melancholy takes a backseat to her stunning delivery. As the stage lights zoned in on her, her teenage fan club shuffled back and forth, nodding their head occasionally to crowd-pleasers like “Lady Luck” and “Song Beneath A Song.” As the night was a coming to a close, Taylor’s tunes buried a few, as I saw a group people ducking out early and mumbling something close to “let’s leave before I get depressed.”

– Carlos Villarreal