Playlist Update - Kelly McFarling

Hello again, and welcome back to my infrequent Playlist Update! Last Sunday, my girlfriend and I went to a local fundraiser for local cyclists hosted by some good friends of ours from Yoga. The event was held in the backyard of their apartment complex, and featured a number of local SF bands. Two were real knock-outs in my opinion - Kelly McFarling, and Con Brio.

I'll start with Kelly McFarling. Her debut studio album is "Distractible Child" which is spinning as I write. I talked with her for a little while before and after her performance, and from what I could tell she's a woman who is easy to talk to, who has great style (I loved those metallic gray leggings under a pink short skirt, which somehow worked with the weathered cowboy boots - the same pair she's wearing on the album cover, I think), and who has a musical gift. Her instruments are the banjo and her amazing voice. The music is folksy-country, I guess... I'm not very experienced in those musical styles, so I'm winging it big time. The album is not particularly well-recorded technically, but it manages to convey her emotion and musical beauty. I would say her lyrics and her voice are infused with a certain melancholy. All together, the music makes me feel like it's early in the Fall, when the feeling of summer still lingers in the air but is quickly receding to the coolness and particular pleasures of Autumn. This is not to say that the music is a downer - in fact, it has quite the opposite effect on me - but consider that Autumn is my favorite season. Kelly McFarling is my new favorite local artist. Check her out.