Lauren O’Connell plays the Bug Jar. Photo by Savannah J. Richards

Preview – Lauren O’Connell at Little Mountain Gallery Dec 1 2012

– by Elana Shepert

Francisco-based singer/songwriter Lauren O’Connell headlines a night of folk music this Saturday, Dec 1 at the Little Mountain Gallery (26thth and Main). Joined by Vancouver roots talents Rodney Decroo, Kelly Haigh, Mac Pontiac, and The Minimalist Jug Band, she will play a selection of songs from her new album Quitters, her third full-length release.

O’Connell’s latest record has incredible range, with upbeat songs like “I Will Burn You Down”, with its heavy guitar to the waltzing, ethereally-delivered “The Same Things”. Originally from New York, she’s written songs since she was 15, and her lyrics demonstrate a great deal of symbolism and depth. The track “If Found/Gravity” describes a profound fear of forgetting, as she sings “Should I await some revelation / Some great blessing from above / So every memory be quelled /Of anyone I might have loved”. Laden with tenderness, all of her songs delicately portray the ambiguous underbelly of the human experience.

Recording all of her previous albums at home, working from inside a studio was a new experience for O’Connell. She chose a barn in the middle of nowhere where Tom Waits used to record, and went analogue instead of digital. Originally a YoutTube sensation, her career heads in a more mature direction, both in production and performance, as she starts to tour outside the United States.

Check out her performance at the singer/songwriter showcase this Saturday at Little Mountain Gallery .

Doors are at 8pm and the show starts at 8:30. Tickets are $10 and are available at the door.