Allison Veltz

Allison Veltz performed a mesmerizing set of exceptionally well sung originals at Rockwood Music hall on Halloween ’09. Her voice has a burnished purity capable of a wide range of emotional expressiveness, from flute-like ethereal purity to wizened existential resilience.

She skillfully weaves this exquisitely responsive vocal instrument into the fabric of her seamless guitar harmonies. The subtly textured chording she deploys is the perfect foil for her darting, gem-like melodies. The lyrics are pointed and securely anchored in the world we all share. In other words, she doesn’t blog on her guitar – she writes songs.

Ms. Veltz was backed up by Chris Foley on electric guitar, whose tasty runs were never too loud or too long. No ego tripper, he was keenly responsive to Ms. Veltz’s vocal shadings, succinctly and intelligently filling out the tunes. Denny McDermott, on a simple box drum and a hand shaker, was a super-sensitive, super-supportive percussionist, whose assured rhythmic sensibility gave the songs just the right propulsive edge, while never drawing attention to himself.

Ms. Veltz’s set was well paced and she established an unforced, natural rapport with the audience. Her song introductions, generally brief and disarming, included what struck me as an illuminating observation, to the effect that sometimes when you’re down, you don’t want to listen to someone who, well- intentioned though he or she may be, wants to cheer you up. You’d rather talk to someone who’s right down there in the dumps with you and makes no bones about it. Ms. Veltz’s songwriting abounds in these sorts of “Aha!” moments, obvious only after they have been so crisply articulated.

What was particularly notable about Ms. Veltz’s set was the organic unity of her overall musical conception. Her vocal, harmonic and lyric textures were tightly blended, unlike many singer-songwriters who, it seems, arbitrarily assign pre-written words to whatever chord progression happens to be handy. Listening to Ms. Veltz, you feel you’re in the presence of the real deal - a songwriter capable of creating riveting works, who has a haunting voice that is very much her own and who possesses an innate sense of craft that foretells impressive contributions.