Saturday, June 4, 2011

Meaghan Smith



Lovely Meaghan Smith graced the Rooftop Concert Series last night in Provo and played to a large appreciative crowd. She has a timeless style which was born out by the demographic of the audience. All age groups were well represented including a goodly number of (Hack, Kaff!) seniors such as myself. Meaghan came all the way from Halifax, Nova Scotia to play Utah. The only band she brought along was husband Jason Mingo on lead guitar. Very convenient! She added to that 3 locals for an amazingly good pick-up band. According to her they'd only just gotten together that morning. I really don't get musicianship of that level. They were great! I can't comprehend that! I failed to jot down their names, so won't attempt to credit tham, but they're well known locals.Meaghan played a number of tunes from her "Cricket's Orchestra" album that's out on the Warner Bros. label, plus some covers. The only down side to the whole evening was due to a problem with a weird instrument called an Omnichord. Due to its malfunction she was unable to finish the program with the snappy Here Comes Your Man from the 500 Days of Summer sound track and instead ended with an unfamiliar ballad and encored with Moon River. This was a fine way to end her program for us old geezers, but I suspect the college kids, of whom there were many, would have preferred something up tempo. Really this is minor sour grapes. She is a marvelous vocalist and has a tremendous future ahead of her. I told her she reminded me of Doris Day when she signed a cd for me. She took that as a compliment injecting that "She's my favorite"! Opening for Meaghan were Ryan Innes and Mindy Gledhill. Both are really good local singers.I had a preference for the bluesy vibe of Ryan. Must remember to check him out more thoroughly. I had a nice visit with him afterward and was impressed with his passion for his art. It was another great Roof Top Concert. The folks in charge are off to a great start.Next month has Sarah Sample coming. I've checked her stuff out a bit. She'll be great! Check out Meaghan's Facebook page for some cool photos from last night including a shot out into the audience.