Jessica Lea Mayfield at The Basement
by Chris Parker
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Mayfield’s smoky, drawling croon moves deliberately, like a cat deciding where to lie. Mixing Jolie Holland’s bare-wire emotional tremble and Gillian Welch’s lingering rustic amble, the 19-year-old Kent, Ohio, singer strikes a wizened, ache-beveled pose against the impending collision of love or loss. Her debut LP With Blasphemy So Heartfelt isn’t as spare or steadfastly country as 2006’s White Lies EP, released under the name Chitlin’. Her latest was produced by Black Keys’ guitarist Dan Auerbach, who deepens the song textures and dips many of the arrangements in bluesy gospel soul well-suited to Mayfield’s doleful wail. Her words are as torn and revealing as her voice: “I don’t know the meaning of love, but I know the meaning of fear.” Half stunned onlooker, half desperate lover, her songs beautifully echo love’s vicissitudes.
Sat., Nov. 1, 9 p.m., 2008
Sat., Nov. 1, 9 p.m., 2008
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