It is always exciting to see rising talent perform, so I caught Mercedes Fawns’ Cd Release party at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, Friday, Jan. 14 for her new CD “ I Grew Up Here.”
I missed opening sets from Bailey Kate and The New Weather Machine, but was glad to catch the main event— Mercedes Fawns and a tight band I didn’t recognize other than the Rainbow Patrol’s Richard Charlton, who also produced her album. They included Antonio bass,  Chris on drums and Cliff on keyboards/ guitar plus on Fawns guitar and vocals.

Mercedes Fawns doesn’t play live very often, at least, I haven’t seen her play for a few years, which made it a treat to see such a strong show.
 She started off with a piece of free form poetry before bringing in the band to  rock out.
 She had a powerful voice which brought to mind Avril Lavigne and a touch of Alanis Morissette. She put a captivating set, bouncing around the stage and knew how to control her voice and her microphone.
 Their set focused on original music, but they rocked a SIA cover.

She followed  that with a couple more songs from the album “ Backseat” and “Freezing in April.”
 They ended the show with the new single “Lighting Candles With Matches.”