Vanessa Carlton: A Sweet Voice with a Touch of Piano

Last night I saw Vanessa Carlton perform at Maverick's - an experience that helped me appreciate her voice and piano skills (she is a trained classical pianist). While I've never been a huge fan of the 35-year-old Pennsylvania native's, I must admit that she has talent. Sipping red wine from a mug, she performed songs from her fifth album Liberman (her real name actually) that she released on Oct. 23rd and earlier fan favourites "White Houses" and her biggest hit "A Thousand Miles," which she wrote when she was 16 and released in 2002. She talked a lot about her younger brother Edmund (he was quite scarred by "White Houses" for a period in his life) and a bit about her Dachshund Victor (Stevie Nicks told her that getting a dog is a must have when someone is on tour) who has always accompanied her on tour until now - enter 10-month-old daughter Sidney. Vanessa's show was by far one of the most quietest shows I've ever been to. I actually felt relaxed at the end of the night. It was simply her on keyboards and her violinist (he played a bit of guitar too) in his striped socks. Canadian folk Christian artist Joshua Hyslop opened for her and had a good voice in his own right. All in all, I had a good time. Rock on, Vanessa.