Sharon Van Etten wsg Shearwater
Ladies Literary Club, Grand Rapids / Feb 15, 8 p.m.
$15 public, $5 with Calvin ID / calvin.edu/sao, (616) 526-6282

Whoever says heartache's only for skinny boys with skinny guitars has not met Sharon Van Etten. She's the sort of righteous indie-folk chick whose childhood probably involved picking up an instrument and a lined notebook over a Polly Pocket set or a denim scrunchie collection. On her debut album, Because I Was In Love, Van Etten rasps with heartbreaking intensive about -- you guessed it -- the trials and tribulations of trying to make a love deep and true work in a world that gives record high ratings to "Divorce Court." And if common sense is love's most high-profile victim, then Van Etten is its persistent pied piper. As Matthew Murphy writes in Pitchfork: "Unlike some low-key vocalists who prefer to sing as if nobody were listening, Van Etten instead sings these songs as though she had an audience of one, with nearly every lyric directed straight to some unnamed ‘you.'" On the heels of her third studio release, Tramp, Van Etten is set to continue an uninterrupted winning streak set to folksie rhythms, personable, introspective lyrics and exact, minimalist instrumentation. Given what we've already seen of this roots-loving newbie, chances are music enthusiasts are about to look at the phrase "super Tramp" in a whole new way.

Photo: Dusdin Condren