Sasha McVeigh due for free show tonight at the Brooklyn Bowl
To fully appreciate the precocious appeal of Sasha McVeigh, it helps to take a walk back in time before Taylor Swift wielded the kind of clout that could cause an imposing institution like Apple to completely crumble. While it’s hard to imagine now, there was a time when Swift was just a talented teenage troubadour from Pennsylvania, penning autobiographical, heartfelt odes like “Tim McGraw” and “Teardrops on My Guitar.”
A few years older now than Swift was then, McVeigh has exactly the same sort of disarming charm that earned TayTay a legion of loyalists. “My debut album will be like my musical, rhyming diary,” the British songwriter offers on the Kickstarter page established to fund her debut album. “These are the stories of my life so far, my secrets, my innermost thoughts,” she says on Facebook.
As promised, the entire record revels in revealing reflection, and her delivery is entirely endearing. Witness her rendition of “Mr. Brown Eyes” on YouTube, captured at last year’s ACM kickoff party in Las Vegas. It’s her first time performing the song in front of the crush who inspired the song, a server she met on vacation with her mom, who just happens to be hanging out in the wings. As you’ll see from the clip, she shines with an aw-shucks affability that’s irresistible.
And you likewise can’t help but be smitten with the young country singer when you see her posts on Instagram, in which she shamelessly gushes over fellow artists such as Billy Currington, Keith Urban and Kasey Musgraves, with whom she shared the stage recently at a country music festival in Colorado.
With such examples of earnestness and an independent effort financed entirely by fans, whom she evidently spends up to 16 hours a day corresponding with, McVeigh seems perfectly poised for prime time. It also doesn’t hurt that she’s represented by William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, one of the most powerful music firms in the country.
Get in on the groundswell when McVeigh plays a free show Monday at Brooklyn Bowl.
Read more from Dave Herrera at bestoflasvegas.com. Contact him at dherrera@reviewjournal.com.
