Best Local Folk Act

Merrie Amsterburg

Blue beauty My favorite memory of Merrie Amsterburg is from a Q Division party at the Linwood Grill a couple of Christmas seasons ago. When she took the stage and sang her tune, I had the same reaction I usually have -- a lump in the throat, a tug at the heart, a general impression of dark and haunting beauty. Never mind that she was only singing "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." There's something about Amsterburg's delivery that brings on those feelings, whether it's a sad song or not. Amsterburg's at her best when the songs really are miserable, as they are on her Q Division album Season of Rain -- a deep and lovely song cycle written in the wake of death and loss. But it doesn't fit the stereotype of laid-back adult-contemporary rock: Amsterburg and partner Peter Linton formerly led local pop group the Natives, and the popcraft remains in her current work. The hooks are subtle, but they're there. She's drawn from the album in most of her local shows, leaving new fans and aching hearts in her wake. But there's likely to be a more upbeat turn in her new material, which will be recorded later this year -- after all, you can't go through death and loss every day. Then again, I recently uncovered an old Natives demo, "Realm of the Souls," a poppy love song with an unmistakably happy lyric. I got choked up over that one, too.

-- Brett Milano