America loves little girls, especially ones who exhibit talent at a young age. I tend to look at these girls more cynically, skeptical of their real talent until they mature and show what they can do on their own, without the coaching and studio tricks of producers with dollar signs in their eyes.

Sahara Smith, a young singer-songwriter out of Wimberly, Texas, just south of Austin, started performing at age 12, and first garnered national attention at age 15 when she placed second in a contest for young songwriters on “A Prairie Home Companion.” Now 21, Smith has released her first major album, overseen by the ubiquitous T-Bone Burnett and produced by Emile Kelman.

“Myth of the Heart” boasts many of Burnett’s A-list session players including drummer Jay Bellerose (Robert Plant/Alison Krauss), guitarist Marc Ribot, bassist Dennis Crouch, and pedal/lap steel master Greg Leisz, among others. But it is not the players nor the production that electrify this exceptionally soulful, deeply impressive album - it is the well-crafted songwriting and moving performances from Smith herself that power this remarkable album.

Her stated influences of Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits are ever-present, but tempered with the spirit of Emmylou Harris and Alison Krauss, as evidenced in the achingly resplendent opening track, “Thousand Secrets.” She sings plausibly of matters of the heart as if she were twice her age, and with an angelic voice that expresses the variety of emotions in her music with great credibility.

Sahara Smith has, without a doubt, and with extreme prejudice, quashed my skepticism and promises to be one of the great Americana stars of the future.
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