WORTHY: Beth Wood

I came to Salt Lake City to visit with Mark Erelli at the Founders Folk & Bluegrass Festival, and the best new music I discovered was at a house concert.

Beth Wood is a Texas singer/songwriter now located in Colorado, who's voice and guitar technique are only eclipsed by her stage presence. She is one of the better house concert performers I've seen, and the buzz in the crowd was thick.

One reason was it was the host's first house concert, in a warm and beautiful backyard. It was the start of the Rockin' Roxburry House Concert series, but from where I sat it looked like the 20th - nice job, Rockin'! Beth was probably a big help, but most of the folks were were first time house concert guests and stunned that Beth's level of talent just drove up to the door to play.

Beth's style is folk and country, very Americana at times, even soulful, but she covered some standards (one a capella) that were show stoppers. Her voice is simply stunning, and it only adds to her well-thought songwriting and upbeat guitar technique.

She's an independant artist with seven albums to her name, and a savvy business woman to boot. She even brought her own PA, which she says can mean the difference when trying to get a gig.

You should see her out West a whole lot more since moving to Colorado. Her shows are not to miss!

Many thanks to Hope Jensen for the advanced notice, and here's to lots of new music discoveries in the Salt Lake City area.