It was a packed house Thursday night at The Echo for the album-release show for local favorite singer-songwriter Pearl Charles’ Sleepless Dreamer, which dropped the very next day via Kanine Records.
The debut full-length from the LA based singer-songwriter, the follow up to her self-titled 2015 EP, is a cohesive serving of Americana/folk/country/rock that would be stylistically right at home on 1970’s album-oriented rock radio with Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, and Linda Ronstadt, but with Charles’ more personal lyrical style and updated production.
Live, the material sounded great. Pearl’s a charismatic performer with a unique voice that has an interesting twist on some lines and then really stuns when she goes to the higher register, like on the chorus of “Blue Eyed Angel”.
Cementing the sound on stage was pedal steel/slide guitar player Connor Gallagher with the perfect counter melodies throughout the night. Highlights included disco-country “Night Tides”, Charles’ ode to the LA dating pool “All The Boys”, and the call-to-action “Only In America”.
Words and photos by Tim Aarons
