Some things you should know about Gillian Grassie

1. Her Myspace is named Harp Power - gotta love it.
2. Her music's more contemporary folk/pop than traditional, but she manages to make the harp sound completely natural in that setting.
3. She has a really lovely voice. Reminds me a little of Regina Spektor, a little of Thea Gilmore.
4. She's not only a skilled musician, but a great songwriter. Her song "Silken String" (which you can hear in full on her Myspace) took second place in this year's New York Songwriters Circle Contest.

I'm rather excited to have found out about her music. I'm a decent player, but I've never been able to compose melodies or write lyrics, and I suspect I never will. Maybe I'm wrong, but it strikes me as something you either have or you don't - you can't learn. The Philadelphia Inquirer did a feature story on her a few weeks ago, and she described the melody to "Silken String" has having actually come to her in a dream. I'm always ridiculously jealous of people who talk about songs "just sort of coming into their heads." The only songs that ever show up in my head are usually somebody else's, so seeing another harper close to my age playing and singing original compositions is pretty amazing.

If any of this sounds intriguing, check out her CD, Serpentine. If you like musicians like Vienna Teng, Tori Amos, Charlotte Martin... you'll probably like this.