Material: Mariami explores a world of conceptual ideas throughout her music. The formerly New York, now LA-based artist played a six-song set, with a range of differently themed tracks. Her vocals and lyrics together form a sound of honest vulnerability, especially in “Electrify My Heart.” Her music, mainly original songs, also featured a cover from a lullaby central to her home country of Georgia. This made for a unique and unconventional approach as to how musicians typically cover music. Her music is dense, deep with rich and authentic lyrics that form beautiful images, like that of a storyteller. This is prevalent in “I Survived A War,” with its cheerful tone despite the song’s context.
Musicianship: Mariami uses a TC Helicon Voicelive 3 Extreme Looper Pedal with custom presets to help mold her acoustic guitar playing into a distinctly retro sound. This pedal establishes a packed backing sound, but does not quite achieve the feeling of a full band. “I just moved here, so I don’t have a band yet,” Mariami disclosed to the audience. Having a full band could make all the difference in her sound, as some tracks seemed to be repetitious of one another because of similar sounds the pedal produced. Despite being alone, Mariami is innovative in her sound and delivered each song with flair, sometimes throwing in variations of intricate jazz chords, and other times pausing after strums to emphasize parts of her lyrics.
Performance: On a low stage with eclectic lighting ranging from magentas to greens, Mariami performed vibrantly alone. Her personality developed through her music and even outside of it, in-between songs. With backstories of her life, she shared personal anecdotes from her Eastern European home in Georgia. Mariami successfully connected concert-goers to her sound with these informative bits and displayed how personal and real her music is.
Summary: Mariami offers a sincere and soulful sound that is central to her Georgia roots. Her sense of nostalgia gathers her music into a perfect package of resonant and vivacious imagery. If she continues to search her soul, expand her vocal range, and even add a backing band to her impassioned performance, Mariami's future will be bright.
The Mint Los Angeles, CA
Contact: Mariami, [email protected]
Web: mariamisound.com
Players: Mariami, guitar, vocals
