By: David Schultz

Anyone present at Earvolution’s first New York City singer-songwriter showcase at the Rockwood Music Hall a little over three years ago might remember Rebecca Hart as a guitar strumming singer songwriter. Still rocking the acoustic, Hart has loaded up her arsenal and broadened the horizons of her music with her latest band The Sexy Children, comprised of Licorice’s David Lott and Matt Epstein and drummer Dan Barman. Opening up for The Telephones, Hart and The Sexy Children made the most of their opportunity to play one of the final handful of shows at the Leonard Street locale of New York City’s The Knitting Factory, which will be moving to Brooklyn in 2009.

An accomplished stage actress, Hart comfortably and quite ably fills the role of rock and roll frontwoman. A charming and delightful singer, Hart has a Broadway voice and a rock star soul, able to deliver Gillian Welch’s “Miss Ohio” with the perfect amount of stoic frailty and turn around and belt out a staggering version of “Whipping Post.” During The Allman Brothers cover, Hart tossed her acoustic guitar behind her back and held nothing back, laying into the final stanza with a marvelously startling power. Her originals, a couple taken from her 2006 album Crash & Strum, were possessed of the same wit and passion. She also a thoughtful woman, she endearingly made sure to point out that a song she wrote for Britney Spears was just about her as a subject and not meant for the pop star to actually sing.

Hart gets an excellent boost from her Sexy Children, Barman and Epstein are a superb rhythm section and add wonderful texture to her finely crafted songs. Normally out front of Licorice, Lott flourishes in the role of sideman, accentuating Hart’s acoustic rhythms with blues and classic rock riffs and ample though non-intrusive wah-wah guitar effects. It’s a four piece that is developing into a wonderful band.

An alumni of the 2008 Public Theater Shakespeare Lab, Hart will spend the early part of 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky with “Rock & Roll: The Reunion Tour” before returning to New York City for a February 15 showcase at Joe’s Pub.

Labels: Licorice, Rebecca Hart