"The Home Team"

Backbeat Local Playlist
Westword Magazine, January 2-8, 2003

Most Denverites have, at one point, shared buildings with a beginning guitarist, flutist, or worse, a drummer--poor souls who engender neighborly scorn, as well as mighty calluses, during their early stages of life as a musician. But there are many local artists whom you'd actually want to have next door, folks who make music that you'd hapily listen to on a Saturday morning. In fact, the people in your neighborhood made some great recordings in 2002. Here's a look at some of the best.

Mary Beth Abella
What Happened to the Girls?
(The Abella Kids Records)

Songwriter/guitarist Mary Beth Abella found her sea legs -- and her chops -- on What Happened to the Girls?, surviving endless band-member rotations and a difficult production to produce a bold debut. By turns gutsy and emotional, Abella crafts tunes that move from sensitive and spare (but not sentimental) to hard-driving and dynamic, all the while emphasizing humanness over histrionics. If this recording is any indication, the girls are just fine. -- Laura Bond