Live Shots

Carla Morrison

"I wish I could talk more. I'm just so nervous," the young singer-songwriter from Tecate, Mexico, admitted midway through her mostly mellow, intoxicating set at Flamingo Cantina. Nervous? You couldn't tell. There wasn't one quiver of doubt in her crystalline soprano. Carlos Mauria accompanied her throughout with a more earthbound percussion. The contrast of her lilting vocals and his driving percussion made for an unexpected, magical mix that kept the rapt audience wide-eyed and attentive, save for moments of unbridled adoration from fans, who otherwise hung on to every note, sometimes singing along with her. Although her set was in Spanish, you didn't need a translator to know what she was singing about: yearning, love (of course), heartache, passion – all the things people sing about when alone in their rooms and their emotions are still tender and raw. From "Lagrimas" and the plaintive "Como Es" to her closer "Yo Sigo Aqui" and everything in between, Morrison employs a great deal of vocal play in her songs, filling space with heart and the breathtaking, ethereal magic of her voice.