Why aren't you listening to Anni Rossi right now?
(CBS) Here's a tip: Always go to club shows early. You'll get yourself an extra drink and maybe see a band or solo artist you never would have known about, if you hadn't showed up 30 minutes before your act's show.
(Listen to and download Anni Rossi's "Land Majestic" below)
Anni Rossi had the slot before Milagres a few weeks ago at Mercury Lounge in New York. Her set-up is simple - viola, bass and drums - but the sound fills a room.
She often holds the viola like a guitar and plays chords on it with occasional lead-like flourishes. She can play it like a viola, too (or so she says in a Gap ad in which she appears), but most of the time it sounds like a fuzzy, treble-free electric guitar.
Her voice is airy and her singing feels refreshingly unaffected. This is good music for listening to on a long, lazy summer day. And the music is a good place to couch lyrics that are darker than a lazy summer day requires ("I am an ant stuck in the cement").
You can purchase her latest release, "Heavy Meadow," on iTunes. Read more about Rossi here.