Maia Sharp – Fine Upstanding Citizen

Music runs in Maia Sharps blood. Her father, Randy Sharp, is country songwriter whose tunes have been recorded by Emmylou Harris, Patty Loveless and Dolly Parton. Maia has followed in his footsteps, writing cuts for the Dixie Chicks (A Home) and Trisha Yearwood (Standing Out In A Crowd). The younger Sharp continues to blossom as a performer as well on Fine Upstanding Citizen, her third solo disc.

The album is a potpourri of pop, country and rock with hints of jazz, mixing banjos and mandolins with cellos and violas to produce a sound thats polished without being slick. Sharp is also a versatile instrumentalist; her work on flute, saxophone and clarinet adds texture.

Red Dress, co-written with Kim Richey, kicks off the album in lively fashion with an affirmation of artistic independence in reactionary times, punctuated by Will Kimbroughs up-front guitar. Something Wild is a meditation on trying to control the uncontrollable, enhanced by Sharps bittersweet vocal.

She switches gears on Regular Jane, employing Superman imagery to elevate a romantic ballad above the norm. A Home compares favorably to the Dixie Chicks version in its depiction of a failed love and its aftermath.

The title track is the wild card, depicting Sharp as a failed shoplifter facing the consequences at the hands of an aroused citizenry. Her freewheeling approach recalls the spirit of Dylans pre-motorcycle crash songs.