Live Review: Bedouine, Leah Senior

The juxtaposition of Cake Wines' warm and inviting Cellar Door, compared to the quiet, dark Eveleigh Street was noticeable as a bustling, busy crowd assembled early in the classy Redfern bar. As a venue, they would benefit from a proper stage rather than the temporary raised platform without steps that caused the artists to awkwardly clamber up in between sets.

Logistics aside, Leah Senior took to the stage first and, with just an acoustic guitar and her magical voice, she entranced the room. Usually performing with accompaniment, Senior looked tentative at first. "This is my first show solo in two years. If I run off the stage, I'm not coming back," she explained. With that information, we were even more engaged in a rare solo show from an abundantly talented singer-songwriter.

Deftly finger-picking folky songs from her album of last year, Pretty Faces, as well as others, like the song featuring the lyrics, "We're the ones who visit the graves of rockstars," it was a short, but very sweet, set. We also learned that Senior sat next to a lawyer on the flight to Sydney and may have had a crush on Jim Carrey in Liar Liar. She finished up with How I Miss The Womb and won over many new fans in the process.

Born in Syria to Armenian parents, before immigrating to the USA under their (soon to be defunct?) Green Card lottery, last year the world abruptly discovered Azniv Korkejian, best known as Bedouine. Were it not for such an initiative, perhaps we would have never heard her beautiful voice or experienced her amazing songwriting.

The audience grabbed any vantage point they could in the room, sitting at the front or perched on a chair. It was a diverse crowd of various ages and genders, and, as soon as Korkejian spoke, the crowd went silent. You Kill Me was the first track and straight away we were engrossed by the only solo song in an evening of storytelling and soothing '60s/'70s-style country folk. From there Korkejian's debut album producer, Gus Seyffert, climbed onto the stage to accompany on backing vocals and bass.

The dynamic between the two of them was palpable and we quickly learned that Korkejian has a great sense of humour. After Skyline, she cheekily declared, "That's as close to rapping as I'll ever get!" Her album's opening track, Nice And Quiet, was a highlight and she also played a brand new, as yet unnamed, song, and asked us to suggest titles. "Yeah, dogs!" was yelled out for some reason, but she went with it even though other, more poetic suggestions were pitched.

The set went too quickly, but it was a pleasure to be in the presence of someone so conscious of their voice, sound and the environment around them. She shared her thoughts on her one-and-a-half days in Sydney and finished with the gorgeous One Of These Days.