Last night I was surprised with tickets to a concert at the Belly Up in Aspen, Colorado. Mia Z opened and Sawyer Fredericks was the main event. It was a packed house and we got way more than our $10 tickets were worth. This amazingly talented young teenager put on a heck of a show.
Mia Z, who also was a contestant on the Voice season 8, opened the night with a very intimate session accompanied by one band member, her Mother on keyboards. She held our attention for nearly an hour with her raspy 3 octave range before Sawyer hit the stage. I lost count of how many songs he sang and the number of times he changed guitars before the band headed off stage and he gifted us with 5 solo songs. After the band took their break they came back to join Sawyer for countless more beautiful arrangements. The entire production was carefully crafted. Like an airplane beginning take-off, each selection grew in intensity. By the end of the evening we were craving more, and we got what we begged for in the encore. Two more songs and a final appearance from Mia Z to close out the show with a duet track off Sawyer’s new album “A Good Storm.” There were some teenagers and kids in attendance enjoying this clean family friendly production, but it was a bit awkward to hear all of the cougars in the front row embarrassing Sawyer in their drunken ignorance.
As a Mother of children his age, I couldn’t resist telling him to stay grounded. Based upon his reaction, he has heard that before from other Motherly types. I only wish we could have traded hair secrets. I could have brought him one of my freshly made coconut oil shampoo bars and he could tell me how he keeps those locks so healthy.