T. Nile

At one point in her set, T. (Tamara) Nile declared "I am a folkie, an electro-folkie." The Galliano Island, BC-based singer-songwriter made a splash with rootsy 2006 debut album At My Table, but has been transitioning to a more beats-inflected sound. That evolution is a work in progress, based on this uneven gig. Songs from an upcoming album, Tingle & Spark, have just surfaced on a free EP. The best of these, "Running" and "Ryder," worked well live, the latter bringing Hannah Georgas to mind. Despite Nile's banjo playing and the violin work of multi-instrumentalist/backing singer Melissa Bandura (whose band Familiar Wild played the set before, with Nile on back-ups), the sound leaned more to pop-rock than roots. The folkiest song played, "Trees," actually sounded the most fully-formed. Undeterred by getting mild shocks from her mic, Nile chatted confessionally with the supportive crowd, though talking about finding a friend on Facebook fell into the "too much information" category. She does have a lovely voice, and it'll be worth watching her development.