Welcome to world of live performance as we join Amy Fairchild in not one but four venues to showcases her huge talent before some very appreciative audiences. Fairchild has proved her writing talent by winning a number of awards in contests like the 2003 John Lennon Songwriting Contest and the Billboard Songwriting Contest.

Giving her listeners great value with Live, she provides 16 tracks and each one is well worth a listen.

She opens with "Falling Down," an upbeat song that will get the feet tapping and you wanting more. Her dynamic personality comes through on "Simple Thing."

The tempo slows on the beautiful ballad "Tuesday," which recalls 9/11 from a very personal viewpoint. In fact, it is this personal resonance that makes the story all the more tragic. If there is an album produced to commemorate that tragedy, this song must be included -- if for no other reason that singing about the loss of one love strangely has more impact than a lyric about 3,000.

Although Fairchild is a pulsating performer on the driving songs, I like her voice and performance more on the quieter songs. We get to compare this on "Mr. Heart" when she gives us an acoustic version at track 12.

The final track on a wonderful CD is "Movie," on which she thanks her audience for listening in -- but you want to thank her for more than an hour of great sounds, lively performance and sensitive lyrics.

[ visit Amy Fairchild's website ]