The best plans often go to waste... at least here on herohill. You see, with the re-launch and the unveiling of our new Halifax show listing calendar, I had the perfect segue to introduce you all to a nice song writer from our fair city. You see, Save September - aka Crissi Cochrane - was set to open up for Owen (read our interview with Mike here) at St. Matthew's Church.

I've been a fan of almost every incarnation of Mike Kinsella's music, but the stripped down, personal tracks he wrote under the Owen moniker were my favorite. The chance to play with Mike would have been a great launching pad for Crissi - especially since she was practicing with a string quartet - but sadly due to low ticket sales, Mr. Kinsella put the cobra-kaibosh on the show. Either way, some Save September coverage on the hill was long overdue.

Save September is yet another one of those folk artists that exists in the bubble that is the Halifax music scene. Some escape to bigger audiences and more attention (Ghost Bees, Fall Horsie!), but many just as talented toil in relative obscurity (Paper Beat Scissors and Dan Ledwell come to mind). Crissi's songs are more traditional in nature; the coffee shop ready picked chords and a pure voice carry most of the weight but even at a young age and on a DIY recording, she sophisticates the sound with subtle nuances like the swirl that ends Coming Home or the hand percussion and xylophones on Mexico.

For a singer in her early 20's, Crissi already seems comfortable with her sound and deftly handles the juxtaposition between the memories of her past and the imminent heartbreak that waits for us all as we grow up. She still holds onto some of the innocence of youth, but is growing up quickly and her songs will only get better as the road she travels becomes rockier and the soft side is hardened. Definitely an act to keep an ear on in '09.