Last show for Logan singer Linton
It will be one last hurrah for Logan singer-songwriter Libbie Linton.
Linton, a Logan native, will be playing her last show as a USU student and possibly as a long-time resident of Logan this Friday. Linton is a self-producing folk artist who has played all around Utah and also in California, Idaho and Colorado. She has been gathering fans since before her Shackleton EP was released in 2006.
Friday’s show, like her first show, will be in a house, Linton said. Admission is free.
“There’s something really fun about house shows,” Linton said. “It’s a more social environment. It feels more like a party.”
The show is at 258 E. 100 North in Logan at 8 p.m. The bands Fictionist and Buffalo will be playing as well. Buffalo is a band comprised of USU students from Logan, Linton said. Fictionist is touring after the release of their second album, “Lasting Echo.” After playing with Linton and Buffalo, Fictionist will be playing at the Box in Rexburg on Saturday, then on to California and Nevada.
“You want intimate? How about a living room? House shows are always a blast,” reports Fictionist’s website.
Fictionist collaborated with Linton on her album, “Bird Wings in the Bleak.” It was released a year ago at a party held in the Taggart Student Center Auditorium. Linton said her favorite type of show is one that is well planned and executed, like the release party, or very easy-going and fun, like a house party.
Though she said she still plans to play in Logan, Linton and her husband will most likely move after she graduates this May with a master’s in biological engineering. They might move closer to Salt Lake City to record her new EP, hopefully this summer, she said.
Linton has a melodic voice and unique self-written lyrics, accompanied by an acoustic guitar with a catchy beat. She never saw herself as a musician until a friend convinced her to record some songs after her first year at USU. She has always played guitar and sang, she said. It took a lot of effort to first get up and perform, she said, mostly because she is not a performer at heart.
“I got really shy at the thought of it,” Linton said.
Now, four years later, after she has done so many shows, shyness about being onstage is not a problem, Linton said.
Megan Simper, senior in music, said, “Being a musician myself I recognize the technicality that goes into (Libbie’s music) and also the standard of lyricism, and it’s just amazing.”
Listening to her lyrics feels like reaching into a bag that has words and phrases from all facets of Linton’s life and arranging them as magnets on a refrigerator. The result is a song that makes sense, yet still retains a lot of originality not often heard in music. Science phrases, probably influenced by Linton’s biological engineering background, occasionally pop up. And while some of the lyrics sound a little morbid – try “Enduring a Mugging” or “Dressing Up for Death,” for example – the tunes are upbeat and full of life.
Linton doesn’t play just guitar for her songs. She also plays the ukulele, banjo and piano. Often heard on her album is the glockenspiel, what Linton described as a little kid instrument that looks like a xylophone and is great for picking out melodies.
What are Linton’s plans for the future? Biological engineering is a huge part of her life, but Linton said she wants to concentrate on music for now. After nearly six years of higher learning at 18 credits a semester, Linton said she is ready to take a break from science. She said when she came to college she didn’t identify herself as a musician.
“I was a student first and then music came after,” she said.
Her master’s thesis is 155 pages, and Linton said “it’s a relief” to be done. It is almost as satisfying as it was to hold her first album once it was finished, she said.
“I’ve been in school since I was 5,” she said, “but it’s hard to imagine how I’m going to feel when I take a break. It will be different.”
Though she has only toured in the West, Linton said she wants to try playing back East. She would also love to collaborate with Fictionist more in the future, she said.
“Fictionist is a legitimate band, and they take themselves seriously and have good songs and good CDs, and Buffalo is a lot of fun,” Linton said. “It will be a good show.”
– la.stewart@aggiemail.usu.edu