Dawn Kinnard

Pennsylvania native Dawn Kinnard, even this early in her career, is surely growing a little weary of Lucinda Williams comparisons. But there’s no denying that, as beautifully as she delivers her songs, Kinnard has the Lucinda quaver in her voice, that hesitation, as if her lyrics were in danger of being overwhelmed by emotion and her songs, bleak yet warm, might just slow down and stop. It’s the odd touches in her music that set her apart — the banjo and vibes in “Mexico,” for instance, in which a single mom considers fleeing her life in the same way a bank robber contemplates making it to Tijuana. Kinnard’s got the brass to add plenty of lush electric piano moments to her country; she even gives “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” a run through trip-hop minimalism. According to legend, Kinnard sold her Harley to finance her recent debut CD. It won’t be long before she’s buying it back.