Sarah Wilson/Think Press
Listen to Carrie Rodriguez play, and the first realization that comes is how fantastically talented she is. Try to figure out how to categorize the sound, and one thing that's absolutely clear is there is no defining what she does, a fact that she finds pleasing.
"People will see me in an elevator with my guitar and ask what kind of music I play and since I figure they're not going to know who I am anyway, I just say I'm a jazz musician," she said, laughing. "Or when we're on the road and pumping gas at a gas station, people ask and I tell them I'm a member of the Miami Sound Machine."
This is usually met, Rodriguez said, with "'they're touring again?' or for the under-30 crowd you totally lose them."
"I like that there's no way to pinpoint the sound specifically," she said. "I play guitar and fiddle. I'm a singer/songwriter who plays whatever resonates with me, and hopefully it all works together."
This classically trained violinist comes from a family rich with musical and artistic ability.
"My mother (Katy Nail) is a visual artist and my dad (Dave Rodriguez) is a singer/songwriter who used to put me to sleep at night listening to angry, political music," she said. "I never had a plan to do this when I grew up, but I also never had a Plan B or any pressure to have a Plan B - my mom paints and makes her living at it, so I grew up with the feeling that you should do what you love."
And making music is her love.
She is inspired in her own writing and performing by simple things - the beauty of nature, the places she travels and people she meets.
"Just opening the front door and stepping outside inspires me," she said. "I really enjoy playing so of course being on stage is a joy, and the studio work is awesome because rather than focusing on the audience and do they like me, the entire focus is on making the most beautiful song possible."
Rodriguez also looks for simplicity and craftsmanship when selecting others artists' songs to play or record.
"Songs with simple lyrics that grab me and are beautifully crafted, definitely," she said. "Rex's Blues," is one title on her latest CD, "Love & Circumstances," released in April. This is a compilation of cover songs that have touched her in some way, and also celebrates her family, including her great aunt Eva Garza who had recorded on Decca Records in the 1950s. The song "When I Heard Davy Gypsy Sing," is a tribute to her father.
"It really is his autobiography. He left when I was 15, went to Europe and hasn't set foot on U.S. soil since," she said. "His leaving was very emotional for the family ... that song is heavy, and it's heavy singing it, but it's also a healing song. A very emotionally charged song.
"I started playing clubs in Austin with my dad when I was 12," she said. "When I was 14, we were playing at La Zona Rosa, and my mom would tell me to come home before midnight, because it was a school night, and of course, Dad would bring me home at 12:30 or 1:30 (a.m.).
"So I was singing at La Zona Rosa and there was this really cute waiter, who was a little older who also had a band, which of course made him the ideal crush for me," she said. "At 12:05 here he came, tapping my foot and when I leaned down he said, 'Uh Carrie, your mother's on the phone, it's time to come home.' That was soooo humiliating."
Today with no curfew in her way, Rodriguez is free to bring the house down. She takes the stage Sunday at Brewery Arts Center Outdoor Amphitheater, 449 W. King St.
Show time is 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $20 for reserved seating and $17 for students, seniors and BAC members. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit breweryarts.org or call 775-883-1976.
Online ticket sales available until two hours prior to show time, with some tickets available at the door. For more information about Rodriquez or to purchase any of her releases, visit carrierodriguez.com.