It's good to know that Northhampton is still incubating young lesbian artists. Local hero Mara Levi is preparing to bust out nationally with her solo album Life's A Ball, a collection of folksy pop with a nod to the sounds of the 80's. Ms. Levi is an accomplished musician. She learned some of her chops with an earlier band in NYC called Kid Sampson. But her first prodigy-like foray into music came at age 4 when she took up piano. Her next instrument was the trumpet, and by age 20 she had added bass and guitar. Her expertise on these instruments shines on this album.

My favorite song on this album is track six, "Without Alarm;" it exudes a bouncy rhythm that keeps the pace interesting for Levi's revealing lyrics. This song has a vulnerability and honesty that reminds me of early Ani Di Franco.

The second and third tracks have a retro quality similar to the more intelligent pop music put out by bands like XTC, Wall of Voodoo, and the Pixies. "Take The Blame," has a cool fade out in the middle of the song that gives the effect of an old amp.

But Mara Levi has her folksy tunes too. The opening track has a great, twangy western guitar and some sweet harmonizing. On "Better Days," the honeyed tones of the mandolin accentuate the hopeful lyrics about "holding on for better days." This song would fit in with the best of the new roots traditional sound.

Levi puts together some elegant arrangements and has assembled a fantastic backing band. Unfortunately, her vocal quality is uneven on this album, and the lyrics lean toward the naive, rendering her songs less engaging than they could be. But this young musician shows a lot of potential, and these wrinkles will undoubtedly be worked out by her next album.

More on Mara at maralevi.com