Ali Harter performs in Lawton. (click picture for more)

Ali Harter

Red Dirt, Country Blues, Country Folk, Outlaw, or whatever you want to try to tag her with, Ali Harter must be tagged as unique, talented, pretty, and Okie through and through.  Last night was my first time ever to hear her music but it won’t be my last.  I bought her CD titled, “No Bees, No Honey”, released on March 13, 2010.  I ‘ve already listened to it three times and have my earphones on right now listening to a fourth time through.  Unique is the best word I have to describe her music; it is definitely her own.  She is only 25, yet her sound is so much more mature than that!  Visiting with her afterwards she told me her early childhood idol was Bonnie Raitt.  I’m a huge Bonnie Raitt fan myself, but not once during her live solo performance did I ever say to myself, “Self, you know what?  She kinda sounds like Bonnie Raitt!”  But,that could just be me.  But the connection  I do think exists between Ali Harter and Bonnie Raitt is eachhas a clear vision of how to express and present her music.  This came across so strongly in Ali’s performance!  The stage was empty that night:  banks of speakers, bright lights making the hot August night even hotter, microphone and stand, a table, a stool, the usual web of wiring splayed across the floor and surrounding ground, and two large fans at the back creating the only breeze in Elmer Thomas Park that night.  Though she grew up in Choctaw, she had never performed in Lawton before.  And there she stood, all alone, no backup band of friends for support!  It was just her with her bottle of water and white handkerchief sitting on the table to her right; one to remove the precious moisture appearing on her brow, the other to replace it.  On the red topped stool in front of her sat her open songbook.  A songbook not filled with lyrics from the soul of someone else, but words and rhymes formed in the depths of her own life.  And in her arms she craddled an acoustic guitar.  From the bright lights of the stage she stared into the deep darkness of the night before her.  And then she sang!  Wow!  She did she ever!  I don’t think it would have made Ali Harter any difference if she had been singing to ten or ten thousand that night.  She was at peace with herself and in her element, playing her music, and singing her songs.