Amber Sweeney drew a crowd of about 150 last Thursday at Moulton Falls Winery in Yacolt.
Last Thursday evening locals poured into Yacolt’s Moulton Falls Winery to both cheer on and see off North Clark County’s hottest musical artist, Amber Sweeney.
The night doubled as the kick-off party for Sweeney’s Believing in Love Winter Tour, which will stretch into May and the release party for her new album “Believing in Love.”
“You couldn’t fit another car in that lot,” said a man as he quickly hustled into the winery only minutes before Sweeney took the stage.
He was right — North County showed up in a big way to cheer Sweeney on and lend their support on her tour.
Sweeney has lived in Battle Ground for the last 15 years and attributes much of her success to the support she’s had in the community. As a way of giving back she is donating $1 from every “Believing in Love” album sold to the Rocksolid Teen Center.
“The response … has been so humbling,” Sweeney said moments before the show. “They’ve (the local audience) always been supportive.”
Moulton Falls Winery proved to be perfect setting for Sweeney’s soulful sounds and homegrown lyrics. The wood paneled walls and elk horn chandeliers gave the evening a rustic and warm, spirited ambiance; the dimmed yellow lighting bounced off the Moulton Falls wine and cider bottles lining the walls behind the bar and the glassware held by excited Sweeney fans.
Sweeney’s working of the crowd before her set, and the set itself, seemed one in the same. She interacted familiarly both on and off the stage with her fans, cracking jokes that might slip by an out of towner, but amusing the Yacolt audience.
Sweeney’s soulful, rockin’ blues music and familiar voice prompted her local audience at times to close their eyes and tilt their heads back as they bopped along, while others got up and danced, as she led them through a setlist of love focused songs.
Her voice, while smooth and welcoming when talking, takes on a crisp, fierce tone, with no sign of a deliberate country twang when singing. It’s easy to remember why some in the industry have compared her sound to the likes of Sheryl Crow and Allen Stone.
Sweeney has said much of her songwriting is a reflection of her surroundings and, given that she’s lived in Battle Ground for the last 15 years, Sweeney’s songs, and the stories they tell, mirrored back to last Thursday’s audience many of the shared experiences and small town ideals they share.
Sweeney said the goal for the night, and the entire tour, was to spread hope and love and she held to that statement. She delved into not only love, but the awkwardness and heartbreak that sometimes comes through dating and breakups.
Starting the tour this way, a packed house with people lining the back wall, is something Sweeney said her team would carry throughout the whole tour and use to energize them.
“This is the energy that pushes you on — talk about motivation,” she said.
