Son Little said it was definitely a hometown show last week at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn.  The artist has been associated with Philly artists like The Roots and RJD2 whom he has worked with – and he has spent significant time in that city – but it turns out he grew up in Queens and he finds the NYC experience filtering through his lyrics.

He was born Aaron Livingston; his stage name is an inversion of his last name with happy Son House connotations.  I became aware of him last year with the release of his impressive first EP Things I Forgot and a dynamite appearance at WFUV’s CMJ showcase.  I asked him if his new self-titled full length album Son Little was, like so many debuts, a greatest hits collection of songs he had written up to that point and the answer was no. He didn’t cannibalize the EP or re-work old material.  He created something brand new with the benefit of upstate New York solitude last winter.

Son Little lets his songs breathe and he shows discipline in his avoidance of production flourishes that, as he pointed out – are all too easy to employ.  Not overdoing that aspect of record making allows his compositions the space they deserve and makes his music all the richer.