At first glance, it might be easy to reduce Tristen to a typical female singer songwriter, which for better or worse (okay, always worse) tends to mean a solo warbling girl with an acoustic guitar. But Tristen’s got a voice that’s one part Janis Joplin and one part Chrissie Hynde, with an effortless melodic sensibility tying them together.

She’s at once raspy and a songbird, half gravel and half honey. And though she often tours with a band, she was solo for Midpoint Music Festival on Thursday night.

Her recordings are pristine, uncomplicated and only partly play up the singer-songwriter elements I mentioned above. Thursday at MOTR, she rocked an electric guitar, perfectly matching the power of her voice.
She was strong, raucous, bringing a fierceness to her songs that can really only be experienced live. “Battle of the Gods” has a pastoral, headbobbing quality to it, but she sang with such tenacity that it became a protest song. The crowd — a sizable one for the first act at a venue on the first night at Midpoint — had been warm up till that point, but it was then that people really started cheering, perhaps a bit surprised.

She showed her range with songs like “Wicked Heart,” a pretty, haunting number that came off as more personal, not just lyrically but in execution. We were even treated to a few new songs she hasn’t yet recorded. “You might not hear this again for two years,” she said, adding, “Do you know how putting out a record works?” not in a belittling manner. She closed with “Eager for Your Love,” taking its cautionary lyrics and making them as dangerous as a live wire.

I should say too that the sound at MOTR was fantastic. Tristen was crisp and clear, though that’s not a tall order when all the sound guy has to worry about is one guitar and one mic. Still, it was plenty, and her voice alone made the show. As I was walking out I heard someone say “She’d kick ass at Roxette karaoke,” which I don’t think exists, but yes, yes she would.

-MaryKate Moran @marykate_moran