Posted on January 27, 2009 - by Megan

Jill Leighton

On Saturday 24^th January, I met Jill Leighton again for the first time in 15 years. The first thing that strikes you even before she has started to perform is her beauty. She is one of the most beautiful people to ever consume my gaze, golden hair and a face as pure as the morning sun rising. She has this innocence in her eyes that is so endearing and a manner that is as calm as a willow tree washing over a breezy landscape.

Her live performance startled me; she is like an artist of times past. Joni Mitchell, Johnny Cash and their soul mates would welcome her warmly, her voice transcends effortlessly and reaches you like rippled, flowing ribbons.

‘Rivers Edge’ starts almost teasing you with this light and almost appetising intonation. Her transmission is one that conveys a longing for someone that is so convincing you want to find that person for her. The guitar is the washing of water up against that particular embankment and her voice is the zephyr through your hair and past your face.

One song that stood out for me was ‘A Dozen Dimes’. She explained that this song is about a homeless man she had met and become good friends with. When someone is trying to hold back tears or contain an emotion, they frown. I had to frown when she sang this. Not only to hold back tears but also to comprehend the sheer magnitude of talent before me. This song is poetic beyond all understanding; it is an ode to someone that is clearly special and a tribute that any person would be spirited to have written about them.

Jill Leighton

Jill is something of a daydream for me, I mean in the sense of the word hope. I repeatedly fight with my anger and frustration because I cannot understand why artists of this calibre are not flooding our lives. I do not mean to wash away what we currently have broadcast to us, but I just want them to have a chance to be heard. People like this and all the others I have written about make my words come so easily that it is a gift to write about them.

A great man once told me that silence is the best thing you can do for someone to make them realise what they have to do with their lives. I often say silence is the breaking of my heart, and if Jill Leighton did not sing, she would be one of my reasons.

www.myspace.com/jillleighton

Jill Leighton – A Dozen Dimes

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