In addition to hometown favorite Geri X, Wednesday night's New World Brewery show featured the low-key stylings of Canadian singer-songwriter Julie Doiron and North Carolina's folky Bowerbirds [pictured].

Geri X was clad in a white tank top, boots and gray sweater. She had at least 30 people huddled around to watch her set, a fairly large amount for an opener at New World. Most likely it's because she's a near-native who used to play around here all the time and lived in St. Petersburg on and off for the past several years before her recent move to Atlanta.

Geri X's vocals are like those of Arrah from Arrah and the Ferns — a sort of cute, twee-ish inflection. But despite the sweet voice, the blue-haired Geri X's style is more alternative and it showed in a selection of solo numbers that showed off the singer-songwriter's range, from the solemn "When I Die," about how she'd like her remains to stay on Earth after she passes, to "Zombie Eskimos," a light-hearted number about Eskimos who prefer human brains to fish. "I never thought I would play that live," she said with a laugh when she finished.

She forgot the words to three of her songs, but brushed it off self-effacingly: "I'm not professional. I forget my words all the time." She also added that she hadn't played a solo show in a "very long time." Small mistakes aside, her performance was well-received and showcased her skills nicely.

This article appears in Feb 10-16, 2010.