Zara (aka Zara Sargsyan) took the Hotel Ziggy's WFNM showcase stage for the second time this past October. The first time was back in November 2024. I was lucky enough to catch both sets. The recent Berklee College graduate had fellow alumni Angelo Della Valle playing backing guitar. Zara also played the guitar while singing. The duo guitars made for nifty jazz-pop interplay with intricate fingerpicking one her part. Her vocals had those Basia vibes from the 1980s-1990s. This was all perfectly highlighted from the top with the opening song "Stolen Joy."
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| Zara at Hotel Ziggy |
It was mentioned that for the November 2024 gig, she flew out from Berklee just for that set. She's now living in Los Angeles, which means that Los Angeles music fans now have more opportunities to catch her live. Moving around the globe is in her blood. She was born in Armenia and at the age of 7 moved to Canada. From there, it was off to college in Boston and now she's landed in Los Angeles. She introduced the recently written song "I Have No Home" by saying, "I never really felt like I had a place to call home. I found my home in people and communities . . . I hope it brings you a little hope in finding your own little home everywhere that you go."
Two of her songs "I Heard about My Future" and "My Girl" were lyrical self-affirmations with one line being, "What you believe becomes reality."
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| Zara at Hotel Ziggy |
What did I notice? Both performers wore The Beatles' guitar straps with the song title, "Get Back."
Her setlist was filled with unreleased songs that will no doubt make their way on an upcoming EP. Per her Spotify bio, she wrote the following, "Excitingly, Zara is now working on her highly anticipated debut EP, which is set to be released in the near future. This EP represents a collection of songs that have shaped her artistic journey and molded her into the artist she is today."
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| Zara at Hotel Ziggy |
Since she performed all new songs, I'm not going to do my spotlight on any of those songs though "Stolen Joy" was an ethereal revelation. Of her released songs, I think "Breathe Child" is the best representation of her WFNM set. Like most of the set, it had an intriguing combination of guitars and vocals. Also, like many of her unreleased song, it is a song that looks out into the future and sees positivity. The world needs more voices that sees a bright future ahead.
If only she knew I'd tell her
Breath child
Everything's over now
You're in good hands
Setlist: Stolen Joy, Singing with the Birds, Ruby, I Have No Home, I Heard about My Future, My Girl.
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