Jamie Lawson with Amy Vachal at Adelaide Hall

Pre-show, there was a relaxed feel in the intimate, subterranean room; Adelaide Hall was impressively full, bubbling with barroom chatter and hum. Evidently, Torontonians are happy to venture out on a Monday night to hear two up-and-comers prove their talent.

Former The Voice contestant, Amy Vachal, opened the evening. She stepped out onto the stage and the buzz in the room fell to a hush. The audience knew what they were in for and wanted to hear every word. Vachal’s voice is sweet and pretty, her songs thoughtful and dreamy. Overall, she is engaging and compelling, though at times her lyrics are hard to decipher. With an accompanist at her side, even the Bluesier tunes felt gentle. Other than a version of La Vie en Rose, Vachal played her own compositions and the crowd was very receptive.

A short while later, Jamie Lawson came to the stage with his guitar in hand. This acoustic show was a one-man effort but the show did not suffer for it. A native of Plymouth, England he immediately charmed the room with his boyish smile and stage banter. He started his set with All Is Beauty and Cold in Ohio. He told a story of how an episode of Big Bang Theory inspired a song. In the episode, Sheldon is trying to work out his feelings for Amy and reflects that he has considered all options and the only conclusion is love. That seemed a line worthy of a song and The Only Conclusion was born.

Lawson’s songs are true singer-songwriter pieces reminiscent of older craftsmen – James Taylor, Dan Fogelberg or Don McLean. The melodies are simple, the lyrics beautiful, sentimental without being saccharine. Lawson has a few releases under his belt, but garnered some press recently for being the first act signed to Ed Sheeran’s new label, Gingerbread Man Records. His last album made it to #1 in the U.K. and Lawson jokingly noted that when it reached the top spot, Sheeran was at #2.

More tunes followed. A creative, interactive, slowed down version of Michael Jackson’s The Way You Make Me Feel captured the audience’s hearts as they collectively snapped along to the rolling beat. The main set closed with Wasn’t Expecting That, the single that has had the most airplay. Lawson left the stage and returned for two more songs and an invitation to meet him by the merch table after the show.   This intimacy and interaction was precious, for his days of being an unknown artist in North America are surely numbered.