Zoë Sundra at Bowery Electric's Map Room

Zoë Sundra grew up in Connecticut and achieved a degree in sculpture and performance art in 2006 at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, Massachusetts. A different kind of art was coming into her life, however. She relocated to Brooklyn, New York , and began writing songs. Two years later she decided to pursue music and performance full time. Her latest two releases, the The Hunt album and the Out West EP, were released April 2012 and September 2013 respectively.

Sundra performed with just her voice and acoustic guitar before a small audience at Bowery Electric's Map Room tonight, singing a series of original songs that seemed like wind-blown postcards. Her picturesque lyrics captured wistful landscapes, family scenarios and turns of the hearts in poetic narratives that were simple but not bare-all. They dropped images without exploring them too closely before moving on, like flipping pages on a new calendar. No shrinking violet, Sundra projected boldly, her contralto voice deep enough to provide heat and yet feminine enough to inject grace. Sundra's closing song, a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," indicated a leaning towards country music, which apparently is more evident on her recordings than in tonight's performance. She is worth a listen.

Zoë Sundra will perform at Ceol in Brooklyn on January 22. Visit her at www.zoesundra.com.