The Olympia All-Ages Project's mission statement says it all: "The purpose of the Olympia All Ages Project is to develop, foster and promote music and art as experiences central to the lives of the young citizens of Olympia." The non-profit organization carries out its mission at its permanent home, Northern. The space houses the kind of shows that inspire an audience: both local and touring bands, music and art. I've been inspired twice in three weeks. The weekend before last at Northern, I was forcibly removed from the musical present by Visiting Nurses and then delighted by LAKE, making for one of the most multi-temporal evenings I've experienced. Saturday, I was stunned again, catching Hot Tears in the downtown Olympia space.

Hot Tears, a solo project of Molly Fischer — who lives in Olympia, but played in the Bay Area pop-punk band Songs for Moms — integrates haunting vocal melodies, electric guitar, tambourine and bass drum. Fischer's silky voice behind reverb-heavy strummed chords gives her beautifully composed songs a wonderful texture that compels. Throughout the first part of her set, she apologized several times for the inadequateness of her performance. I tacitly and politely declined those apologies, because contrary to the Fischer's evident belief I found her performance to be astonishing.

I even overheard a whisper from behind me, "I just want to tell her I love her."

Rarely does my witnessing of such a performance not accompany an immediate purchase of the band or artist's recorded music. Hot Tears is no exception, as I am now enjoying Fischer's self-titled EP. The five-song collection includes the ambient "Follow You" and nostalgic "The Rain." The EP is definitely my recommended listening for the week. It is available on bandcamp, and will surely fill the hole in your heart where poignant melodies and cello accompaniment have yet to occupy.  

I'm plotting my next Northern show. I'm two for two, which isn't shocking.