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With her friendly, charismatic demeanor and considerable music prowess, Helen Avakian is the incredibly talented girl next door who has blossomed right before your eyes.

One of the Hudson Valley's most popular performers, Avakian is also among the most multifaceted, at home in a range of genres from singer-songwriter to Flamenco and classical guitar.

As a recording artist, she released "Vanishing Point" in 2001, which burst with potential and hinted at a promising future for a songwriter who merged sensitivity with sensibility.

That potential has been realized with "I Love the Moon," Avakian's new release on her own Highwater Music label. The CD's 12 tracks are the culmination of an artist's honing of craft and determination to excel.

Recorded at Scott Petito's NRS Recording Studio in Catskill, "I Love the Moon" exudes confidence and warmth, with each song setting a different mood. Avakian wrote or co-wrote 10 of the 12 tunes, with husband and guitarist extraordinaire, Terry Champlin, writing the other two and co-writing three others.

Avakian is comfortable in her skin here: her voice is sure, her playing is top-notch. The musicians assisting her - including Petito and Champlin - support her story-songs with aplomb and expressivity.

"I Love the Moon" gets better with each listen.

Nightlife Spotlight: Helen Avakian interview

1. How would you describe your genre?

   Singer/songwriter/acoustic guitarist with some classical and new age elements

2. Recent influences (musical, or otherwise):

   Some recent albums that have "turned my head" are "Haughty Melodic" by Mike Doughty and "Viridian" by the Greencards. I love Suzanne Vega's new album "Beauty and Crime," as well. She is a longtime influence, as is Terry Champlin, classical guitarist and composer par excellence and as it happens, my husband! Terry is my biggest influence, (surprise!); also, my producer and collaborator, NRS recording studio owner and multi-instrumentalist composer and producer, Scott Petito. Virtuoso fingerstyle guitarist, Tommy Emmanuel, as well as a group of fine guitarists and good friends I have met at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kan., have also been keeping me very inspired.

3. How has your work evolved?

   I am trying to be more straightforward and clear with my songs. I have a lot of songs that are better appreciated after a bit of preliminary explanation. Now, I really try to write and perform songs that are easy to understand without any introduction - not that I still don't appreciate a bit of mystery here and there. I also like to think I am singing and playing guitar better than ever. I am always trying to improve my expressiveness and technique. After a performance the other night a woman came up who has heard me many times. She said she thinks I sound better each time she hears me, and that she feels more emotion from my performance. That certainly made me feel like some good progress is being made.

4. What is your goal as an artist?

   To save the universe! To sell more widgets! No, no seriously, to do the best work I can and to share it with any and all who can make use of it to enhance their life in some way.

Hi Helen,

I get alot of CDs. Let me repeat...ALOT of CDs!!

Usually they're good, sometimes not so good, some even kind of good or almost good anyway. Once in awhile I get a great CD. Yours is a REALLY GREAT CD!!!!

I listened to "I Love the Moon" at least 50 times in a row as I was making the long drive from Tulsa to St Louis and 50 more times from St Louis to Northeast Ohio. I never do that. Sometimes a certain song will make me listen over and over again as I listen to all of the nuances, trying to hear them all, I listen to your entire CD over and over again.

Usually when I hear a CD the producer in me hears changes I would make, the songwriter, changes I would make and the guitar player in me, the changes I would make. Not this time. I was constantly surprised like a kid on Christmas morning at every turn.

Your balance on the way your words and the music flow is just amazing!! You don't just sing. You communicate right to the soul in a clear and beautiful way.

The names Joni Mitchell, Suzanne Vega, Sarah McLachlan and Helen Avakian are names that all belong together. At least on my CD player they do.

Sweet, vulnerable, beautiful deep, poetic, virtuosic, honest are just a few of the adjectives I could use to describe your CD...

Brian Henke

The highly accomplished guitarist, singer and songwriter, Helen Avakian, was the feature at the well-attended December coffeehouse. Her guitar playing (just about the best I've heard anywhere) utilizes a blend of classical, Flamenco and folk pop, creatively woven together into a fusion that works beautifully with her lyrics. There is thoughtful detail as well as a good dose of energy in her flawlessly executed music. Her lyrics are carefully crafted and meaningful, filled with crisp, evocative images. Her singing powerfully conveyed the emotional qualities of her songs.

The first song was an energetic in-your-face exhortation to Hold On. Mistletoe Blues, a complex song containing many winter images and wistful feelings, was followed by a warm Christmas song about family and good times. If You Only Knew was a potent dedication to her mother. Vanishing Point and On the Verge were followed by an insisted-on encore, for which she gave us the Pretender's classic 2000 Miles with Silent Night beautifully inserted.

Will the family, friends, and fans of Helen Avakian please swear in a blood compact to send copies of "Vanishing Point" everywhere. I mean, radio stations, record labels, VH-l, the press, Web sites, hairdressers, sympathetic extremist groups, etc. It's a scattershot promo plan, I know, but if enough copies get sent out, someone who knows someone's mistress will listen up and get the girl heard at the next level.

Avakian deserves to travel in the same circle as Patti Larkins and Dar and Lucinda Williams. There's a courageously idiosyncratic sound at work here, creating a wann, lacy realm of reality and romance that carries you far away from the calculations and manifestations of today's pop music machine.

Many of the songs on "Vanishing Point" will be familiar to the faithful, but they are heard anew with a tangible lushness. Largely due to Helen's artistic evolution -- her nimble and intelligent guitar and detail to craft continue to astonish -- as well as co-producer/multi- instrumentalist Scott Petito, who has produced what I believe to be one of the finest sounding discs to ever come from the Hudson Valley. Hushed when called for (the lustrous and evocative "Christmas Tree," "Drifting Days"); inventive arranging and production ("Carrie," "On The Verge," "Vanishing Point"), allows Avakian the full palette she needs to explore her muse from "Vows" and "If You Only Knew" to "Page's Jig," a playful celtic tribute to Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page.

Helen's done a great job. Now getting the word out to the rest of the planet is up to us. C'mon, let's get going! We haven't a moment to lose.

Helen Avakian is garnering a well-deserved following in these parts. A brilliant songwriter with an effortless vocal style, Avakian's first studio album features 12 original songs, lushly recorded with the sparkling production we're coming to expect from Catskill's NRS studio. Songs like "On the Verge" and the title song display Avakian's seemingly instinctual grasp of melody, harmony, lyricism and instrumentation. Scott Petito of NRS lends his multi-instrumental skills, and Beth Reineke's backing vocals fill out this polished album that hovers somewhere between 60s folk and 90s fem-pop. Avakian is a lady I'd like to meet.

Helen Avakian's Vanishing Point is a fine blend of acoustic prowess and sensitive lyrics. Her style has been compared to that of Tori Amos, Joni Mitchell, Jewel, and Natalie Merchant. This I agree with and this CD is a must for those mellow moments in life!

Helen Avakian has an excellent album that features incredible vocals and top-notch instrumentation.

Avakian is a classically trained guitarist and singer/songwriter who explores some very dreamy and atmospheric territory. Her strong voice and dynamic guitar style mesh with Scott Petito's bass and the sounds contributed by other guest musicians to produce something that is unique and easily identifiable. The songs explore neatly poetic lyrics, except the instrumental cuts "Sister Song" and "Page's Jig", a Celtic-influenced tribute to Led Zeppelin's guitarist Jimmy Page.

This is a fine album that should draw in a healthy collection of fans for this unique artist.

Helen Avakian will be performing with Leslie Ritter and Scott Petito at Dutchess Hall Theater in Dutchess Community College on Sunday at 4 PM. The trio will be celebrating the release of both her new CD "Vanishing Point," and Ritter/Petito's latest CD "Circles In Sand."

"I am very excited about this CD release party," Avakian said in a phone interview. "It is always great to work with Leslie and Scott, especially since Scott produced so many songs on my CD Plus I will have a full band with me."

Avakian's album, which has already been voted "Favorite Recording" in Rhythm and news magazine, is one that was inspired from her family and people she has met.

The singer/songwriter from Pleasant Valley was always drawn to music, singing since childhood. In high school she took lessons from classical guitar teachers and studied classical guitar going into college before sustaining an injury from bad playing habits. That injury forced her to begin to think of writing songs to sing, rather than simply playing.

"I had terrible stage fright at first," she said laughing, `but fortunately I got over it."

She expressed her enjoyment of making the CD, and did not give a favorite track. "I love all the tracks of the CD, I just like them in different ways" she said. "What I tried to do with the CD was to have a nice variety."

And that she certainly does, with tunes ranging from the Christmas-themed "Mistletoe Blues" to the unique sound of "Potential of the Morning." "'Potential of the Morning" is kind of quirky," she said when asked about the track. "I guess that's why I like it."