Six strings and the truth

In these days of supersongs — A-list producers, big-time guest credits, ProTools-enhanced vocals, remixes and other bling — it’s easy to forget that sometimes a songwriter, a strong voice and a six-string are all it takes to touch a heart.

Tonight, a trio of singers — Mindy Smith, Charlie Mars and Garrison Starr — and their guitars will take the stage at the 9:30 Club as a testament to American roots rock ’n’ roll. Southerners all (Mr. Mars and Miss Starr by birth, the New York native Miss Smith by choice), their music is rich with stories of love, loss and the being of living.

A Mississippi native, Miss Starr, 29, signed with Geffen Records fresh out of high school. Its suits thought her raspy alto and raw energy presaged the next Sheryl Crow or Melissa Etheridge. But by the time she finished her label debut, “Eighteen Over Me,” it was 1997 and she was 22 and so fed up with the music industry that she wanted out.

At her request, Geffen released her, and Miss Starr spent the next four years reassessing her dreams. In 2003, she signed with artist-friendly Vanguard Records.

“Airstreams & Satellites” arrived early this year to favorable reviews. The 11-track CD, including an unlisted bonus song, “Inside Out,” shows a woman who knows when to chase the thing she wants and when to walk away.

“A lot of my songs are about the conflict of trying to wrestle out of that box I grew up in,” Miss Starr says. “There’s a lot of struggle in the South, and it provokes a lot of thought, a lot of passion. It gave me an edge and helped me to look at the world in a different way.”

Mr. Mars readily admits how important his Mississippi roots are to him and his music. “There’s something about big cities — I can get caught up in it and I become someone different. You can only be so cool when you’re around people who’ve known you since you were sucking your thumb” he says, explaining why he stays in his Oxford, Miss., hometown rather than follow the siren song of New York or Los Angeles.

The 29-year-old singer has reason to need to keep a level head. His eponymous V2 label debut has been compared to work by arena fillers U2, Coldplay and Bruce Springsteen. The 12-track CD is teeming with melodic hooks and lines that catch you and don’t let go. Mr. Mars writes with introspection, but his themes — the tension of growing up, pains of the heart, the joy of found love — are ones everyone shares.

First-time headliner Mindy Smith, 32, is on track to become the next big thing after her critically acclaimed debut “One Moment More.” The achingly rich collection of 11 original songs plus a knockout rendition of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” which features harmonizing backup vocals from the country legend, has drawn nothing but superlatives from press and fans.

Miss Smith says she didn’t make the album to inspire weak emotions. “There’s not a lot of gray. People like it or they don’t — lukewarm is boring,” she says. “I didn’t make it to make other people happy. I made it because I wanted to make a record I believed in.”

The Long Island native moved in 1991 at age 19 to Tennessee, where she started writing and playing guitar. Inspired by artists such as Shawn Colvin, Alison Krauss and Emmylou Harris, she began crafting songs that she thought could sustain her aspirations.

“You can build a pretty house,” she explains, “but if the foundation isn’t sturdy, the house will cave.”

Download Mindy Smith’s Music Via iTunes

Download Charlie Mars’ Music Via iTunes

Download Garrison Starr’s Music Via iTunes

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Local legends Eddie from Ohio perform Tuesday at the Birchmere for a “hometown release” concert in support of their ninth and newest CD, “This Is Me.”

“This Is Me,” which came out this month, follows 2003’s double-disc live collection, “Three Rooms.” Recorded at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center, the Somerville Theater and the Birchmere, “Three Rooms” is a rollicking, irreverent good time even when the tempo slows and things get serious.

The Virginia-based foursome got its start in 1991 gigging around Southwest Virginia, where they built a steady following, particularly among James Madison University and Virginia Tech students.

It wasn’t long before their folk harmonies and witty lyrics, not to mention an indefatigable work ethic, graduated the group to bigger venues and grown-up audiences.

Thirteen years later, the players are the same — Robbie Schaefer, Eddie Hartness, Michael Clem and Julie Murphy Wells — and they, like their fans, may have grown up, but they definitely haven’t grown old.

While the band has been courted by major labels, it prefers to stay independent and enjoy the autonomy earned by working with its own label, Virginia Soul Records.

Fans of the band, known affectionately as Edheads, are happy proselytes and arguably as effective at spreading the EFO gospel as any MTV clip would be. The grass-roots approach has translated into gold record sales for the band and has sold out tours across America.

Download Eddie from Ohio’s Music Via iTunes