Is Marin The New Music Capital? Singer-Songwriter Hopes So

No pressure, kiddo, but mom's a tough act to follow.

"They're always saying 'Your child can hear, your child can hear. Sing to them.' I'm always singing, always playing," said Corte Madera singer-songwriter Victoria George, who is expecting her first child to be born in April. "If you think about the way a guitar works, the sound comes over the hole and resonates out the back of the guitar … and so she must feel the vibrations and hear them and, I'm hoping, is being affected by them. My plan is that after she's born I'll play my guitar and woo her to sleep."

George will appear at the 142 Throckmorton Theater in Mill Valley on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. in one of her last concerts before she goes on hiatus with her baby. She says it'll likely be the last time — for a few months anyway — that she'll play with her full seven-piece band. The night will include several songs from her latest album Lately I, flavored with hints of the love, hope and passion that have marked George's life and career.

Tim and Nicki Bluhm are also on Saturday's ticket, offering up some of the sounds that mind remind you of the Mother Hips.

George, a Fairfax native, tries to maintain a foothold in two different music worlds with her folksy, heartfelt music. Her roots are in Marin County, but she also has a deep connection to Nashville, which comes through loud and clear in her songs.

"I'm somewhere between rock, country and folk and a little bit of pop," George said. "My music is kind of on the countrier side of rock, country, Americana. A lot of people around here would say 'You need to go to Nashville, you need to go to Nashville.' So I went to Nashville and everyone there said 'Well, you're kinda country, not really country.'"

George was in Nashville for three years after getting a management deal there, but returned to Marin last year and settled in Corte Madera with her husband. She still returns to the country music capital every few months to work on songs and to visit her mother.

George didn't show any real interest in playing music until she first picked up a guitar at University of Virginia. She was interested in songwriting. Her friends knew some musicians. A perfect fit? Well, not exactly. Her friends invited her to jam with them as they covered Lynard Skynard songs, but George was drawn more to the sounds of Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Joni Mitchell.

"Joni Mitchell was the first person, I remember listening to Blue, that album, and being amazed by her," George said. "When I was first learning how to play guitar, that style of finger picking and vocals and guitar really appealed to me."

George has polished her own style, playing at local venues in Marin and occasionally on the road. George released her debut album, Far As I'm Concerned, in 2005, then followed that up in 2007 with a self-titled work. The first track off her latest album, Forever, has even received airplay as part of KFOG's Local Scene 8 compilation.

"The music industry is kind of becoming do-it-yourself, so we decided we could do it ourselves in Marin. That's where we really wanted to be," George said.

Tickets are $20 General Admission, $23 General Day of Show, $30 Reserved Seating and can be purchased by calling the box office at 415.383.9600 or on line at www.142throckmortontheatre.org For more information, email boxoffice@142throckmortontheatre.org