Sabriel

Listening to Sabriel’s sophisticated, soulful voice, it’s strange to think she spent her Las Vegas Academy days majoring in dance. Blame Simon Cowell. “I watched a lot of American Idol as a kid, and I think that scared the crap out of me,” she says. “I’d always secretly wished I could sing, but I wasn’t confident.”

That’s changed, clearly. The Vegas native’s Life Is Beautiful set last October had a flighty festival crowd on lockdown, as Sabriel mixed original material and covers—one by the woman her stylized singing most recalls, Erykah Badu—at the head of a veteran band anchored by members of local crew Rhyme N Rhythm. And she’d just turned 19 one month earlier.

Before she officially bids goodbye to her teenage years this September, Sabriel (pronounced “Shaw-briel”) hopes to record a debut album and begin broadening her audience to include more fans in her age range. “One of my biggest pet peeves about Las Vegas is that there’s really nowhere for young musicians to play … and no young people can accidentally hear me sing,” she says. Sabriel sees the Internet as a potential solution, and on New Year’s Day, she released a new, live video for her song “Fifth” on YouTube.

And if young fans don’t flock to her work on the web, might she reconsider her feelings about Idol and take the reality-show plunge? “I’d rather put in the work,” she says. “But if that takes me nowhere, maybe …” - LV Weekly

Nineteen-year-old singer-songwriter Sabriel is in the midst of a reinvention. The Las Vegas native who got her start singing “cutesy” folk songs is now dipping into neo-soul, fusing jazzy riffs and hip-hop bounce with the warm and delicate rasp of a voice beyond her years.

“When I first started performing, I was kinda just doing things that people told me I should do,” says Sabriel Hobart, a graduate of the dance program at Las Vegas Academy for the Performing Arts. “After a while of doing things that people tell you to do, you get bored.”

So earlier this year, Sabriel began a stylistic evolution. The singer—who made her public singing debut in 2011, at a Talky Trees open-mic session at Emergency Arts—revisited the music on which she was raised. She immersed herself in ’90s-era crooners D’Angelo and Maxwell, and R&B icons Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. Reflecting their soulful quality in her own sound felt “natural” and “more comfortable.” But she could only take the change so far on her own.

In the spring, Sabriel assembled an eclectic new backing band, recruiting moonlighters from local reggae groups Haleamano and One Pin Short, ska band the Remedies and hip-hop crew RNR, whose bassist CoCo Jenkins was the first on board. “She’s very open-minded, musically,” says Jenkins of Sabriel. “She’s really developing into her own style.”

While this transition has been exciting for Sabriel and the band, her more recent material has been met with mixed reviews. When performing, she sees “a lot of heads turn in confusion.” She’s been confronted with a barrage of questions and continuously pressured to define herself: “What’s it like to be a jazz singer? … What’s it like playing R&B? … How is it being a pop singer?”

Her response: “I didn’t know I was any of those things.”

Being under 21, Sabriel has also been challenged by the nature of Las Vegas’s bar-centric music scene. After a recent gig in Los Angeles, where age wasn’t an issue, she found it hard to return home. While she has performed regularly at First Friday, Gold Spike, Eat and, most recently, on the Homegrown Stage at the Life Is Beautiful festival, she wishes there were more options available to the under-21 crowd. “We just need one really cool spot where it’s just about music,” Sabriel says. “Fingers crossed, it would be the Huntridge,” the Downtown theater and former music venue that’s planned to be renovated.

As for her own future, Sabriel would like to continue exploring sonic possibilities. She’s already released a self-titled EP on iTunes and a live session recorded at PBS studios. Next, she’d like to do “a secret Soundcloud album, with a lot of acoustic, lovesong-y type stuff,” she says. “I want to do [different] albums like that a lot; that way I’m not tied down to one sound.”

Still a teenager, she has plenty of time ahead to develop as an artist. “Hopefully,” she says, “I can keep growing into something less safe. I don’t like safe.” - Vegas Seven

The soulful voice radiating through your speakers comes from the 19 year old sing Sabriel. Yes at only 19 years old Sabriel is creating music like this! Sounding like the child of Erykah Badu and Amy Winehouse ,Sabriel’s voice and songs are captivating. Replaying her music I am glad to say that I was lucky enough to hear her music for the first time and see her perform live at the Life Is Beautiful Festival which took place in Downtown, Las Vegas. We have just become a new fan here at The Juice Daily and expect big things for Sabriel. Put her on your radar if she isn’t already and be on the lookout for more music. - The Juice Daily

“It was perfect,” said our man with the camera, Joe Rodriguez.

The last time we saw Sabriel (which was admittedly way too long ago) she was backed by a stand-up bass, a hollow-body guitar and a drum kit—and it was awesome. Warm, subdued, and intimate, the old lineup produced a lounge-like coffee shop vibe that could turn any old cup of joe into the best coffee you’ve ever tasted. Since then there have been some big changes. Last night we saw her accompanied by an electric bass, no guitar and a horn section boasting saxophone and trombone. Sabriel’s sound is developing and her performance of an all-new set at Insert Coin(s) was very promising—she exhibited the fresh enthusiasm of a young artist and looseness of a veteran musician.

The soulful songstress and her band—including members of local hip-hop group Rhyme N Rhythm—sang and played their way through a generous number of tunes. Sabriel’s voice has a Siren-like quality—listeners are drawn in from the opening notes and find it hard to pull themselves away. The band showcased a fuller sound destined to shine on a large stage, adding a bombast that will serve her well at the inaugural Life is Beautiful Festival in October. We can’t wait to see her perform onstage in front of an audience deserving of her talent. Suffice it to say the team was starry-eyed after last night’s performance.

Listen to Sabriel at soundcloud.com/sabriel-music, and hear Rhyme N Rhythm at rnr702.bandcamp.com. - DTLV Music

Downtown Las Vegas should flatter itself to believe that if it had a voice of its own, it would sound like Sabriel Hobart. The young singer-songwriter — who performs under her first name, pronounced Shaw-bree-el — sings with a true and genuine soulfulness that’s too rarely heard in Vegas, or anywhere else for that matter. (Hear it for yourself and you’ll likely agree.) It’s not at all difficult to imagine her voice issuing from car stereos and her star-quality features illuminated on giant billboards. But for now, you can catch her act at Eat and several other Downtown venues, where it never fails to amaze.

HI! MY NAME IS: Sabriel

WHAT DO YOU DO? I’m a singer/songwriter, and Downtown is my main spot to perform and hang!

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A PART OF DTLV? My great-grandparents moved to Las Vegas in 1936 and raised a family Downtown. My father was born and raised in Downtown Las Vegas, and the very first house I lived in was located Downtown. I’ve been in Vegas my whole life.

WHY DO YOUR THING DOWNTOWN? ISN’T IT AN UNTAMED WASTELAND? If you can’t stand the Ed Hardy, fake tans and bro-talk that is included in a trip to the Strip, head Downtown. It’s a chilled out place with plenty of nice and talented people. The biggest problem you might have is the occasional homeless person, but we all go a bit crazy sometimes. Never fear, Downtown Las Vegas is quickly getting rid of its “untamed wasteland” reputation.

WHAT’S THE BEST DAMN THING ABOUT DOWNTOWN? The best damn thing about downtown is the food. The restaurants are very impressive. I sing at Eat every other Sunday, and I must say that Chef Nat serves the best pancakes I’ve ever had. I’m also a huge fan of Le Thai and Radio City Pizza.

DOWNTOWN NEEDS ______ MORE THAN ANYTHING. A shield from the ball of death we call the sun. That heat will get ya.

FREMONT STREET EXPERIENCE: FRIEND OR FOE? Friend, I think? Fremont Street has never killed anyone, has it? Well, except for the Heart Attack Grill, but the warning is pretty clear in the name. I’ve only seen the light show twice. Just a bunch of kooks staring at the ceiling. Not bothering me!

WHERE’S YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO EAT DOWNTOWN? My number one favorite place to eat is Eat, because the food is on point and the staff members are my favorite people ever.

TO DRINK? The Grouchy John’s food truck has some pretty delicious coffee choices! Oh, not that kind of drinking? Oops! Next question?

TO BE ENTERTAINED? Pop a squat on the sidewalk and look forward. I bet you can spend a whole day just people-watching. But if you want some real entertainment, I’d check out Vegas StrEATS.

TO WATCH DRUNKS IN ACTION? Fremont is the best place to watch colorful drunks and even more colorful sobers. My favorite crazies are Jack Nicholson, skinny Santa Claus and Fidel Castro.

TO SHOP? Corner Store Furniture is a favorite of mine, they have some cool furniture and nice people. Electric Lemonade has the cutest vintage clothing, and Sweet Spot Candy Shop gets me good.

AND TO SIMPLY RELAX? I guess I don’t really have a favorite place to relax downtown. Hopefully some good coffee shops will open up.

IF YOU WERE ANOINTED SUPREME RULER OF DOWNTOWN FOR ONE DAY, WHAT’S THE ONE THING YOU WOULD CHANGE? ”Free parking for everyone” day. Unless I get anointed on a Sunday; that would defeat the purpose. If I became supreme ruler on a day where parking is already free, I’d throw a downtown dance party. - DTLV

First, look at the bands. Let’s assign each a ticket value of $20, the price of your average just-starting-out band at the Cosmopolitan pool. There are 10 artists that I know I’d like to see because I haven’t yet: Alabama Shakes, Capital Cities, Charli XCX, Earl Sweatshirt, Passion Pit, Portugal. The Man, Pretty Lights, Purity Ring, Vampire Weekend and, of course, Cults. Then there are those bands I wouldn’t mind seeing again: Beck, Childish Gambino, Jurassic 5, Living Colour and the Killers. Taken piecemeal, that’s already a $300 value, and I haven’t even considered those bands I might discover by accident, or the local artists I intend to support—your Kid Meets Cougars, your Sabriels, your Dirty Hookses. - Vegas Seven