Cara Brindisi spreads holiday cheer with Winter Solstice show at Mechanics Hall

WORCESTER  — O holy night indeed!

Whether you accept Mariah Carey as the Queen of Christmas, Central Mass. songbird Cara Brindisi proved that she is the undisputed Queen of the Winter Solstice Thursday night at Mechanics Hall.

This was her second annual winter solstice concert at the hall and, as 1,200 concertgoers can attest, she not only owns the winter solstice holiday, Brindisi also established a local holiday tradition that is regional tour-ready. The show is that good.

As a performer, Brindisi embodies the spirit of the season, especially the spirit of giving. Not only did she give us plenty to love but also generously offered the stage to several seasoned performers and a few fresh-faced dreamers.

When it comes to performers, Sam James — who, like Brindisi, also made his mark on NBC’s “The Voice” — is no leftover figgy pudding. He’s a main dish. Even though they are dear old friends, the fact that Brindisi invited James, who can also fill up big halls on his own, to open up the show shows how comfortable and secure Brindisi is with stardom and how genuinely good a person she is.

Sporting a black bowler, tweed blazer and a bushy beard, James — who chatted about his Worcester upbringing and attending Assumption School in Millbury and St. John’s in Shrewsbury — wowed the audience with a passionate reading of Lori McKenna’s “Grateful.”

With his wife and their young son in the balcony, James strummed his acoustic guitar as he pulled at the heartstrings, knowing that the two things that he’s most grateful for in life were watching him.

Before exiting the stage, James introduced Brindisi — who, he noted, performed at his wife’s baby shower — as an “incredible talent” and being like his “little sister.”

Wearing a gorgeous short skirt/long gown combo with sheer netting adorned with silver stars, Brindisi was the center of the universe in this galaxy of stars. She immediately enchanted the audience with the sweeping and majestic version of Loreena McKennitt’s “The Mummers’ Dance.” Guest flutist Sarah Carcia of Blackstone Soul, the band who played the afterparty at Off the Rails, gave the song some Celtic flair.

Feeding off the warmth and the energy of the hometown audience, Brindisi belted out one of her originals, “Masquerade,” while explaining that this evening was about being present and living in the moment. Not only was Brindisi fully present, this was also her moment. In fact, this was not some pleasant repeat of last year’s Mechanics Hall performance. On the heels of a successful Kickstarter campaign, this winter solstice performance was easily 10 times (if not 100 times) better than last year, and last year’s was phenomenal.

Also phenomenal was Brindisi’s tight band consisting of electric guitarist Sonya Rae Taylor, bassist Joey Whelan, drummer Dan Drohan, percussionist Eli Mateo, keyboardist Dan Burke, violinists Lilly Innella and Kathryn Skudera Haddad and harpist Annabelle Lord Patey.

Confessing to the audience that she had been asked for years to sing Mark Lowry/Bubby Greene's modern Christmas classic “Mary, Did You Know?” Brindisi said she finally has gotten around to learning it and, from the crowd’s reaction, it’s a keeper. Spiritual and spirited, Brindisi passionately sung the tune with a deep heartfelt conviction that transcended the inherent religious message of the song and made it more about the plethora of wonderful possibilities instilled in all children, not just the Baby Jesus.

Brindisi, whose blind audition on NBC’s “The Voice” was Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well,” welcomed 14-year-old Grafton High School student Adrianna Peloquin onstage to perform a cover of Swift’s “Forever Winter.” Despite her age, Peloquin belted out the tune like a seasoned professional and had a complete command of Swift’s clever but often wordy wordplay, which Brindisi even admitted isn’t easy.

Brindisi’s beaming smile wonderfully juxtaposed with Joni Mitchell’s melancholic musings on “River.” While this is a song of heartbreak, the strength in her resounding voice and her infectious positive vibe made it more a tender celebration of a great songwriter than an intimate commiseration of a broken heart. Despite this, Brindisi’s performance was still stellar.

In one of the best examples of preaching to the choir, Brindisi —j ust one year shy of the 20th anniversary of her first solo in Central District Choir at Mechanics Hall — welcomed 16 “beautiful young people” who make up the choir at Shrewsbury High School, her alma mater.

All wearing matching black, the eight young men and young women of the choir joined Brindisi on Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Bareilles’ “Winter Song,” which was mesmerizing.

Under the tutelage of Brindisi’s former music teacher Michael Lapomardo, the choir was given ample time to shine on their own on Eric Whitacre’s “Glow,” which also included Brindisi’s fellow Shrewsbury High and Berklee College of Music classmate Kazumi Shimokawa providing keyboards behind the vocal troupe.

After leading the audience singalong on “Let It Snow,” Brindisis made the spirit of George Bailey proud with her irresistible original “Lasso The Moon," while the singer’s delicate delivery of Don McLean’s “Vincent” was enough the warm the cockles on the coldest of hearts.

Even though she noticeably winched on camera when Blake Shelton said he heard “some twang” during her blind audition on “The Voice,” Brindisi, who spent a better part of six month in Nashville this year, confirmed what Shelton knew all along with her performance of Loretta Lynn’s “Snowbird.”

A talented local musical fixture in his own right, Dan Burke scorched the stage with his holiday original “By the Fireside.”

Brindisi saved the best near the end. “O Holy Night” was absolutely divine. Angelic and almighty, Brindisi raised the roof off the place with her most compelling and strongest vocals of the evening. Not only did she get a well-deserved standing ovation, I feel that I have already attended church this Christmas holiday season.

Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run” was one of the few songs that allowed Boston Music Awards’ “Blue Artist of the Year” nominee Sonya Rae Taylor let it rip and Elite Dance Academy’s Sam Quinn and Robb Gibbs to simultaneously cut a rug.For the encore, Brindisi fans finally heard “Snow Globe” for the first time at Mechanics Hall, despite it being the name of the winter solstice show (and it was ready to go) last year but due to bad communications, the house lights went on before the obligatory encore.The Brindisi-penned original was worth the wait. It’s a beautiful holiday song about experiencing an Andy Williams-like awe while traveling through a winter, as well as a Worcester, wonderland.

Reminiscing about her early gigging days at Vincent’s and Lock 50, Brindisi closed the evening with her signature closer, which matched the shared sentiment of the room, Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: At Mechanics Hall, Cara Brindisi proves why her star is on the rise