Holly Miranda Plays Church, Covers Etta James at SXSW

One of the more interesting venues SXSW has to offer is the Central Presbyterian Church in downtown Austin, just a few blocks from the madness that is Sixth Street and the setting for Holly Miranda's Friday night show. If you want to take a load off and utilize the pews while still seeing a show, this is the place to do so.

For Miranda, who grew up singing in church, this setting was fitting. Though the high ceilings provided an echo effect, giving the reverbs she tends to favor a more distant and lost feeling, Miranda's demeanor was inviting, and not just confined to the audience. Earlier in the day, she'd invited a small horn section to join her on a few songs, confessing that they didn't rehearse in any way.

"This sounds f---ing great, right?" she said after they played 'Joints.' "Someone told me that Austin likes it when you take a chance. Well, here's that chance."

The calculated risks seemed to pay off, with the biggest one being a take on the Etta James classic 'I'd Rather Go Blind.' More so than any other moment, Miranda demonstrated here that along with playing the shoegaze, she's quite soulful; the tune was bluesy as it should have been, but Miranda's brand of gut-punching vocals on the line "See you walk away from me" made it special and, for a brief moment, her own.

Miranda is currently touring in support of her first official solo release, 'The Magician's Private Library.' She has been opening for Tegan & Sara and rejoins them on Mar. 24 in Minneapolis.

Holly Miranda on AOL Music