And a piece of my heart will stay here forever....

...that's a quote from my brother to the singer we went to see on Friday night. He wasn't kidding, and I can't half blame him.With little to do, and less desire to actually find something to do, my brother and I allowed our friend Nick decide our fate and make plans for us. Typically, this isn't a wise decision because Nick isn't, how you say, a very "responsible" person. If he makes the plans, 9 times out of 10 we end up in a situation that isn't so fun, probably dangerous, and sometimes illegal. Why we let this happen, I do not know. However, for once in his 29 years on this earth, Nick actually led us in the right direction.After clearing through a 12-pack, noodling on Guitar Hero and watching the beloved Celtics lay the Grizzlies to waste, we made our way down to the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA to see one of his friends play/sing. If you have never been to the Lizard Lounge before, it is something like this:Your grandmother's basement with a few rugs scattered a round, a bar jammed in the corner, bathrooms for midgets and the smell of a freshly bleached locker room for hockey players. Cozy it is not. But they do have beer, lots of it and in many varieties. Anyway, we walked in and some wannabe blues band is jamming away on their piano/guitar/drumkit from the Muppets, and immediately make room for ourselves at the bar. Nick's friend, Madi, came over to greet us and as it turned out, I used to work with her at a bar years ago. She is a beautiful girl and was happy that we came down to see her.All the while, neither my brother nor I had any real desire to stay there for long. I'm not sure if it was the strange smell about the place or the obnoxious thirty-somethings grouped to our left, gesticulating wildly about nothing, but we didn't want to stay long.Lo and behold, 10 minutes later, halfway through Madi's first song, we decided there was no way we were leaving until the last note ended. It's not that I came in with low expectations, I really had none, but it's more of the fact that I was BLOWN AWAY by this girl's voice.Obviously, no one here (save for a few) know my brother. But, he is more into the hip hop scene and rarely likes any sort of rock-type of music. He enjoys going out and chilling with a few beers and friends, but in situations like this the music is the last thing he notices. I think, more than anyone else at the show, he was enthralled with what he was seeing.I'll skip over the minute to minute play-by-play, but it was one of the best shows I have ever been to. And if my brother was glued to the music, then it must have been good. So much so, in fact, that when the group of thirty somethings began talking wildly, he actually threatened them in such a serious way that they immediately hushed. I was shocked.So, in closing, I highly suggest checking out the music of Madi Diaz. While her album is fantastic, the live show is where it's at, especially if it is just her and two guitarists. Her voice is angelic. Imagine if you threw the voices of Natalie Maines (Dixie Chicks), Alison Krauss and Grace Potter into a blender, mixed it up, then topped it with the songwriting styles of Loudon Wainright III and John Mayer.....you would get Madi Diaz. Just a beautiful voice and the writing is top notch. She is on myspace (http://www.myspace.com/madidiaz) and her own website (www.madidiaz.com).Enjoy.(also, check out the song "All Over This Town" if you can. It was a toss up between that song and the one I posted)