Saturday night an intimate group of concert goers were treated to the beautiful musical styling of Libbie Linton in one of the final “Concerts in the Park” series hosted by Smithfield Recreation.

With a sound that is reminiscent of Natalie Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs fame, Libbie Linton entertained a park full of concert goers on Saturday night. Linton played mostly original music with an occasional cover mixed in. Her ethereal vocals were complimented by skillful guitar licks and included a brief few songs accompanied by her nimble fingers strumming away on the ukulele.

A crowd full of smiling faces ranging from toddlers to mature adults enjoyed the music on Saturday. Some of the toddlers danced while others in the crowd appeared to breathe in and consume the music and eclectic lyrics that Linton poetically served up. One couple brought a picnic that they enjoyed with their family while Linton entertained the group.

Getting her beginnings in music when she was 13, Linton grew up in Logan attending Logan High before going on to USU where she earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in biological engineering. Linton currently works in the engineering field in Salt Lake City.

Spending most of her musical career as a solo act, Linton performed various shows while a student at USU. Aside from concerts at USU Linton has played various venues ranging from what she refers to as “house shows” on up to concerts with as many as a few thousand people. When asked what kind of venues she likes to play Linton commented, “I kind of prefer smaller things it feels a bit more intimate, or one on one versus the bigger stuff. Bigger shows are kind of just a crowd that I can’t really identify as well with, and I’m kind of just a speck on the stage, so I prefer this it has a better feel to it.”

Linton’s music has been influenced by various artists, growing up on music such as Cat Steven’s and Simon and Garfunkel. Another big influence Linton mentioned was “a guy that goes by the moniker of Iron and Wine.” Linton says her musical inspirations also include female artists such as Fiona Apple and Natalie Merchant and she describes her musical interests as “a kind of mish mash of several influences within a style.”

Linton had CD’s available for interested concert goers after the performance. Her CD “Bird Wings in the Bleak” is available on her website at LibbieLinton.com, and is also available with a couple of other songs on iTunes.

Linton’s concert was supposed to be the final concert of the series this summer, however, Lilium will be back next Saturday at 7:00 p.m. for an encore outdoor performance at Center Park in Smithfield.