The McIntire School of Commerce is known for many wonderful things. No classes on Friday, for example. But the Commerce school never has been quite up to snuff when it comes to producing quality singer-songwriters.
Enter Sharif El-Mahdi, purveyor of dreamy, handwritten pop music. At his album release party at Starr Hill Music Hall last Thursday, you never would have guessed that this was a guy who graduated from the Commerce school last May with a concentration in marketing and management information systems.
In a way, the marriage of music and business school makes perfect sense. At least it does to Sharif, who prefers to go by his singular first name. He recognizes that there are no accidents in the music industry. Success often hinges on mere exposure.
"I market my songs, I market my CD, I market myself," Sharif said in a telephone interview. Of course, that business degree is good for other stuff, too. "It's nice to have it to fall back on if the music doesn't work out."
If Sharif's performance at Starr Hill is any indication, however, he won't need that safety net. The audience was admittedly sparse but engaged by Sharif's brand of friendly, personal soft rock and relaxed inter-song banter.
Then again, Sharif should be so comfortable onstage, as he's been a fixture on the Charlottesville music scene since arriving at the University. He began playing acoustic covers at Coupe DeVille's his second year, eventually joining Magazine, a cover band comprised of University students, in his fourth year.
Sharif was tempted by the variety of on-Grounds music groups, but his goal was not easily molded to what the University had to offer.
"I knew I wanted to be a frontman, singer/songwriter for a band," he said.
"Kiss the Moon," Sharif's first official release, is a realization of that goal. The six-track album is wrought from the basic principles of rock, with bass, drums and guitar each never outshining the others. The only obvious use of technology is a perpetually overdubbed vocal, lending the album a distinct voice.
Sharif himself can't quite put a finger on what defines "Kiss the Moon."
"I have a hard time putting a label on it," he admitted. "The songs are pretty diverse."
But if he had to name an influence - and he had to, as it was an interview - it was Ben Harper. Harper's "Waiting on an Angel" made an acoustic appearance in the middle of Sharif's set at Starr Hill, and the quiet, folk-tinged number blended in seamlessly with Sharif's originals.
Sharif had a little help from his friends while recording "Kiss the Moon," including producers Stewart Myers, formerly of jam band Agents of Good Roots, and Chris Keup of River. The most explicit contributor is up-and-coming folk phenom Regan, whose elastic backing vocals "added a lot to some of the songs."
Still, Sharif is the focus and impetus of "Kiss the Moon." He alone penned each song.
"My songs are honest and true. Anybody can see that," Sharif said.
And his lyrics certainly are applicable to innumerable life experiences, due to their ambiguousness. They don't get any more specific than these from the delicate title track: "Now I try to warn you / Can't be living on you / You could only hang on to / Secret thoughts I often lose."
Less than a year after graduating from the University, Sharif has realized his dream of cutting a record, but that doesn't mean he's prepared to leave his college life in the dust any time soon.
"It wasn't like I switched from study mode to rock star mode," he said. Sharif still lives behind the Corner and either has a really short memory or actually meant it when he said, "I can't think of anything I didn't like about U.Va."
Sharif is proof, then, that the University prepares students for futures outside the expectations of a major. If a songwriting Commerce school student is possible, a neurosurgeon with an English degree can't be far behind.
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