During First Friday of 2011, local artists and musicians converged in the region known as either “uptown” or “downtown” Greenville — depending to whom you speak.

On the first Friday of every month, galleries all around Evans, Fifth and Contanche streets and Dickinson Avenue open their doors to art lovers and the art-curious, taking only donations for the provided food and drinks. Much like the bookstore/coffeehouse Tipsy Teapot, newcomer Art Avenue, next to Pita Pit, has begun establishing itself not just as a solace for art students looking for a place to create and sell their works, but it is also a place to hear great local tunes.

This is where we first saw acoustic-folk singer-songwriter Rebekah Todd. Wearing a red dress, leopard-print flats and a short jacket, and surrounded by local abstract art, she grabbed the first performance slot of the night, tucked in the corner of the tiny gallery.

Unshaken by the late arrival of the amplification system, Todd effortlessly displayed one of the sweetest personalities you could find in town. Yet, when she sings and strums her originals, she unveils a woman wiser than many her age — someone with real life experiences.

She sings of past broken relationships and yet you can see she is truly content in the fact that she is finally pursuing her one true love: music.

Of course, we had heard of Todd many months before. The 23-year-old Benson native seemed to come out of nowhere, appearing several times on our After Hours listing each month.

Todd has actually only been in Greenville a year.

As a child, Todd passed over the piano but excelled on the guitar her father gave her when she was 13. At 18, she started booking her first shows.

But it wasn't until a couple of years ago that she escaped a controlling and artistically-stifling relationship and started playing around Raleigh.

She made her way to Greenville last year to study art at East Carolina University and quickly made friends with the indie-rock crowd. The boys of the Charming Youngsters — Tipsy Teapot regulars — became her fast friends and their friends in turn became her new acquaintances. She became a regular Greenville musician herself and was even a disc jockey (DJ Beks) at WZMB. She's also been a part of several local benefits for causes including Guitars Not Guns and Screw Cancer.

For the first time in a long time she is able to pursue music freely.

“I basically packed up my bags and came here to Greenville and started over,” she recalled shortly before her performance at Art Avenue. “And it's been a year later of collecting my stuff and just trying to start fresh again.”

Still, the remnants of the past linger in her older original songs. Beautiful yet heart wrenching, she sings as if she's reading from a journal kept from a time she'd rather not talk about.

During our discussion, she confirms.

“It's like therapy with a kick because you have to be bold enough to do it. The first time singing it out is the hardest time. But once you put it up on a web site, you're like, ‘well everyone's going to hear it anyway.'”

But it's the “emotional heights” of life that give her inspiration to write — which is why her lyrics contain her rawest feeling.

In late 2010, after her father died from cancer, Todd said she discovered even more inspiration to “get serious” about her music.

“I have a new spurt of passion for music recently,” she said. “My dad passed away about a month ago and he's definitely my inspiration. He wrote letters to all of us and mine said, ‘I'm really glad you're involved with music. I always loved music but I never found the time.' And when I read that I was like, ‘I have to find the time.' So that's my motivation now.”

Todd is currently working on a CD which she hopes to bring along on a small tour this year. To help, you can make a donation through her Facebook “causes” page. Also find out more about her at www.myspace.com/rebekahannemusic.

Contact Kristin Day at kday@reflector.com or 329-9579.