Only her band's van comes close to logging the miles Sarah Borges has put on her songs during the past year. Good thing they're as strong and sturdy as her wheels. After months of nonstop touring in support of her sophomore album, "Diamonds in the Dark," Borges and her band, the Broken Singles, return home for a pair of shows tonight and tomorrow night at the Lizard Lounge.
For the Taunton native, the cramped but cozy Cambridge club is where it all began. Borges held the CD-release show for her first album, "Silver City," at the Lizard Lounge in 2005. Since then, she estimates her ensemble - which includes bassist Binky, drummer Rob Dulaney, and guitarist Mike Castellana - has logged about 100,000 miles in the band's van.
"It's been a good year with lots of new experiences," says Borges. "But it's good to be home. Life is bizarre when you live in a van and then you come home and try to have a regular life."
This weekend's homecoming shows will also double as a video-release party for the final single being released from "Diamonds" ("Stop and Think It Over," written by the Reigning Sound's Greg Cartwright).
Borges and the Broken Singles even filmed a video for the song at both the Lizard Lounge and the Regent Theatre in Arlington, using a new multimedia company called Hobnox, where a team of Boston-area musicians (among them her boyfriend, singer-songwriter Jake Brennan) happen to work. Borges says she watched dozens of vintage videos on YouTube to get the right feel for her own debut.
"We shot part of it in black and white and tried to do a takeoff on the '60s vibe of that song," Borges says about the girl-group homage "Stop and Think it Over," which was also recently covered by Mary Weiss of the Shangri-Las. "It was a weird experience. It's like the difference between being a stage actor and a film actor. When you're making a video, you do [a take] 10,000 times. It's a territory I'm not used to."
Indeed, the live performance and all it entails is where the playfully charismatic Borges truly shines. "Whatever 'it' is, she's got it," says Molly Nagle, senior director of artist development for the Nashville-based label Sugar Hill Records, which released "Diamonds in the Dark" last year. Nagle claims the label "kept our eye on her" when Borges's debut disc, "Silver City," came out on another label. "Part of our goal as a label is to let folks see her and everything she puts out there as a performer."
As far as the disparate influences that abound on "Diamonds" - from torchy ballads and twangy country to pure pop carried aloft by her crystalline voice - Nagle says, "We look at her as having something for everybody." Although she is certainly used to being on the road, Borges claims that experience can be odd, too.
"There's this weird feeling you get of being reduced to a little kid where you're completely dependent on other people," Borges says. "The single most wonderful thing that's happened to us is the people we've met - families around the country who invite us to stay over. They cook for us, and I don't know how we can repay them except to make better records. But it reminds you that the world really is a good place."
BITS & PIECES Tonight: Rodfest 6 commences at the Paradise with Girls Guns & Glory, Three Day Threshold, Rogue Heroes, Cassavettes, and the Bowen St. Band. The Queers are at T.T. the Bear's. The World's Greatest Sinners are at Johnny D's. Tomorrow: Editors are at the Orpheum with Hot Hot Heat and Louis XIV. The Bon Savants are at Great Scott. The Lyres are at the Middle East Upstairs. Sunday: Blonde Redhead headlines the Paradise. Tuesday: Von Bondies are at Great Scott. Wednesday: The Dennis Brennan Band is at Lizard Lounge. Jazz on hold: According to its outgoing voice mail message, the Acton Jazz Cafe is closed for "a reassessment" and plans to re-open Jan. 25.
