Having none other than Kyp Malone as a “mentor” as well as plans to put out an album with Aaron Dessner of the National, it would be easy to discuss Sharon Van Etten preponderantly in terms of her famous (by indie-rock standards) friends. But with the Brooklyn folk songstress having just hit the Bowery Ballroom, where she was joined by another notable ally, the Antlers’ Peter Silberman, Van Etten’s time to shine under the spotlight has arrived. The Bowery show kicked off her first headlining tour across the nation, in support of her second album, Epic, which was released late last year and marked one of our favorite records of 2010. Largely unadorned with nothing more than some guitar strums and piano plunks, Van Etten’s singing marks the doubtless focal point of Epic. Even the pedal-steel-guitar twangs on “Save Yourself” and the atmospheric noise swirling in the background of “Don’t Do It” — as alternately delightful and haunting as they are — cannot compete with the aching yet assured voice that permeates this sadly brief seven-song set.

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