Almost everyone in the audience should be able to relate to the diminutive girl and her guitar gracing the Maintenance Shop stage this Saturday evening. This “little girl with the big voice,” as folk legend Richie Havens described her, is 22-year-old Brenda Weiler. Weiler’s folk-rock song writing aptitude touches people from all walks of life, though she wrestles with issues that are especially close to young people’s hearts. Her lyrics deal with personal, everyday issues such as painful breakups and the struggle to find oneself. “I’m just being honest, and anyone can relate to honesty,” Weiler says. “I see myself as someone who basically just learns as I go along . I just write what I know and how I feel.” For example, much of her sophomore album, “Crazy Happy,” expresses relationship-oriented emotions with a refreshing, candid sincerity. “`Crazy Happy’ is a state of mind,” she says. “I was coming out of a pretty hard breakup and suddenly things started making sense to me again, and I felt this overwhelming happiness – the kind you can only get when you’re alone and feeling empowered and independent and happy with yourself.” Although it is difficult to reveal such intensely private feelings to crowds, Weiler says both she and her audience get a lot out of the process. “I know that people are connecting with what I’m singing and that makes it worth it for me,” she says. “When I see people smiling at certain parts of a song, I know they’re listening. Or if someone looks like they’re going to cry, I figure I’m connecting with some experience they’ve had as well.” Another issue Weiler confronts in her lyrics is the ever-present societal pressure on women to have flawless figures. “Your thighs are as small as your arms/ But they’re not supposed to be,” she sings in her song, “Change.” “Body image issues and eating disorders are a big part of society,” she says. “I don’t know too many women, if any, who don’t worry about it or think about it . I just poke fun at the ideas that society has regarding women and try to make other girls see that it’s okay of you don’t look like Britney Spears. You’re not supposed to when you’re 15 years old.” Weiler has released three albums. She says her most recent disc, “Fly Me Back,” is “a step up” from the first two. “The first two albums are more tame and stripped-down than my new one. `Fly Me Back’ has drum loops and strings, and we used a ton of different recording methods on my voice . it is more experimental and mature sounding.” On all three albums, Weiler’s sound has been likened to that of Tracy Chapman and Dar Williams, a comparison Weiler says she is flattered by. “They are women who have worked hard to get where they’re at today and who are both honest and good musicians,” she says. If hard work, honesty and good music are what it takes to reach audiences, Weiler is certainly on the right track. “I just want to continue writing and recording and improving and reaching more people,” she says. “That’s all.”