The Discovery Channel

I’ve been busy on another project. Now let’s see if I have time to write about my NERFA discoveries. The order within tiers is alphabetical

I’ll use my usual Tier classification.
Tier 1

• Les Royal Pickles: As you can pick up from their name, they are French Canadian, and they are loads of fun. Their a brass band with not just a trombone, but a trombone kazoo; the slide works. There’s a tuba, there’s a megaphone. They play early jazz mixed with English Music Hall or Vaudeville. They do stage schtick. They could easily share a bill with Mucca Pazza. They even jammed a few people in an elevator, including the tuba, and played for us on the way to the guerilla showcases on the second floor. I’d love to see them at Falcon Ridge; they would blow away the main and dance stages and delight the family stage. If you can’t have fun listening to Les Royal Pickles, you can’t have fun.
• Tragedy Ann: They were on my must-see list last year and yet I missed them. I got the word too late. This year I jumped at the first chance to see them. They too are Canadian; what do they put in the water there? Top tier discovery from last year, Annie Sumi, turned me on to them. She watched with adoration as did I. They are a duo, Brenden Phalen sings and plays guitar; Liv Cazzola sings, and plays accordion, uke, and the saw! They sing beautiful songs with complex harmonies. There’s food for the mind and soul.
• Tui (2-E): Tui is a trad duo that bases their music on archival recordings. Brooklyn’s own Libby Weitnauer plays fiddle, The D.C. based Jake Blount fiddles and plays banjo. They both sing. Their music is not just based on the Scotch/Irish Appalachian music but also on the neglected music of African American fiddle and banjo players. Libby is someone that I knew from around, we travel in the same circles. I never knew how great she is, and so is Jake.
• Alisa Amador: Alisa brings such emotion to her songs, even when they are in Spanish and I can’t understand the lyrics. Alisa’s singing reaches right into your heart; she makes you feel what she feels.

Tier 2

• Alice Hasen: Technically I discovered Alice last year, we even became Facebook friends, but we never followed up. I’m pretty sure I heard her do one song and felt I needed to hear more. Once again, I heard only one song, but she so impressed me that she now makes my list. She’s a fiddler and I also heard her play with other people. She gave me a CD that I can’t wait to listen to. I love her playing, singing, and based on one song her songwriting. She’s also fun to talk to. Now to really get to know her.
• Eli Smith: I must have met Eli before, he works at Jalopy. You can tell he’s a risk taker; he plays a fretless banjo. He plays trad music in trad ways. There is always a place for that in the music world, and in my heart.
• Kalyna Rakel: Kalyna impressed me with a one-minute snippet of a song at On the Griddle. I was sitting with her when it was played. She looks like she should be a sweet-voiced folky, but she’s a gritty blues rocker. Her guitar is not just an accompaniment for her voice but an integral part of the music, she has chops. So does her bass player, whose name I wish I could remember. Comment on Facebook. I sat with him too.
• Kemp Harris: I saw Kemp do two sets and it was in two different genres. The first he called folk but was really standards. These were perfectly crafted songs. The word that comes to mind is precise; it describes both his lyrics and his diction. Every line scans perfectly, every rhyme exact. He does not settle for almost right or close enough. I was reminded of Julie Gold and Ervin Drake. His second set was political songs. These kept the precision but brought in influences from gospel. He bent notes and allowed his voice to stray from perfect modulation in the name of passion. He can do it all.
• Matt Harlan: I met Matt in the lobby when he was talking to one of my songwriting friends. It was someone I respect a lot even if his her or her identity is totally eluding me. That was enough to make me check out his Semi-Formal showcase and I was rewarded with great songwriting. He was also great in the late-night jam. I hope I got his album. If not, I’ll write him and get a download.

Tier 3: These are people that I already knew but have rediscovered.

• Deer Scout aka Dena Miller: I’ve known Dena since she was 14, she’s the daughter of Beth and Mark from Spuyten Duyvil. She’s has an invitation to play the Budgiedome on the strength of her singing since then. Along the way she became a songwriter, a good one. She seems to have a soft voice but somehow it carries and penetrates. I discussed this with her, I think it might be her perfect diction that does it. Anyone that plays off-mic could learn from her. That’s all technical. What matters is that she moves me.
• Orly Ben-David: Orly is a New Yorker. I know her well enough that I wrote up her last album. Yet a new song that she did was such a revelation that I feel the need to list her here. When both John Platt and I compare her songwriting to Anais Mitchell, you know this is someone you need to hear.
• The Early Risers: Putnam Smith is an old friend that I haven’t seen or heard from in years. He just got married to Ashley Storrow, moved to Vermont, and formed the duo the Early Risers with her. Ashley immediately became and old friend and it’s how the band makes you feel. Their music is comfort food.

Tier 4: There’s just one performer in this tier, Lily Henley. She’s the opposite of a discovery as she’s someone I know well and pushed to come to NERFA. Most of what she performed was from her upcoming album of songs in Ladino. I knew her first as a brilliant violinist, then discovered that she can sing and write like a muse. I kvelled as the audiences loved her.

I’m sure that as I go through the music given me at NERFA I’ll make or be reminded of more discoveries. I’d say that’s what NERFA is about, but that’s not all that it’s about. It’s also about the community. When I’m at NERFA I’m with my people. I don’t just discover artists, I make friends.