Ablen - This is a duo comprised of Abby Madden and Helen Furry. Abby has a smooth voice that works well for the singer/songwriter getup. Helen's voice is a great compliment to Abby's, with a bit more range, able to reach a bit higher. The duo both sing and play guitar, with Helen on violin for a few songs. Being able to switch up the instrumentation a bit like that really helps keep their sets interesting. As far as songwriters, they've got things down pretty solid. As far as performing goes, you can tell that they're young performers and could use some better flow, but that's the point of the First Friday events.
Billy Arboleda - Billy's a singer/songwriter to the tune of the band U2. His song structure isn't too bad and his chord progressions are better than the average singer/songwriter. His voice has a hint of the modern rock sound to it - maybe just a bit more mellow. When it's on, it's not too bad, but vocally it was like the same song over and over. Billy definitely has a ways to go, but he's got good ideas. It was definitely interesting getting to see him in a setting where he's got a whole set. I think that's where you really see an artists strengths and weaknesses. In the case of the first two acts, they need some fine tuning and need to learn better crowd interaction.
Matt Wagner - Matt's got a good bit of experience coming into this. He's played 2 or 3 First Friday's before and I've seen him promoting various gigs that he's had near campus. Again, a singer/songwriter. However, Matt's also got a band that he brought up for a handful of songs. Andrew Algier on some sort of hand drum thing, Craig Kyle on melodica, and a brief appearance by Kyle Kraft. It kept things interesting. They played a handful of covers from people like Sufjan Stevens and Elliott Smith, but mostly Matt Wagner originals. And he's a good songwriter. Like his songs are ones that you could see yourself singing along to. Songs like Vienna and October are the kinds of songs that make it. They've got that raw indie feel to them. But it's good. And well written. He's got a future with this stuff, and that's good because he's a music major with a guitar concentration or something like that...
Trey Overholt - Trey was one of the "featured" artists this month. He's a Messiah grad still doing music on the side every once in a while. Unfortunately, he doesn't have any studio recordings. That's something that needs to be done though. He's got a slower style that mixes smooth soulful vocals around sparsely placed chord textures. His songs tended to be pretty long, but I didn't notice this until a friend pointed it out. They were long songs, but I didn't notice. I mean, I like longer songs, but often times with singer/songwriters, a long song means a repetitive song. Not the case. Trey doesn't play out often, but he's someone worth tracking down and checking out.
David Hampson - Actually, David wasn't after Trey. I played and then the Lost in the Sauce Trio (David, Chris Yoder, and I) played. It was fun, but I can't really review my own material... So then we get to David. I may have written about his music before. David's a great story teller. His songs are stories and are excellent. His downfall is in his admittedly poor guitar skills. I've worked with David a bit and I'm trying to help him out with that, but there is still a long way to go. Overall, his deep grisly vocals and captivating stories keep you listening and engaged.
Camela Widad Kraemer - Camela does this for a living. From small solo gigs to gigs with a full band to organizing festivals, this is her life. And she's good at it. It's unfortunate that there were so few people out to hear her, but she didn't let that get her down. She kept her stories engaging and even had some Messiah related stories. The stories were interesting, but to make it as a singer/songwriter, you've got to have more than that. The songs themselves were great. She's got a voice that will melt you that's dialed in on each inflection and every note.
Anthony Francesco - Anthony was supposed to play first, but due to some technical issues and him being sick, he wasn't able to play. Thankfully, Natalie Ness was gracious enough to lend him the beginning of her set to play a few songs. He only got two in, but it was enough to make note of. Anthony's got a great feel for both blues and folk music. I'd compare him to Iron & Wine with vocals that are a bit more meek and timid. Usually anytime that you see Anthony play, his first few songs are notably full of stage fright and nerves. He told me that he had been working on that and it showed. Though he only got two songs in, they were two songs that were solid and comfortable.
Natalie Ness - I've heard Natalie a hundred times before. And it never gets old. She's covering stuff like Alicia Keys and Beyonce and nailing it. There was also an Imogen Heap cover, Phantogram, and Bon Iver... But then there's her original stuff. You've got this white girl with the vocal chords and charisma of Beyonce with an acoustic guitar with skills to match. She does some stuff on keys as well, but the guitar work is where she shines. Her live show is good, but she definitely needs to work on the professionalism. She'll be taking next semester off to work on music, so I'm looking forward to seeing what that brings.
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