Review: Song City - Season 03, Ep 01

live musicreview

Sep 12

“By stripping songs down to their cores, listeners are treated to a level of intimacy you can only find in a live setting, sitting mere feet from a performer. Tuesday night in Franklin Alley, we were reminded of the natural power that music has.”

Throughout the last couple years, “songwriters-in-the-round” events have skyrocketed in prevalence in the area. It’s become a welcome new alternative to your average concert, treating music fans to a Nashvillian experience 1,000 miles north of Music City.

SongCity debuted two years ago in Troy, featuring four performers in a circle facing one another, with a crowd of attentive listeners surrounding them concentrically. Tuesday night, in their new location about halfway down Troy’s Franklin Alley, they kicked off their third season in spectacular fashion.

Sydney Worthley had the task of setting the tone for the night, which she did by stunning the crowd with an intimate version of “Terrible Lighting,” one of many highlights off her record It Was Nice While It Lasted, released earlier this summer. Her somber lyrics reverberated off the walls as the crowd looked on in awe, marveling at the true emotion behind every word.

Later in the night, Sydney performed two other tracks from that record – “80s Song” and “Bend” – the former of which was preceded by an anecdote about her being accused by a hipster of not knowing who The Cure was. So, she did what all great songwriters do: she turned it into a song. ‘The deja vu will hit me, I’m sure / when you start to make me listen to The Cure…’ took on a whole new meaning afterwards, which is something else this format is great at – it allows the songwriters ample time to provide valuable insight into their songs.

Ed Schwarzschild – frontman of the local alt-rock band Doctor Baker – followed Sydney in charming fashion, offering up stories with a dry wittiness that had the crowd laughing on multiple occasions. The author-turned-songwriter explained how songwriting came to him later in life, and his songs had a Bob Dylan meets Dire Straits quality about them.

His final song was a true highlight, an untitled, “unfinished” song reflecting on time he recently spent overseas in Amsterdam. Ed described it as a love letter to the city – “kind of” – and it was clear during this performance what an impact the trip had on him. The lyrics were front and center throughout, an element that can otherwise be drowned out in the full-band setting Ed is used to playing in, and many members of the crowd cracked involuntary smiles when certain lines resonated with them. It was a pleasure to watch.

Belle Skinner was next in the round, and it was clear she was no stranger to the setting. Throughout the night, she would take moments in a soft spoken voice to ask the others about their songwriting processes and backgrounds. It made for lovely interactions which got more and more comfortable as the night went on, something that is also unique to this particular format. But as delightful as that was, the true spotlight of her set was, naturally, her songwriting.

The first song, “Tell Me When It’s Over”, was an incredibly gorgeous, waltz-paced tune with melodies that had an almost lullaby quality about them. Here, as well as on her other two selections, her gentle voice glided almost effortlessly over compelling chord progressions on a lightly-picked, nylon string guitar. The coy and quirky “I Wonder If You Think About Me Too” – her final song of the night – was an absolutely impressive display of vocal acrobatics which even included a mouth-trumpet solo, something you have to witness to truly understand.

Fourth in the round was Saratoga-based duo, Drank the Gold. Right off the bat, they noted how they were surprised to be there because they didn’t necessarily consider themselves songwriters in the same way the other three did. But their re-imaginings of traditional songs in an Irish style were nothing short of impressive. This included, most notably, a darling version of the children’s lullaby “Hush Little Baby”, performed on banjo and fiddle in a style and tempo reminiscent of The Lumineers. The best way to sum this up is that there was an audible “wow!” from someone in the crowd at the end of the song.

Elsewhere, they performed an instrumental Irish jig called “Flying Swan”, which showed off Oona Grady’s undeniable fiddle skills, and then ended with an original song that multi-instrumentalist James Gascoyne wrote for a children’s project about a decade ago. The duo was consistently locked in with each other, Sydney even commenting at one point how they sounded as if they were one.

It was here that usually the night would end, but the group had one more surprise for us, with Belle Skinner leading the performers – and the crowd – in a collaborative version of “Take Me Home, Country Roads”. Sydney, Ed and Drank the Gold each took a verse, with Belle Skinner supplying harmonies throughout. When they all came together for the choruses, the room was filled to the brim with joyous sound, and perhaps even a few goosebumps.

There are many beautiful things about songwriters-in-the-round style events. By stripping songs down to their cores, listeners are treated to a level of intimacy you can only find in a live setting, sitting mere feet from a performer. Tuesday night in Franklin Alley, we were reminded of the natural power that music has. It brings people together. It allows them to be present. It provides joy and comfort. Great songs are truly impactful, and to kick off season three of SongCity, these four artists delivered nothing but.