Dave’s Photo Blog

With overused comparisons to Ben Folds and after catching the attention of Fountains of Wayne, Stephie Coplan and the Pedestrians are quickly establishing themselves as a band on the rise. They have played for delighted audiences in New York and New Jersey and recently performed at Toad and Precinct in a small Boston-area road trip. Stephie Coplan is no stranger to those venues. She only recently moved to the New York area after honing her skills performing solo in clubs like the Lizard Lounge. I had a chance to both watch the band and interview them on their recent trip through Cambridge and Somerville.

Samantha Farrell is a local – she grew up in central Massachusetts. She’s just returned from a number of years in LA. While she was there, she met LeRoi Moore of the Dave Matthews Band. Moore recognized the potential in Samantha’s music immediately and signed on to produce her album. Sadly, Moore passed away before the album was released. But the Dave Matthews Band chipped in to help, most notably by promoting Samantha through an email announcement just prior to the show at the Burren. The back room at the Burren was packed that night with young, local fans who wanted to see a breakout local performer.

I had not heard of Mia Dyson before I saw this show and it was a real treat. She is certainly far better known in her native country than in the United States even though she has won awards that span geographies. But in Australia, she’s opened for Eric Clapton and Bonnie Raitt, among others.

There is a certain feeling I get sometimes when I know a good song is about to be written; it’s almost like the song is already there and I just have to bring it to life by putting music and words to it.

When I posted the New Music Update for November, I left out one of the finalists – Tony Lovell. Tony writes and performs short, often funny songs and his effort on November 24th got him into the final with the two other performers I mentioned.

Although my schedule is quite difficult, I have managed to see a fair amount of live music lately and this post is a run-down of some of the more interesting acts. Most of these performers are not local to the Boston area, although one is. Read on to find out which one and to hear my brief review of Calexico at the Somerville Theatre last week.