As a music fan I like to think I have come a long way. There was a time where I foolishly corralled myself off into an extremely small enclosure within a vast musical landscape. 90% of what I listened to or went to see was “dudes in plaid playing stringed instruments” and I spent a lot of years lacking in my own creative space as a result of not digesting enough variety. Hearing from a more diverse artist pool or human mindset. Don’t get me wrong, I still like the DIPPSI genre…can we trademark that? I am one of those artists, but in expanding what I listen to and appreciate has a profound effect on you not just as a creative, but as a human spinning through this world that often times makes no fucking sense whatsoever.
Nowadays I am just as content cruising the countryside here at home listening to the latest contemporary instrumental string band record as I am some underground UK Grime artist. Stormzy hits the old playlist in the Subaru and I bumping that shit. But I digress. My wife has been a core reason for that expansion in my mind and when she suggested going to Higher Ground last evening to see the SYML show, it was a “yeah, lets do that!” rather than a “yeah, if you really want to” that it would have been years ago…and I realize an ex-indie band artist venturing out on their own isn’t quite a departure from the Americana/Roots I have come to associate myself and this publication with, but hey, small steps.
We hadn’t previously heard of the opening act Trent Dabbs (a fact he took the opportunity to make a few self inflicted deprecating jabs about. Which I can appreciate), but upon looking at the dude’s resume, its impressive to say the least. Penning songs for everyone from Kacey Musgraves to David Archuleta, you have probably heard one of his songs, perhaps without even knowing it. He wisped onto the stage amid another tune playing and strummed the first chord of a tune, dovetailing the house music to his acoustic driven set…a nice touch, as was his glimmery blazer. His voice dancing somewhere between Ryan Adams and a younger Neil Young, elegant finger picking flowing beneath he shared a breadth of his catalogue in the short time he shared with the audience. A dry wit and stories between songs kept folks engaged and the mood light. At one point mentioned he was from Nashville, to which the audience replied with dead silence…Dabbs took it in stride, but perhaps its the fact that Burlington is Bernie Country and while we may love the music coming from Music City, we aren’t too keen on the state’s politics. Don’t take it too hard, Trent. We still dig your “Heavy Mellow”.
SYML and the band took the stage in almost matching all white getups. Lead singer Brian Fennell jumping back and forth between a beautiful matte Gibson ES-335 and a Martin acoustic. One of the two tunes I have become most partial to from the artist, ‘Believer’, hitting earlier in the set.
You know when you hear a song on the radio or Spotify or god-willing, off a record that you bought directly from an artist and you have a moment to think “well, it can’t sound that good in person”. SYML doesn’t have that issue. The man’s voice is fucking sunlight and a light breeze captured in sonic format. Undulating through falsetto highs that pierce your heart and soulfully reverberating smoothness that, it just hits in a different way.
The layered tapestry the band weaves in a live setting is mind boggling. 4 part vocal arrangements that are subtle but profound. I found myself through the course of the set, eyes jutting from musician to musician on stage. Guitarist/Mellotron/Vocalist and who knows what else he was doing back there, Kyle Moore had me the most captivated. His dance, almost in a trance like state, artfully crafting the underpinnings of the songs through a series of effects pedals, slide guitar parts and vocal patters. “Playing everything” Brian Eichelberger, swapping instruments seemingly mid song without missing a beat, adding volumes with vocals, keys, violin and bass. Front left of stage, Abby Gundersen, calmly but ever so focused on providing breathtaking vocal harmony that seamlessly flowed into the songs while adding melody on the keys. And in the back, doing some of the most interesting drum work I’ve seen in a while, Ulf Wahlgren keeping the rhythm ever so in check.
The energy and the strain that singing in the capacity Fennell does is beyond comprehension for me. A few sips from a small plastic cup of whiskey over the course of evening seemed to allow him almost superhuman vocal capabilities. The power in which he sings and performs acrobatics with his vocal cords. Sailing high above the swirling controlled chaos of the band. Then in the more subtle moments, as an audience member had requested “Better” off of 2016’s “Hurt For Me” EP, he took to the keys as the rest of the band sat in silence in a gorgeously intimate moment, violin melodies entering courtesy of Eichelberger for pieces throughout. It was another one of those intimate moments, when the band left the stage and he sat at the keyboard to perform and instrumental “I Wanted To Leave” (sampled by Lana del Rey on her “Paris, Texas”). Its in moments like that where you realize the true creative depth and talents of an artist like Brian. A deafening silence overtaking the crowd as his hands dance across the keys.
The banter between songs and ad hoc Q&A gave a glimpse of the humor that juxtaposes the songwriter’s mindset. A bit sarcastic and cynical. He addressed the crowd in a comforting and “like this is your old buddy” kind of a way. Endearing, humorous. Creating an intimate feel in a sea of 100s of anonymous faces. Inviting us all in, but for a brief moment in time.
The band ended with what Brian described as his favorite song from the most recent album, the album’s closing track “Corduroy”. Yet another beautiful and delicately crafting blanket of sound enveloping the audience, with its warm and layers and depths.
So, take a chance. Go to a show that your normally wouldn’t actively go to. Embrace music. Embrace art. Embrace artists creating beauty and sharing it.
(and apologies for the bad iPhone photos…)