PERSONAL RECORDS SHOWCASE at The Bazaar Dec 28, 2010

Emily McClure and Marilyn Sarver of Delta Function

Last night, another great show was booked at Bazaar Consignments, the local shop that features a dazzling array of consigned wares, clothing, antiques, and a ton of support for indie musicians and artists.

We checked out the showcase provided by Personal Records, a North Carolina and Virginia based label, which sent a group of four musical guests that played to a sold-out crowd at the Bazaar.

The evening started off with Miles Nighthawk, who describes his music on his website as “folk, punk, twee, whateveerrr!” He is a young singer-songwriter and acoustic guitarist from Greensboro. You have to love a song with a title like “The Shark That Bit Off My Leg,” a tune that is reminiscent of the early punk style of Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers.

Next up were Delta Function, a duo comprised of Emily McClure and Marilyn Sarver of Roanoke. Performing playfully melodic acoustic songs with their angelic singing, Delta Function incorporated some unusual instruments in their set. Besides guitar and banjo, Delta Function showed finesse in their orchestration by adding glockenspiel and melodica to several songs. (The melodica is a variation of mouth organ consisting of a single tube that is essentially blown through a keyboard.)

Acoustic guitarist Arte Povera played an instrumental solo set afterwards. He describes his music as “noise-folk,” a sort of ambient guitar music with layered sounds and a bit of tension and overdrive added here and there.

The evening’s headliners, the Nobles, finished up the showcase as the night’s only full band. Looking seemingly traditional with guitar, bass, drums and keyboard, they sounded quite spatial as a four-piece. Their songs groove with a jam feel, yet is structured with melody and vocals. They definitely rocked the house! (Nobles will be playing at Kirk Ave Music Hall’s Second High School Band Night tomorrow night.)

Check out these performers on their websites – and catch ‘em while they’re young and fresh. This is where magic is created, and where the next Springsteen or Dylan is going to come from… out of the music and lyrics of babes. Today’s teens are tomorrow’s superstars.

Miles Nighthawk – http://milesnighthawk.bandcamp.com
Delta Function – http://www.myspace.com/wolflikeindependence
Arte Povera – http://www.myspace.com/artepoveramusic
Nobles – http://www.myspace.com/noblesbandva

Personal Records can be found at http://soundcloud.com/personal-records and on Facebook.