The first is Danielle Doyle, who celebrates the release of her debut CD, The Cartographer’s Wife, at the Lizard Lounge with guests Flightless Buttress, Garlic & Moonshine, Beth Colegrove, and Meg Smallidge, all of whom played on the album. (Note – if you miss her tonight, make sure to get out to the Burren on April 18 when she plays the Sunday night singer/songwriter series hosted by Danielle Miraglia, or, if you’re further north, catch her opening for Loudon Wainwright III in Portland, Maine on March 26). Doyle has paid her dues studying at the Passim School of Music and interning in the music industry, while gigging around town and writing her own ethereal alt.country repertoire. She lists Iron and Wine, Neko Case, and Gillian Welch as influences, and you can hear different elements of those artists pop up on Cartographer, especially the nourish “Sky,” which would slip easily into a set of Case’s first few albums. If you’re a fan of that genre, you’d be doing yourself a favor to familiarize yourself with Doyle’s music.
The second is the Boston-based bluegrass band Joy Kills Sorrow. They’re at Club Passim tonight touting their second album, Darkness Sure Becomes This City, which was officially released February 23 on Signature Sounds (home to Peter Mulvey, Patty Larkin, Erin McKeown, and Kris Delmhorst). JKS immediately brings to mind Alison Krauss and Union Station, mostly because of Emma Beaton’s smooth, dreamy vocals. While the overall sound is mellow, there’s a lot of active flatpicking going on with guitarist Matthew Arcara (winner of Winfield’s National Flatpicking Championship in 2006), mandolin player Jacob Jolliff (who studied his instrument on scholarship to Berklee), and banjo player Wesley Corbett (who has toured with Crooked Still). Bassist Bridget Kearney does more than hold down the root – somehow, in the midst of all that picking, she manages to find melodic, flowing basslines. A talented outfit from top to bottom.
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