2023 has been a busy year for Mikaela Davis and Southern Star. It all started in January with two three-show residencies in Rochester and Woodstock that had the band playing one set of originals and one set of themed Grateful Dead material. In the band’s home base of Rochester, the three shows sold out in advance at the living-room-intimate Abilene. The band then took the show’s concept on the road, hitting venues along the eastern seaboard and even more multi-show residencies across upstate New York. They would continue to tour hard throughout the year as headliners, openers, and a part various festival lineups. They also released their first album as a band late in the summer.
They closed out the year with a short run of shows with their old friends Maybird, culminating where the year, and the band began, back in Rochester. This time at the brand new venue, Essex, which is younger than even their new album. The space holds roughly ten times what Abilene can, and was nearly full, so the hard work paid off with a bigger fanbase. Davis declared it the biggest headlining show they’ve ever played, and the exchange of energy from the crowd to the stage and back was palpable.
A Brian Blatt liquid light show bathed the stage in slow oozing organic forms throughout the night. From the get go, it matched and complimented the music perfectly. The band was in no rush with a spacey intro to the show opening “Cinderella.” The ensuing “In My Groove” likewise got going with spacey looping. “Get Gone” also got front-loaded with a short jam, this one groovier, almost Dead-like. Post-verses, it showcased one of the bands many strengths as Davis’ harp led the way, interweaving brilliantly with Cian McCarthy and Kurt Johnson’s guitars and Shane McCarthy’s bass.
Languid and lovely, “The Pearl,” featured a slowly unfolding gorgeous improvisation that had all five members contributing an interlocking piece of the whole. A rock band led by a harp is unique in-and-of-itself, but add in a pedal steel and a sax-playing guitarist, and a penchant for turning pretty things into down and dirty jams, and Southern Star is a one-of-a-kind marvel. Even when they lean into familiar influences, they’re approached from a new-to-the-world angle. No one is doing this, sounding like that.
“Leave It Alone” let loose with this uniqueness. A lengthy guitar choogle dissolved into spacey noodling. Davis grabbed the reins and the band slowly crystallized around her flourishing harp. Cian McCarthy switched to his sax and the music took a turn into avant-garde jazz, reaching into searing cosmic domains. When McCarthy got back on his guitar, the jazz tenor remained, advancing to a 70’s style fusion for a short spurt. His brother pounded a repetitive theme into submission and eventually the rest of the band followed as they deftly drifted into “Promise.” The extraordinary sequence highlighted the growth a year on the road as provided.
Later, “Don’t Stop Now,” provided more groundwork from which they could showcase their multi-faceted approach. Davis answered the age-old question, “Can a harp choogle?”, with a big jam out of the gates, which ceded to guitar and then Johnson’s electric lap steel and eventually back to McCarthy on sax. They went deep into a sparse and chunky space which would slip into the psychedelic “Pure Divine Love.”
The show closed out with “Other Lover,” with the opening band Maybird out in full, each on a different piece of percussion, from the traditional congas to the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink variety (literally) like a metal colander. Maybird, another Rochester band, appropriately joined Mikaela Davis on her first tour. But more than that, Kurt Johnson was an original member of Maybird and Shane McCarthy is frequently playing bass for them. Davis and Josh Netsky frequently collaborated in various projects before Maybird or Southern Star were even conceived. So it was an appropriate end-of-the-year hometown billing for sure.
The ragtag group of percussionists would be back for the encore, along with Overhand Sam on guitar as the band ripped a celebratory version of “After Midnight” played just before 11pm. And now we wait to see what 2024 has in store for Mikaela Davis and Southern Star. Of course we know it will start with a co-headlining tour with Circles Around the Sun, so check that out if they’re heading your way.
Maybird opened with a solid 45 minutes overview of their strengths, including some of their oldest material and some of their newest. “Open Your Eyes” appropriately opened up into a quality psychedelic workout, with guitarist Overhand Sam and keyboardist Sam Hirsch combining into a fuzzed-up mash.
Shane McCarthy was pulling double-duty, holding down the bass for both bands, wearing the appropriate band tee for each set. Brother Cian and Kurt Johnson joined in on the fun during the band’s namesake “Maybird.” With Johnson returning to his former band, and McCarthy on sax, the band was truly at full power. The denser their sound gets the better, and that played out perfectly during the slow ferociousness of “Maybird.” The pair stayed on board for the following “Gonna Lose Your Mind,” and Johnson remained for the rest of the set. He provided some just-like-the-old-days moments during “Turning Into Water” and “Call You Mine.”
It was a great night to celebrate Rochester music, past and future, at Essex with Maybird and Mikaela Davis and Southern Star.
Setlists
Mikaela Davis and Southern Star: Cinderella, In My Groove, Home in the Country, Get Gone, The Pearl, Far From You, Leave It Alone, Promise, Don’t Stop Now, Pure Divine Love, Other Lover*
Encore: After Midnight**
* with Maybird on various percussion
** with Sam Snyder on guitar, Maybird on percussion
Maybird: Keep In Line, Don’t Keep Me Around, Open Your Eyes, Lost In Wonderland, Maybird*, Gonna Lose Your Mind*, Turning Into Water**, Call You Mine***
* with Cian McCarthy on sax, Kurt Johnson on pedal steel/lap steel
** with Kurt Johnson on guitar
*** with Kurt Johnson on lap steel
